Looking Ahead

Yesterday was my birthday. It's crazy stuff, I tell ya.

It seems I hold many of the same ideas and values dear that I did in my 20's, but now I know how to put them into action, am more confident in my abilities, and am actually taken seriously by others. I know, how exciting and odd at the same time (muahahaha)! Since I have been in grad school these past two years (has it really been that long already? How can it be that I am now closer to graduating than I am to registering for my first semester?!), my sewing and embroidery, alongside my little etsy shop, have developed in ways I never expected. I have also stepped into new roles and opportunities in the other half of my professional life in the museum world. I still love having this split identity, even though it can be stressful juggling the two worlds at times. They are equally important parts of me and I feel lucky to be able to pursue lines of interest in both. Just this semester, in addition to classes and the million+1 projects I have going, I've begun some part-time work on campus, embarked on my internship and thesis, and may have the opportunity to start teaching sewing and embroidery classes in the Boston area soon!

As you can imagine, that doesn't leave a lot of time for custom orders (and yes, this is the point I have been building to). It has been an agonizing decision to come to, and one that I have pondered over for some time now, but I know now that this is the right time to stop taking on any more custom shoe orders for the foreseeable future. To be clear, I will still be blogging here and updating my etsy shop with ready-to-ship items, but will not be accepting orders for custom embroidered shoes.

It's been a pleasure and an honor to work with all the clients who have entrusted me with their requests over the years, but I no longer have the time to keep up the level of service I feel my clients deserve. It's difficult to justify the long-term viability of the work when communicating the details of each order, an unpaid task, takes far more time than the embroidery work itself. In addition, there are now many who have copied my designs for resale at lower price points and I don't feel it is a worthy competition. If there ever comes a day when I am able to do more custom shoes, I will be sure to let you know (I will update this post if that is the case). In the meantime,  I'm looking forward to putting my embroidery to the test in new endeavors, including teaching, pattern drafting, and if I get my way, hopefully more opportunities for publication. By doing so, I can continue to balance both worlds, just in new and different ways. On that note, I do have a new embroidery pattern I hope to release sometime in the coming month, so keep your eyes peeled!

Full Steam Ahead

a sneak peek at the ongoing work for my next embroidery pattern "world traveler"...coming this Friday!

I'm a tad stressed out right now, I can't lie.

My sister is going to be spending some time with us and will be arriving tomorrow so I've been trying to get as much work taken care of as I can in order to clear a bit of vacation time for myself while she is here. I suppose not having anyone to cover for you while you're "out of the office" is a bit of a downside to having a one-woman shop. Because of some bigger ongoing projects, I know that in reality I will need to keep working on things while she's here but darnit, I'm determined to be able to enjoy some time with her since it's only the second time this year I've seen her, or any family for that matter.

Sigh, I do love this work so darn much though and here's what's been keeping my fingers dancing:

 6 x 6 feet in cream cotton sateen, complete with french seams, grommets, and corner ties

I finished the chuppah for my friend's wedding and am all set to begin transferring the design and placing it in the quilt frame to work on. Expect to see a few posts about this in the coming month as I will be embroidering the bajeebers out of it (you heard me right, the bajeebers).

a custom yo yo pillow with AMH voile for a customer who wanted something that reminded them of their grandma

Custom orders seem to be coming out of the woodwork lately and have been keeping my very busy away from the blog. This must be what it feels like to be an adult with your own mildly successful business, eh?!

matching pairs for the bride and groom

Stay tuned...tomorrow I just have to share two other pairs of converse that I worked on recently that are so cute, they made me want to squeal. And I am not really a giddy-squealy kinda girl.

Stitch by Stitch

 

Hand-stitched mini yo-yo rosette coverlet, detail

I had planned on sharing some of the photos from our weekend in Vermont but those will just have to wait their turn as I was pleased as punch when I saw how this mini yo-yo coverlet turned out! It was a custom order I received in my etsy shop to be used as a photographer's prop for newborn sessions (love that idea!) and I've been stitching away at it bit by bit over the last week+. The work took a bit longer than I had originally estimated and involved a lot of me stitching at odd moments in the car or curled up under the living room lamp way too late at night:

 A little night stitching + the netflix q = total sewing groove

Just try to hide your jealousy at the totally fashionable neon green compression gloves, mmk? Yes, they're a bit dorky looking but they're one of the few things I've found that can limit cramps and soreness when hours upon hours of hand sewing or embroidery is required.

