Interview with My Bearded Pigeon from Etsy – Associated Content
There is lot of searching for vintage maps and then, sewing. Answering emails and packaging orders How do you want your craft and business to evolve? I am not sure. I never really had a business plan. Obviously I would like to reduce my (other) work

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

Erica Leigh of Sweets & Hearts

Erica Leigh of Sweets & Hearts is up to her ears in ears!  Erica sells hair accessories such as headbands with kitty or mouse ears, as well as costumes and clothing designs, and she recently sold her 100th pair of ears.

Erica is a college student studying fashion marketing who lives at home with her mom and dad while attending school, and she started her part-time business from her bedroom in 2007 in order to bring in some extra income.  Her mom taught her to sew in high school by making tote bags, then she started experimenting with reconstructing her own clothes before learning how to make things from scratch.

The theme at Sweets & Hearts is based on providing things that are cute, colorful, and girlie yet wearable.  Her hair accessories, jewelry and clothing designs are adorable and they’re obviously a hit as her site has several hundred fans and growing daily.

Erica says the best thing about running her business is getting to set her own hours since she is “not a morning person at all” and has a pretty busy schedule.  She says the only downfall “is that sales are inconsistent and it’s hard to predict how well you’ll do the next month, or even week.  Some days are really good, but some weeks it’s hard to make just one sale.”

Her goals are to build the business to the point where it is lucrative enough that she can work it full-time and be able to afford her own place.  We predict that Erica will do that and more given her attention to detail, she even includes handwritten notes with each order and carefully packs them with tissue paper and heart stickers.

Check out Erica’s wonderful designs at her Sweets & Hearts Etsy store, or visit her blog to learn more about her.

Jill is a full-time mom and a part-time crafter who generously shares her sewing and craft projects and tips through her blog.  Recent projects include this gorgeous ruffled pillow, which is a refashioned shirt that Jill has now recycled for the second time, a recovered office chair, and my favorite, artwork for her new apartment that she made from blank canvases and tissue paper.

Jill Green of Homemade by Jill

The blog earns Jill enough extra cash through advertising to cover her craft expenses and even enough to save a bit for a rainy day.  She’s happy with that, and with being able to create “whatever is striking my fancy at the moment”, but she’s looking forward to being able to devote more time to sewing and turning her hobby into a business when the time is right.

Visit Jill’s blog for all sorts of sewing projects, home decor, paper crafts, decoupage and crazy crocheted animal hats.

Ashley Hackshaw & Boo

Ashley Hackshaw’s mother taught her the basics of sewing when she was around six years old.  Her mom used to make their clothes, bedding, and curtains, and was always taking on big household projects like re-painting the kitchen cabinets.  Ashley has since gone from career woman to stay-at-home mom of Sienna, a precocious 2-year old daughter affectionately known as “Boo”, and now she’s turned her love of sewing, painting, power tools, camera and craft supplies into a business known as Lil Blue Boo.

Lil Blue Boo includes a blog that is full of imaginative project tutorials like wagon covers, adorable outfits, and creative ribbon top curtains, in addition to Ashley’s pattern store, plus links to her painting site where you can see her beautiful artwork.  Ashley says she tries to create and experiment each day, “I fall asleep brainstorming and wake up trying to remember how I made something in a dream I just had!”  She started her Lil Blue Boo blog to share her projects and inspire others to try new things, and she loves to follow other craft and sewing blogs out there, “there are so many talented people to follow!”

Ashley says she rarely buys anything new anymore, she loves recycling and repurposing clothing, and she started making her Lil Blue Boo patterns so that “Boo” could have her own one-of-a-kind wardrobe that fit her personality.  “My daughter’s repurposed clothing always received the nicest comments and inquiries when we were out and about. I decided to publish and sell these patterns so that anyone can make their own…even a beginner who has never looked at a pattern! I use a $150 sewing machine, very few materials and I’ve come up with lots of tips along the way to share with others. I used to write detailed bond offering materials in my previous career and surprisingly this has ended up being a very transferable skill to pattern/tutorial writing.”

Originally a portrait artist, Ashley created some personalized children’s paintings as special gifts for friends and family, and she now also paints commissioned children’s portraits, nursery art, murals and faux finishes as part of her business.  Some of her nursery art and small nursery pieces are showcased in her Etsy store, as well as in local boutiques and other online stores.

Most of her work takes place in a converted spare bedroom, even though she does have a studio that is separate from the house, due to having an active 2-year-old to watch over.  Ashley enjoys the flexibility of being self-employed, and even though she is sometimes frustrated by limited output and small margins, she feels that turning her passion into a business was the best decision she’s ever made.

