Long Time, No Sew

Well, not really -- I have been sewing, just slowly, for myself, and I haven't been documenting things. But all of that is changing now! Well, some of that is changing now. The documenting part.

A little personal back story on where I've been in my life: back in 2010, with the big 3-0 looming closer on the horizon than I would have liked, I decided to grab the reins on my life and pull it in line with my artist's spirit. So I quit a very cushy job just before there were no jobs to be had, with the intention of finding my creative niche and establishing myself in it. I settled on fashion design just after I ran out of savings, and thus began some very Hard Times.

But happily, through sheer will power and just the right lucky breaks, I actually found a job in my preferred industry, using the skills which I spent two intense years teaching myself! The reality is definitely quite different from the dream, but that's probably the nature of things when you actually get what you wish for. The best part is that I can finally ease up off myself, creatively speaking.

Doing so has been a hard decision for me; I definitely don't come from an environment which supports 'play' or 'recreation', much  less having hobbies for the sake of it. But I feel that it's best for me now to simply play at sewing and making, instead of forcing myself to build my fashion empire Right Now. In this case, there really is tomorrow. So I'm officially taking a break from being a fashion designer, in order to enjoy being a home sewer who makes her own clothes.

Stick around and talk sewing with me, or ogle my fancy new clothes -- whatever floats your train! I would love the company, and who knows what will come of our time together.

--Ebi P.

Game Plan, April 2013

As mentioned in my previous post, things are changing – for the better – here at Mostly Raaw Edges. I’ve got themes and goals and I want to share them with you!

This month, the theme is stash busting. For those of you who don’t craft, a stash is a collection of materials that crafters have at the ready. It sounds great, but stashes grow out of control faster than children grow up! And my fabric stash is no different.

So for April, I am joining the 2013 Stashbusting Sewalong, created by CationDesigns and EmSewCrazy. And here is my pledge:

"I, Ebi of Mostly Raaw Edges, commit to sewing only from stash fabric in April 2013, by creating projects for what I have. I commit to using at least six pieces of stash fabric this month, and buying fewer pieces of fabric than I use from my stash."

My goal in joining this challenge, besides reducing my stash, is to get over my fear of ‘ruining’ fabric, and to reduce lag time between projects.

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Next, I have a personal goal. I have been talking about opening an Etsy store for-ev-er, and finally it is time to put my money where my mouth is. My goal is to sew ten or more items by April 30, so I may open my store in May 2013. This ties nicely into the stash busting goal, because some of the fabrics in my collection are no longer very ‘me’ – but they could be very ‘you’ or ‘someone you know’!

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Finally, my professional goal. Starting up a clothing line is a monumental undertaking, but just like the pyramids were built one brick at a time, so will I build my line. I’ve finally got a decent collection of sketches, so my next hurdle is making samples of my designs to see how they look in real life. My goal this month is to make one finished and perfected sample. It may be a new design, or it may be the Peekaboo Polo Tee which debuted in February. We shall see…

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Whew! April is going to be a busy month. Better get cracking!