The finished piece (the white is just the background I photographed it on and is not part of the coverlet)

So there you have it, my piéce de résistance for the week and a big part of why I haven't been blogging as much the past week or so. Now that it's all packaged up and in the mail, it's time for me to tackle a slew of new things that I've been wanting to get into the shop. It's a good thing that work involves me sitting down and embroidering or drawing because I need to move a bit slow not move at all due to the massive sunburn I managed to take home from our above-mentioned mini getaway this past holiday weekend (I used copious amounts of sunblock but I guess it was no match for four hours in a canoe). Despite the unwanted souvenir, it was indeed a great trip and I'll meet you back here later in the week with some Vermont-y goodness to share!

keeping cozy

i've been cranking out new draft stoppers for my etsy shop since it's getting to be that time of year when you don't want to feel that cold air seeping through the cracks. these ones have velcro on them and come empty so shipping is cheaper and it's easy to pull off the outer bag for cleaning. really though, i just vaccume mine off every once in a while and it works like a charm.

i can't tell you how useful these have been whether we've been living in a small city apartment and want to block the neighbor's noise and cooking smells (or, ahem, my own overuse of garlic...), or now that we are in an apartment within a big old house that comes complete with cold drafts and creaking steps. sometimes i even use them to block off rooms that we don't want to air condition in the summer...because you know, i'm thrifty like that.

i'll be posting them later in the week and of course i always take custom orders if you need a specific length. o i almost forgot to mention: i'm clearing out the shop completely to make way for new items so check out the 30% OFF SECTION! i'm beginning to look for a part-time job in hopes of starting some grad school classes after christmas so now's the time to clean house..err, shop i mean.

a labor of love

you might remember this project from its infancy. holy mackerel, it has come a long way and is now finished! it is 8x10 and is to be framed as a gift for the customer's friends to commemorate their wedding which i think is a great idea—a very personal, unique, and meaningful thing for someone to have in their home.



i used a split stitch for the majority of the design, varying the floss thickness for different parts and then i finished off the leaves with a raised satin stitch to give them some height and a nice smooth look.



then of course there are the buttons which i put on at the very end so that my embroidery hoop was not getting caught on them. some are new, some are vintage and from my own collection and i am really happy with the overall effect they give.

i'm really glad to be doing this work though...this particular wall hanging was more detailed than any embroidery i have ever done but i think it came out well and is giving me ideas for so many other designs and uses of the artform. if YOU are interested in some custom embroidery work just email me at geschichtenvonkat [at] gmail [dot] com ...embroidery can be done on just about any fabric and has limitless illustrative possibilities to personalize and embellish all sorts of items.

embroidered saturday

i'm really excited about the custom embroidery job that i am working on right now, it will be done as a wall hanging and given as a wedding gift so just a little bit of pressure to do a great job! I've drawn the whole design myself though and have incorporated some buttons in so that it has a 3D element and will go in a shadow box frame. now i just want to make another to commemorate our own wedding. it'd certainly make a lovely gift whether you're just getting hitched or you've been married for several years.


i had originally drawn a few different sketches of different designs for the customer to choose from and i think i'll end up using the border from this one if i end up making one for us:


i've been wanting to include more embroidery in the shop for a while now...new items such as pillowcases and eye-masks but also to embellish and freshen up older items like sachets and tea towels...more comforts of home, that is what the shop is all about. i'm on a roll now though so hopefully you will get to see the results soon!

just one last thing: THANK YOU to everyone who is following now; hopefully we will find three more folks to join us by the end of the week to reach the 100 mark!! I really love reading all your comments and having you along on this journey! AND to show you how thankful i am to all of you, i'm having a giveaway next week! feel free to let me know if you've got a favorite from either of my shops because i'm not sure yet what to give...

goings on

just a quiet day here full of lots of sewing and embroidery for the shop as well as wedding research (will share some photos of the sites we found tomorrow!).

i spent part of my morning sending out a couple draft stopper orders; one a custom order that i've gotten a few of lately with a double velcro closure and then sent empty to save on shipping. it definitely makes a lot of sense to do it this way and i'm currently preparing a few in other colorways to put in the shop for direct purchase.

must put the kettle on to boil and then back to work it is i go!

cheese and crackers vern!

just wanted to share a sneak peek from my day. what is that saying? some days you are the windshield and other days the bug...

i had a few orders to send out this morning so i got right to work. i was so on target...still pajama clad (a most wonderful benefit of working at home), had my mint tea with brown sugar just the way i like it, some gillian welch cranking out of itunes, sunshine pouring in my window, and i just needed to fill up this custom draft stopper and slip stitch the inner bag closed before posting it. well, i had it just about filled up when i leaned over to get one last cup full ever so gracefully...yeah, that was when all of the rice in it went all over the floor of my workroom, about 48x2 inches worth of rice. "CHEESE AND CRACKERS VERN!," as my great grandmother, gert, often said to keep from swearing. ok, well maybe i did let a few swears drop that gert would not approve of..or several..just maybe, haha. i did indeed pick up every last piece, ever the thrifty crafter! it's just been one of those days...

my work day is about done though now. i know, it's what about 11pm? time for some coco with a shot of baileys..i think i deserve it today!

printing with potatoes

i spent all of this past sunday doing laundry and printing more polka dot linen towels in every color imaginable: cherry red, baby blue, hot pink, pepto bismol pink, persimmon, mint, and grassy greens to name a few. if you're interested, you can always place a custom order with me for a particular color to match your own kitchen!

I use a stamp carved into a potato for my polka dots, quite a simple technique but it works beautifully. This can be a fun project to do with kids as well—just skip the fabric paint and use paper with a kid friendly paint that won't stain clothes and walls. Soon I will have to show you the new linoblock stamps i am carving though which I'm anxious to start experimenting with.

and on a completely unrelated note, tomorrow is my birthday! i just can't help getting excited about birthdays—some think they are mostly for kids, but if that's true than i guess I am always going to be immature :)