Surprise me! De-hoarding the Brenda and Sacha way!

So everyone knows that Sacha and I have started an Ebay store together, no surprise there!

Boudoir-de-Paris

My barkcloth listed!

I wonder if we are the first people to ever do this from different sides of the world?

Now that's a question for Ebay. And I have such a funny blog to write about the service call to Ebay to explain that!  But that's another story..maybe tomorrow?

Anyway...I was talking to Sacha last night...and it occurred to me that everyone probably thinks we plan out everything...discuss listing stuff...have a strategy...a plan...and I had to laugh.

I drag myself out of bed...get my coffee..turn on my computer...and Sacha is there...having wine and dinner and a relaxing bath, already having finished her day in France.

Our conversations usually start something like this...

Sacha: "How was work last night?  Is your rosemary plant still doing well?"

Me: "Still alive! It and me. :)  Did you list anything today?"

If this poor Rosemary plant lives, then lavender should too...right?

Sacha: "You know you can separate your rosemary now to have more?  Yes, one of my favorite pillow cases! What are you going to list today?"

Sacha's Monogrammed Pillow Case

Me:  "I don't want more rosemary plants, I want your lavender!  I haven't had enough coffee to decide about listing anything yet, I'll decide later. Oh I love your pillow case, I want it!"

Sacha: "No we're selling!!  Selling!  And I love the lace you listed..I want that!"

Me: No! We're selling..not buying..just say no!"

Sacha: "Here's my recipe to the Clafoutis you asked for. I'm going to finish knitting my shawl, have a great day!  Can't wait to see what you list while I'm sleeping!"

Me: "Me too! No clue. LOL  Thank you, you have a wonderful night. Thanks for the recipe and say hello to hubby for me!"

And that's how Sacha and Brenda De-hoard!

I've shared here!

Magnolia Pearl...really? Yes! Really!

 So what would YOU do if one of your favorite designers name showed up on your Etsy transaction page???  Well first...you stopped breathing...then you would stare at the email afraid to open it...surely you're seeing things right?...it's late...been a long night at work...would that make you hallucinate?  You walk away..come back...it's still there...an order for lace leggings...it's real..OMG..now what???

Some background...

I've always been pretty vocal about my love for Eileen Fisher and Magnolia Pearls designs. 

I know, that's about as far apart as you can get in the design world, but that's just

how my mind works.  I love the simplicity of Eileen Fisher and the romance of Magnolia Pearl.

  Someone awhile back told me my designs reminded her of Magnolia Pearls line. I had never heard of her ( I know, I know been living under a rock here in this small town)

but it didn't take me long to fall in love with her and her clothing!

The romance, the story and just the joy that radiates from everything she does is an inspiration.

I've always went my own way when it comes to creating and sewing garments, so I really love it when I find designers that do that same!

Anyway...enough about me...

Back to the Magnolia Pearl order!

So after getting measurements I started sewing the lace leggings she had ordered. 

They were for a friend, but still they are going through Robin's hands first so they had to be perfect, every thread exact...and can we say I was a tad stressed by this point???

Sewing a garment that was going into Magnolia Pearls camp was such a huge compliment and yet such a bigger OMG what if they hate them?...they don't fit?...the postal service eats the package?...

Well you get the picture!

Finally they are done and wrapped and on their way!

I've been dying to say something, but couldn't until I heard back from them...

And yes! They made it just fine and said she loved them. Whew.

So there was my brush with fame.

  Out of all the sellers on Etsy they picked my lace leggings!

  I'm still twirling around the room and pinching myself!  

 So thank you Magnolia Pearl for the boost in confidence and for being my sign.

My beautiful inside and out Whitney so NOT liking the feet and head on the mink stole props for the photo shoot.  At least I didn't try to make her wear it!

I had asked God for some answers whether I should just work like a normal person and stop sewing for the shop. It's difficult to work a full time job and keep a shop going at the same time.

  All I wanted was a sign..just any kind of sign..that I should keep designing and selling and boy

did I get one!

Sharing with link parties!


