The interview goes into detail on how I got started in business and as an author, and includes some advice for other work at home moms.  I had a lot of fun doing the interview, and I hope you’ll check it out.

I love to sew, crochet, paint, bake.  I look forward to learning to knit someday.  My mom taught me how to sew on her old New Home sewing machine, but I never really had a passion for it until my babies were born.  Now I can say that I am certifiably obsessed. 

I love to create..but find it hard to do while my little munchkins are underfoot so I have learned that the three words “fast”, “easy” and “affordable” make me and everyone else around here very happy. That’s why I created my blog “While They Sleep“. It is the place to go for inspiration and projects you can do while your babes are sleeping (or destroying the living room).

I believe that everyone has within them the desire and ability to create.  My goal is to inspire and encourage especially women to do just that!  It is also my goal to help those who are new to sewing say to themselves “I can do this!” and learn a new skill or two along the way. 

I also have an Etsy shop where some of my original patterns are sold.  My goal is to produce projects that are beautiful and practical but also all fall under the rules of “Fast, Easy and Affordable”.   Things you can actually get done “While They Sleep.”

I’m proud to introduce the newest pattern available in my Etsy shop: The Pod Swaddler. You can go to my shop for more details.

I do everything I do from a little corner of the kitchen.  My husband is working full time and going to school at night so I usually get a lot of what I get done while he’s away and the girls are asleep.  I look forward to someday having a room just for creating and doing projects with my girls.  I also look forward to doing a lot more with creating patterns.  My dream is to have my own pattern line someday.  But I am happy with the pace of my shop and my blog right now.  It keeps me busy but not too busy to enjoy these precious, fleeting years with my girls.

 Here’s a sampling of what you can find on the blog:

 

The Table Runner Apron

She was frustrated by fitting problems, especially for women with fuller busts, so she “pursued the fitting secrets with a passion and finally found enough of them online and in books, which, together with my analytical and problem solving brain, helped me solve fitting problems in sewing.”

Her business, JSAW Mastectomy Designs, was born in 2003 and Lillian says its still feels like a bit of a startup since she’s constantly learning new aspects of the business, like the ins and outs of online stores and website development.

Lillian designs and sews custom made nightwear and intimate apparel for ladies who have had a lumpectomy or mastectomy due to breast cancer.  Her designs are custom made to her customer’s specific measurements, they do not come in small, medium and large, all with the same bust cup size.  She actually creates a new pattern, based on the customer’s measurements, for each new garment order she receives.

The business is run from Lillian’s home office and she has a sewing room setup in the basement.  Lillian says the best part about being self employed is “being able to be there for your family when they need you.  Also being able to follow one’s own dreams and heart’s passion.”  Lillian knows the frustration of not being able to find clothes that fit, “not because of a mastectomy but because of having a body that is a combination of about 4 different dress sizes,” so she completely understands the relief of finally having clothes that fit well.

Visit the JSAW Mastectomy Designs website at www.mastectomydesigns.com, or check out her online store at http://store.mastectomydesigns.com.

Ashley Johnston runs the previously private, now gone public, “log of projects” at http://makeitandloveit.blogspot.com, and she sells her stylish handcrafted designs in her Etsy store (http://makeitandloveit.etsy.com).  Ashley has a knack for creating unique and useful projects from inexpensive or even recycled materials, for example she recently shared a project on how to turn old advertising magnets into gorgeous fabric covered ones you’d be proud to display on your refrigerator.

Ashley has two young children and had sewn as a hobby since her mom taught her how when she was about ten years old.  Eventually she started to sell her handiwork as a way to pay for her hobby, and now it has turned into a part-time business that she’s able to work on while her kids are napping or after they’ve gone to bed at night.

Most of the items Ashley makes are baby related – beautiful baby booties, colorful ties and whimsical onesies with appliqued ties.  Recently she has branched into also selling purse patterns as well as finished purses.  She also finds the time somehow to update her blog almost daily with tips and free tutorials on how to make useful household and gift type items.

Ashley plans to expand her pattern selection and is looking forward to taking some classes that will further refine her skills.  It is obvious that Ashley thoroughly enjoys teaching others new skills and says that receiving feedback from people who’ve tried out her projects “puts the biggest smile on my face.  There’s nothing like it!”  Visit Ashley’s Make It and Love It blog for some project ideas today, you’ll be really glad you did.

Kidzsack, the business born from her idea, was launched a year ago. Hill has always been creative, in fact she was formerly a New York City fashion designer. She began by coming up with several themes - sports, jungle, ocean and castle - then created designs that she had screen printed onto recycled cotton backpacks.

She sewed the first 100 bags herself then partnered with one firm to manufacture the bags and another to do the screen printing.  Hill says most of the designs came easy, but others, such as the sports theme backpack, were more difficult for her.  She drew a number of different designs, then “I asked my 11-year-old daughter which one she liked best.”

After hand drawing the designs, they are scanned into a computer to prepare them for the screen printing process.  The backpacks are designed for kids ages 4 to 10 and they come with eight washable markers so the designs can be colored over and over again since the colors disappear in the wash. 

Hill says her product stands out from other colorable products because the activity is reusable and the packs are made of 100 percent recyclable materials.  She says, “with most crafts you do it once and it sits on a shelf. This has value; you can do it again and again and again.”

Because the backpacks are ideal for airplane travel and trips to the beach, Hill has recently been asked to create custom designs for vacation spots like the Atlantis Hotel in the Bahamas and Sandals and Beaches Resorts.  Hill’s Kidzsacks are also sold worldwide at more than 70 locations including hospital gift shops, aquariums and zoos.

Read more about Hill’s story in the Georgetown Record or visit her site at www.kidzsack.com.

Lenna Green of StitchingCow.com credits her grandmother with teaching her to sew and fondly remembers spending lots of time with her as a child doing different sewing crafts and projects.  “I can remember making small items on the sewing machine with her and I still have some of these projects today including a small doll’s apron which was my first attempt. I also have memories of making my first quilt at the age of 14-15. I had no pattern and no real idea about cutting. I just took to some fabrics with a pair of scissors and then started sewing bits together. I’m glad to say that I have come along way since then.”

Green later studied at university and graduated with a Degree in Design and Technology, majoring in Food Technology and Textiles and Design. She spent a few years teaching high school students, then decided to take some time out to start a family. Green was approached to teach patchwork and quilting classes at a local fabric shop during this time, and she says that “one thing led to another and I now have an internet business that sells my patterns and sewing resources. I also manage a wholesale business, Little Green Cottage, that supplies retailers with my patterns.”

Green manages her businesses from her home, full-time.  Her Stitching Cow website showcases original Australian designs that can be purchased as physical patterns or as downloadable e-patterns. This means that customers can download their pattern choices to their own computers within a few minutes of purchasing them. Her website also offers sewing enthusiasts many useful resources and helpful information about sewing related topics. The site has recently grown to include online classes and monthly pattern programs. There is also a video resource available to teach people how to embroider.

The designs that Green supplies to retailers, marketed under the name Little Green Cottage, include block of the month quilt projects, cloth dolls, sewing accessory type projects as well as wall hangings and bags. Her work has appeared in such leading magazines as Homespun, Country Threads, Patchwork and Stitching and Patchwork and Quilting.

Green plans to expand her business by representing other talented Australian designers. She envisions the Stitching Cow website as a portal for other designers to showcase their work to the world and looks forward to designing and producing more electronic resources to help fellow sewers enjoy their passion to create.  Be sure to join the mailing list while visiting her site, and check out her blog for all the latest news and information.