Her plans are to continue doing what she loves, experimenting, creating, and coming up with unique ideas and projects for others to try.  She intends to expand on her line of patterns/tutorials and focus on creating informative ebooks to provide sewers the tools they need to easily complete a project.  Ashley says that “one of the most fulfilling things for me is when I get an email from someone with a photo of an outfit they made using my directions or patterns thanking me for breaking it down into a manageable project….it is even better when it is their first sewing project!”

http://www.lilblueboo.blogspot.com/

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Jordynn Lucier, or Jordy as she’s known to her many fans, taught herself how to sew about 7 years ago when she took over her mom’s sewing machine.  She’s still using that same Kenmore Ultrastitch12 today to make all the wonderful limited edition handbags and fashion accessories that she sells in her online boutique called Jordynn Mackenzie.

Frustrated at the lack of online handbag patterns with clear instructions, Jordy posted a thread to the message boards in March of 2005 with her own instructions on how to make a square bottomed bag.  That thread has since exploded, with over 430,000 views and growing, and crafters everywhere started calling them “Jordy Bags”.

Jordy’s business grew from there when she started selling her handmade creations that she makes from both second hand and new materials.  She also sells her own line of patterns and fabric designs. 

Her business was part-time for a while as she finished school and worked as a graphic designer.  Now, Jordynn Mackenzie is a full-time business that she runs from a “tiny” attic studio in her Toronto home.  Jordy enjoys having a separate space in her home, filled with inspirational artwork and decor, that is in direct contrast to her former work atmosphere in drab office buildings.

Jordy says that the best part of being self employed is getting to define her own goals and set her own pace, and those goals currently include expanding her fabric and pattern selections, and perhaps some fabric and pattern kits as well.  Check out Jordy’s gorgeous pieces at JordynnMackenzie.com and keep up with her progress on her blog.

Shelly Leer provides the “best of home ec and shop class with lots of tools and fabric and no cooking” at her Flipt Studio blog. We were impressed with all the re-styles, re-design, and re-purpose projects that she shares, both through her blog and at Curbly.com under the moniker ModHomeEcTeacher, so we asked Shelly for an interview.

Shelly says she’s been sewing for more than 30 years, since about the 4th or 5th grade.  She was the youngest of five kids that were pretty spread out in age, her sister was in college by the time she was six, and her mom stayed pretty busy with her three older brothers.  Shelly fondly remembers outings spent with her mom to buy fabric, and says she watched like a hawk while her mom made jumpers and skirts for her.

Now Shelly has turned her passion into a work-at-home business that she runs at all hours of the day.  Her Flipt Studio business has evolved over the past fifteen years, starting out as a small custom upholstery business, which led to writing and photographing tutorials, then to teaching sewing to teens at The Indianapolis Art Center and DIY Beginning Upholstery in her home studio.

Shelly reports that “it all started when the founder of Curbly asked me to become a paid writer, continuing my tutorials as well as other design related posts. With that I had the courage to pitch a DIY column to our local paper, The Indianapolis Star.  I finally had the courage to enter a contest sponsored by ApartmentTherapy called January JumpStart. I restyled a cheap nightstand from Salvation Army and came in second place. I then offered a periodic DIY feature to ApartmentTherapy-Chicago which they accepted and I currently post twice a month.”

Shelly loves the flexibility of being self-employed, and enjoys working from her home studio, but has a goal of moving into a larger studio away from home so that she can expand the classes she offers.  The toughest part of being self-employed for Shelly is staying focused and keeping her day structured, but she’s working to improve on that and hopes to also overcome her fear of public speaking so that she can share her knowledge in larger formats.

While working at a long-term housing facility for victims of domestic abuse, Shelly taught the women living there to sew and she attributes their growing confidence in being able to create something with their own hands and be proud of what they made, to the change in direction of her business.  Well we think the evolution of Shelly’s business from upholstering and sewing for hire, to teaching others both on- and off-line, is inspirational and we invite you to check out her work at fliptstudio.blogspot.com and her posts at Curbly.

Janet Perry of Napa Needlepoint started doing needlepoint almost forty years ago.  When Janet was 13 years old she saw a kit in a magazine and fell in love with it.  Her parents took her to the only needlepoint store around and they happened to have the very same kit.  Her grandmother, who was a “phenomenal seamstress” taught her the basic stitches that very afternoon and she says she hasn’t been without a needle ever since!

Mostly self taught from books after that, Janet didn’t take a class on needlepoint until at least ten years later.  She attributes being “fearless about fiber and art” to her grandmother and to her mother, an artist, and says she loves to explore with different threads and decorative stitches. 

Because Janet is disabled by MS, she necessarily runs her business part-time, and although she started the business in 1997 she still classifies it as a startup since she’s constantly tweaking things.

Janet’s main goal is to show people how fun, fast, easy and inexpensive needlepoint can be, and to do away with the common misconception that needlepoint is boring or expensive.  Her All About Needlepoint website does just that, covering everything from supplies and threads, basic stitches, advanced techniques, tons of free patterns and projects, and even an “Ask Janet” page where she invites any and all needlepoint questions.  Visit Janet’s site where you can sign up for a free beginning embroidery course via email, and check out her Nuts About Needlepoint blog while you’re at it.