My Romantic Home

http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/ 

http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com/

Sew many ways 

SILK Romantic Robe 1920s French Boudoir by TheWiltedMagnolia

The first garment in my new French Boudoir collection for my Etsy shop!

Thank you Whitney, you are gorgeous inside and out!

And Greg for being the photographer extraordinaire! 

Haven and Adrianne for cheering us on all day!

Love you all!

SILK Romantic Robe 1920s French Bordello by TheWiltedMagnolia

Fabric from www.michaelsfabrics.com
Ribbon from The Ribbon Store
www.ribbonstore.com

I've linked at blog parties Sew Random and...http://www.sewcountrychic.com, Sew Much Ado, and http://www.acharmingoccasionblog.com

http://www.sewcando.com/
http://sewchatty.blogspot.com/http://sewchatty.blogspot.com/

Still under wraps...

I'm working on a new collection for August inspired by my antique patterns from the 1920's....

Still very hush - hush....

Under wraps.....

Actually wrapped in tissue paper, hand dyed ribbon,vintage lace, antique calling card and vintage

silk millinery roses!

I think I love making the packages pretty more than I like sewing the garments!

Shared on Shabby Art Blog,  My Romantic homes and The Feathered Nest Friday link parties!
Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound blog.

Week two declutter and Eileen Fisher Inspired closet

My de-hoarding is going pretty well!

I started by just getting my bedroom straightened out and all the clothes put away.

I started with my small closet that I have decided will be my "Eileen Fisher" closet.

The plan is for every garment to actually be an original EF piece or garments inspired by her and made by me..... How nice it would be to reach into a closet and everything just WORK together!

I have a decent start on it....

Two pairs of tight/leggings in a steel gray color, a tank dress in grey, all made by me and a EF long tank top with sequins..... horrible picture!

 

Made by me scarf, tights, tank dress, and EF Sweater worn to the movies. 

You can tell by the pics below the colors are much prettier than my first picture shows!

Made by me linen racer back tunic...

I started moving everything around and cleaning out and burning....

I did have great fun with my bonfire.

  Furniture, clothes, blankets, shoes, trash, you name it, it went into the fire! 

 Kinda scary when I get started I don't want to quit!

Even Cher was a little freaked out!

Only one panic attack yesterday when it came time to do something with one of my grandmothers bedroom dresser. It was cat scratched and would never have sold for anything. One of those with a huge mirror and two side drawers on each side. Takes up a whole wall that I wanted for sewing supplies. So it was useless for what I needed.  What to do? What to do? I couldn't quite bring myself to throw it on the fire...thought it about though...so I dismantled it.    So now I have a huge mirror (still waiting to see where that goes) and two end table with drawers that can be moved around.  So I freed up my wall and have extra storage. Whew.

And all this because I've started on cleaning out my bedroom! Good Lord. Move one darn thing and you have to move it all!  I actually moved my HUGE jewelry chest into a closet.  How funny is that???  Lots of jewelry will be going to auction also.

Now I'm trying to decide whether to burn, donate or put patterns in the auction boxes. Would they even sell? Guess it's worth finding out.
Anyone want some patterns, now would be the time to say so!

And the funniest thing...when I walked out the morning after the bonfire...one of the dogs was curled up right in the center of the ashes.  Guess it was still warm.  Crazy dogs.

Soooo....after work tonight, I'm off for a few days and I'll start again!

Wonder what will hit the bonfire this week???


Shared on
http://www.sugarbeecrafts.com
http://thecreativeitchboutique.blogspot.com/ 
http://www.shwinandshwin.blogspot.com/

I'm thrilled to say my creating mojo has returned and I have a definite direction to go with my designs!

That only took 30 years...not bad. Yeesh.

 Finally I feel like everything I have learned in the past has led me to this decision and that's it the right path.

So I've spent the past few weeks turning my hobby into a business.

Scary? Oh yeah!

Sales tax numbers, updated website, updated profiles and descriptions on my Etsy shop.

A marketing plan and lots of advice from Tara Gentile and other inspiring women to push me out of my rut and into the creative world of selling for what I'm worth.

After listening to several of her pod-casts (really, everyone should go listen) I sat down and seriously figured and re-figured my cost per item.

