On the Cutting Table: It's Back!

It feels so good to return to the 'On the Cutting Table' post series. For the past seven months I really haven't been able to show you much of anything that was really on my cutting table since it's highly top secret. You may not have noticed or cared, but I did. I love sharing with you guys and it was so hard keeping project after project from you. And while those projects are still under wraps until my book releases in October.......on the upside the book manuscript is completed and turned in and now we can return to our regularly scheduled program here!

I have a huge stash of vintage hankies so I have some plans to actually use them this year. Also, there are some pieces in my wardrobe that need updating. I still like them and they fit, but they need something new. Pictured above is a little denim jacket I got a couple years ago from Target. It fits really cute, but I'm kind of tired of the all denim look of it. I have it sitting on the cutting table and I'm trying to get a little creative with it. We'll see what I come up with......as of now........nothing. But I'm still thinking about it.

I've got the hand embroidery bug again. It bites me every so often. So these pretties will be making an appearance here on the blog soon.

This is probably my most favorite thing that arrived this week. It's the Colette Pattern called 'Ginger' and it's an adult sewing pattern for me! I rarely sew for myself and if I do it's generally a refashion or something I can easily draft. But this year I am bound and determined to give adult garment sewing a try. I have heard great things about Colette Patterns. I purchased the paper copy of the pattern, but it's also available for digital download as well.

I selected this pattern because I felt like it was a good place to start. It is a beginner pattern and while I can do somewhat advanced skills on children's clothing, I thought this was a good place to start in the adult garment world. (And as I write this I have 'Do Re Mi', the song from Sound of Music song in my head......'Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start'.....if you have no idea what I am taking about, just forget I ever mentioned it).

Also, I feel like my body is pretty tricky to fit especially in the bust area. Anyone else ever have that problem? I generally wear a size six in commercial clothing, but without getting too detailed, I am well-endowed in the bust department. So, I thought I would try a skirt first and avoid being turned off sewing for myself with a dress that ends up not fitting. But a dress is definitely next on my list (assuming the skirt goes well).

I'll keep you updated on the progress. Or if any of you are interested, maybe we could do a little 'sew along'. Just an idea....

New fabric arrived this week! I have had my eye on 'Splendor 1920' by Bari J. for Art Gallery Fabrics since they previewed the line several quilt markets ago. I love everything about it. The romance, the femininity, the vintage touch........this line makes me very excited!

I don't think I've mentioned it here on the blog yet, but in a few weeks I will be heading to Salt Lake City to attend the Alt Design Summit. This year I will be traveling a lot for The Cottage Mama (and I mean a lot). It's been so long since I have been able to travel on my own because for the last five years I was either pregnant or nursing one of my three kids.

Alt Design Summit is a design blogging conference and I am thrilled to have a ticket. The tickets were sold out in less than an hour.....yeah, apparently it's that amazing of a conference. I will be strictly attending this conference as a blogger. The other conferences and events planned for this year are ones where I will be teaching or speaking. And this conference will be a little different for me since I don't exactly consider myself a design blogger, but I am a designer of sorts.....so I hope I fit in ok. I always think it's good to get out of your comfort zone and push yourself into new and exciting situations no matter how intimidating they might be.

The classes, speakers and list of attendees are pretty darn spectacular and I have heard that the fashion at this event is out of this world. I am super excited about this because I feel like I can finally pull out some of my heels again and get out of mommy mode a little bit this year. Mama's bringing her fashion back!

Oh and I'm rooming with two of my friends, Jess from Me Sew Crazy / Sew Set and Stef from Girl. Inspired. SO excited to spend the weekend with my fellow sewing blogging girlfriends!

I treated myself to a new pair of heels for the conference and other events I will be attending this year. Aren't they cute? They are patent leather cork wedges. I had been looking at these for several months and finally decided they needed to become part of my wardrobe. I love the big cork bow on the toe and they have a little vintage feel to me. Plus they are pretty neutral and will go with lots of other pieces I own.

