Tuesday, August 24, 2010

The Overlocked Sweater mission

I finally found my blog page to begin blogging...lol.  Yes I lost it, couldnt remember how to get back on here!  Now it is book marked and I can move forward. :)
I was very inspired by a sweater that my niece pointed out to me at a local craft show two years ago.  A woman was wearing what appeared to be a sweater that was assembled from pieces of sweaters over-locked together. My niece wanted one and was convinced that I could make it!  It was very inspiring, and through out the day I saw person after person approaching her to ask where it came from.  My interest in it was the fact that after I make my children's sweaters I usually have lots of scraps left over, and what an ingenious way to use them up!  So anyhow, I asked her where she got it from and she said that she got the idea off line and made it herself, just piecing scraps together and then following a basic pattern.  From there I have been on a mission to find out the instructions how to do this.  Finally I found a seamstress/artist on Etsy that creates similar sweaters (her shop name is Katwise).  Her methods actually look like what I want to achieve, so I asked her advice.  She was kind enough to point me to a book called "The Sweater Chop Shop- sewing one of a kind creations from Recycled Sweaters" by Crispina Ffrench.  I went and sought it out and found it on Amazon.com for a fraction of the regular retail price, and purchased it.  It has arrived!  I am so inspired and excited to take my children sweater making to a whole new level.  It also solves the problem of how to create adult sweaters too.  I use 100% wool adult sweaters and shrink them (a process called felting) and from there I cut, embellish, needle felt and create new children sweaters.  I often get approached by adults if I could make them one as well, but that could only be achieved if the adult was a very small person and I could get a XXXL sweater to shrink down to a normal size.  It just doesn't work.  Now I have a solution, and my creative juices are flowing! Check out Katwise's Etsy Shop!
Link from Katwise Etsy Shop

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Starting New.....

I recently made the decision that I am going to take my little craft based business out to the wonderful world wide web.  The scary part is that I have been trying all day to figure out how to get back onto this profile that I created, just so I could put my first post on it.  So spending all day, trying to figure out how to blog, is a little exhausting and making me feel...old....gasp, yep I said it!  All I want is to be able to put forth a little info everyday about my adventures, trials and tribulations that I am going through while trying to "launch" my business for all the world to see. 
What got me into this crazy idea?  Well I am having the very strong desire to become more independent and self supporting.  I also know that I have a very very artistic side to me and I have created many many creations that have sold well, just by word of mouth.  So doesn't that mean that I can have the capability of selling even more, and producing myself some sort of better income?  I am hoping so at least!
So this little blog will be about me, my latest creations, who I am gaining inspiration from, and what products I am using or recommending.  Feel free to comment!