And yes at the end there was a GASP.  

I've been selling at wholesale cost. 

Which isn't horrible, but not if you want to succeed at what you're doing and actually get paid for it!

So here's the plan...yes there's a plan and I need everyone to hold me accountable to it!

How's that for putting it out there?

Starting next Monday, I will be working 3 days a week on my BUSINESS in my studio.

Yes, I took an extra day a week off from work. Another scary decision!

I have a schedule, just like a outside job. I will shut the door and not play with the dogs or nap with the kitty's all day. I will not play on the internet for hours. 

I will blog more often and list more often!

All input and advice welcome!

Join the link party at Sew Country Chick!

The Melinda Fingerless Double Ruffle Gloves

I'm in love with these gloves! They were so much fun to design and make. There will be lots of these in my closet this winter!

I'm linking to my favorite Monday blog partys!

Canoe Ridge Creations

Southern Lady's Market Monday

The Melinda Fingerless Double Ruffle Gloves

A customer requested a pair of these to go with the lace leggings I offer and I loved them so much I'm offering them in the shop too!

Made from the same stretch lace as my leggings, you can have these in cream or lilac.

3/4 length, they can be scrunched down for a shorter look. The thumb opening is reinforced for stability and because it's prettier than just leaving the serger seam. (My picky Mom would be proud!)

Soft ruffle on the hand and at the top, these are wearable all year.

Romantic Ruffled Lace Leggings or Tights in by TheWiltedMagnolia

Romantic Ruffled Lace Leggings or Tights in NEW Colors

From TheWiltedMagnolia

This is such a versatile garment!

Leggings or tights are made from 4 way stretch lace with a soft ruffle at the bottom. Great for layering in winter or summer, I usually wear these under dresses with a jacket and boots.
Under a romantic wedding dress or a tunic, as pj's or a sexy undergarment.

Choose from antique cream, black or mauve rose.Romantic Ruffled Lace Leggings or Tights in by TheWiltedMagnolia

Romantic Robe/Chemise1920's Flapper Pattern by TheWiltedMagnolia

Finally I'm back in the sewing room, making one of my favorite garments! I love using antique patterns for new clothing that's wearable for today.

Really??? I'm in the pattern business?

Ah, the anticipation on getting up at the crack of dawn to go to the estate sale in the next county....OK, the crack of dawn was 11:00, but hey I work second shift, so that was pretty good for me! After calling my buddy that lives close and having the "should I go, is it worth it?" conversation, I grabbed my coffee to go and went to explore the treasures that only live in houses of the south!  45 Min's later, there it is!

Oh no, lots of other people!  I've been scooped!  No surprise there, considering it's almost l:00 now!

I get to the garage and think "OMG it was a wasted trip" Nothing but ceramics and magazines.  The man sitting or should I say "reining" over the proceedings "laid back in his chair, said "Honey, you just go on inside. The back room is the craft room, Xmas decorations are in the other room and the living room has everything else and the back porch is the jewelry". Well. Needless to say I pushed the little woman aside with the small snippy dog (why do they ALWAYS have little dogs?) and made a beeline for the craft room!

I should have taken pictures, but there was too much to do!  Wall of fabrics, box of patterns, notions, shoes....this was my kind of sale!  It didn't take me long to realize that I was never going to get through all this in time to get back home and get to work on time, so after tracking down one of the ladies in charge (in her calico red checked dress and apron (awwwww....cute), telling her my predicament, I asked how much for all the patterns, never dreaming that it would be reasonable enough for me to get them all.

  And lo and behold I am now the proud owner of 6 boxes of vintage patterns!

Some are the designer Vogue's, some from the 40's....

Some are from the l980's which will promptly go into the trash!  Some things really should NOT be made again! :)  Do you KNOW how long it's going to take me to go through all these???    So we can certainly expect to see some of these in my Ebay shop next week!  Most of them are size 12 and l4, wonder if I can lose 50 pounds and wear some of these by September for the "Self Stitched September" challenge? 

I did score some of the cutest vintage purple shoes and lilac hat still in the hat box!  And they fit!

So overall, I'm going to say...it was worth getting up at the crack of dawn!