And that fabric that I purchased is going to be used to sew a few things for me to wear at Alt Design Summit. Fun, right? I think so. I'll have to show you what I come up with once I figure out exactly what I will be making. It's a few weeks away, so I better get on that.

That's what's been on The Cutting Table this week at The Cottage Home.

What's been on your cutting table? 

Anyone planning to sew for themselves a little bit this year?

I hope you all have had a great week. Happy Sewing!

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On The Cutting Table........

'On the Cutting Table' is a series a started a little while back where I just fill you in on some of the behind the scenes happenings of The Cottage Mama.  Sometimes I disappear from the blog for a little bit, but I'm usually busily working away on different projects for other areas of the business.

So I thought I would share what's been going on around here this past week.......

First off, we are getting ready for International Quilt Market that is coming up this next week.  If you are not familiar with this event, it is a trade show (not open to the public)......but you can read about my experiences HERE and HERE.  I will not have a booth there this time, but I have some pretty great meetings scheduled with people and several of my creations will be on display at the Moda, Riley Blake Designs and Birch Fabrics booths.  I have been working away getting samples of my patterns sewn up for these three manufacturers using some fabrics that have yet to be released, which is always a lot of fun.

Samples for the Moda Booth of both my Shortcake Reversible Romper and Dress pattern as well as my Janey Jumper pattern.

This is one of the samples for the Birch Fabrics booth, though they will have about 5 of my pieces on display.  Isn't this whale fabric just too cute?  This is my new Run Around Romper pattern sewn in the shorts variation for a baby boy.

I've also been busy creating a new tutorial for Riley Blake Designs that will be posted next Wednesday.  I'm using their new 'Dress Up Days' line and we will be giving away a Fat Quarter Bundle of this adorable fabric next week.  I can't wait to show you this finished project ~ I think you're going to really like it!

My pattern covers and instructions arrived this week......all 27 boxes!  Right now they are hanging out in our mud room until we can figure out the best way to store them in the house.  I'm still waiting on the pattern sheets since those come from a different printer.  Due to the fact that they are printed on nice white pattern paper, each pattern sheet is hand folded at the printer.  Luckily the printer is shipping a small portion of the pattern sheets today so I should be able to fill all pattern pre-orders next week and have some left to take with me to market.  The rest of the patterns should be here the following week!

Also, this week I sold off a bunch of fabric from my stash over on The Cottage Mama Facebook page.  There are always new lines coming out so sometimes I have to make room in the studio for new arrivals, especially before market.  The pictures above are all the cut yardage and fat quarter bundles that will be mailed out (hopefully) by tomorrow.

And as if I didn't have enough going on, I am just dying to update my family room so I've been working on pairing some fabrics for this project.  I bought a wing-back style chair last year that I've had stored in my in-laws basement and I want to recover it in a bold print that will be the base for my design.  I love the bright and fresh looks I've seen in all the magazines lately, but I think I'm just a warm and cozy girl at heart, so I'm sticking to that color palette.  I'm trying to incorporate some Anna Maria Horner fabrics into the design as well.  This project is pretty far down on the priority list, but it's just something I can't get out of my head......do you know what I mean?

I've also got some new things I'm adding to the Etsy Shop as one-of-a-kind pieces as well as some custom orders that can be made in size 6 month through size 8.  The dress above will be listed later today as well as a few other things.  If you haven't visited The Cottage Mama shop in awhile, I would love for you to stop over: www.thecottagemama.com

Here are a few other things that will be showing up:

So today I will be working on putting a vintage-inspired children's look together for the 'Vintage May' series that is happening over at Craftiness is Not Optional and Skirt as a Top.  Not quite sure what I'm making yet, but I'm excited to come up with something for my post on Monday!

I hope you guys have had a wonderful week.  Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about doing the free pattern for the 'Little Linen Dress'.  It's coming.......eventually.

To stay even more up to date with The Cottage Mama, please join in our conversations over at The Cottage Mama Facebook page.  We'd love to hear from you!

Have a great weekend and a very Happy Mother's Day!

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On the Cutting Table: New Fabric, New Designs, Ect.

It's been a busy week over here.  Lots of things going on and trying to juggle my family, the kids, the blog and the business is always a challenge.

This past week I finally decided it was time for me to bring in a little help so that I can prioritize some things in regards to my work-life balance.  The only people that have ever watched our kids since our oldest Savannah was born are family members.....mainly my in-laws.  But I decided to ask the high school girl from next door to come over two afternoons a week (for three hours each day) to play with the kids while I get some work done.  So for right now I am home the entire time she is here working in my studio, but after Cass is done nursing in another 8 months or so, I might feel comfortable enough to leave for a little bit.

I have gone back and forth about this for months and now I'm wondering why I didn't do it sooner? Well, I know why I didn't do it sooner..........guilt.  I think my business was ready for this about three months ago, but personally I wasn't.  It's really hard being a work from home mom because as much as I want to grow my business, I want to be there for my kids during this precious time that is going by way too fast.  But I need to create.  It's just part of me.  It makes me a better mama to do what I love and it is so very important to me that my children recognize that Mama has passions and dreams just like they do.

So I decided it was best for the kids to have a young person come play with them two days a week that is completely focused on them.  They are getting used to someone new watching them (other than family) and are just in love with our new sitter.  And for me, I get to devote six very focused hours of my week in my studio doing what I love and working on my business.  I am really happy with my decision now and I think it's a win-win for all of us.  But being as though I value the fact that I am able to stay home with my children, it's not a decision that came about lightly.

So what was going on this last week?  Lots of stuff.........

Fabric is 'Circa 52' by Monaluna for Birch Fabrics

Well, I'm excited to say that I got my next three patterns sent out this week!  One is for boys and two are for girls and I think they are so cute (of course, I'm a little biased).  It will still be several months before they are available for sale, but they are officially now in production. It's amazing how long it takes to get a printed pattern fully ready for sale!

Above are the pictures of the lovely bundle that arrived this week from Riley Blake Designs.  Being on the Project Design Team definitely has its perks and working with pretty fabrics is one of them.  I am so in love with this line ~ Woodland Trails.  It's fun, whimsical, girly and springy.  I'm certainly feeling Easter with this line, what about you?

My next tutorial on the Riley Blake Designs blog will be done in this line as well as a pincushion I am designing.  And those trims and buttons, you'll see those coming up soon too!

I also got a few things listed in my shop, The Cottage Mama:

Secret Garden Reversible Romper - Size 2T

(made from my Shortcake Reversible Romper and Dress Pattern)

Wide Leg Boys Pants - Size 4/5

These were a boys pant pattern that I drafted.  It will not be one of the next patterns that are released as there are a few things I will probably tweak, but they were really fun to make.  They are made from a thin blue and white striped stretch denim and are trimmed with a fun orange bike fabric from 'Children at Play' by Sarah Jane Studios.

And here are a couple other fun dresses that I created from my 'Shortcake Reversible Romper and Dress' pattern:

Fabric is 'Sweet on NYC' by Sugar Pixie for Timeless Treasures

This is the dress version of the 'Shortcake' pattern where I added a double ruffle down the front.  Adding the ruffle makes it not able to be reversed, but it's still fully lined which is really nice.

Fabric is 'Sweet on NYC' by Sugar Pixie for Timeless Treasures

This is also the dress version of the 'Shortcake' pattern with the optional rick rack trim at the bottom.  I think this fabric is so fun and funky and the lining is red with little pink flowers.  

So this last week has been a little crazy, but I feel like I got so much accomplished.  I'm feeling so much more centered having finally decided to add a little help around here.  There are a few other projects in the works that I'm not quite ready to reveal (and no, none of them involve another baby).  

I've got a lot of projects to work on coming up in the next couple weeks, but this week I will be focused on designing Miss Savannah's orange party dress for her orange birthday party!  I can't believe my baby is going to be turning 4.

I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead and thanks so much for reading The Cottage Home!

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