Successes of the Week

I know I've mentioned that I am busy. I really really am.

I have orders in from customers as well as a wholesale order of nearly 50 items to complete ASAP. Sometimes I let that kind of workload get the best of me. When I'm vulnerable late at night, and too exhausted to move, the anxiety of failure overcomes me. I am too tired to go sew, but too awake to fall asleep. And so I lay there kicking myself for forgetting this and stressing out about completing that.

It is a lot of pressure owning your own business. There is so much joy that comes with success and so much sorrow that comes with failure. I make every single piece. I invest my time and my life into my work. That's a large burden for a piece of cloth to hold. 

So, knowing that this fear is a crippling weakness of mine, I am setting out to put the stress behind me.

I can't take it all so seriously anymore and that starts with allowing myself "free time." 

I work from home, therefore I end up working all but maybe 3 hours a day, 6-7 days a week. When I'm not working, I think about work. Okay okay. I'm in a bad place! And I know it.

My goal for the weeks ahead are to take off for the whole weekend and not to put in more than 8 hours a day.

I took off (most) of this past weekend. I made cheesecake. I went for a walk with a friend and I painstakingly taped instagram photos in a grid above our bed. 

These are my mini successes. These are the things that make me Kasey, not kay.em.kay. It is important for me to remember that we are different entities and that my worth is not wrapped up in the amount of dresses I was able to sew that day. I am the same even after getting a bad review. I am the same even after being praised. Work and life are separated. I can be a hard worker without being work incarnate. 

I am feeling lifted today. 

Handmade Wardrobe- Formal Maxi

My friend, Brenda, just wrote on her blog about making a necklace and being complimented. There's this weird dilemma when you make things and people start to know you as the girl who makes things. 

It's fantastic when people ask if you have made something and you have. They then praise you telling you how incredibly talented you are and how impressed they are with your skills. Then your head becomes so large that you literally float away. (It's scary because I'm afraid of heights.)

Then there are the days when you just throw something cute on and people see it and they say, "Did you make that???" And you say "No. I bought it at blah blah's" and they say "Oh." And then it's awkward and they change the subject.

So, this has been going on for me for over 2 years. And I seriously don't read into it as much as I used to. And I know that the people who have done this to me had no idea that I analyze their words and thought "they didn't say it was cute when I didn't make it, so are they just saying it's cute when I DID because they they don't know what else to say? What if they really don't like it?!?!?!?"

Now, to avoid all of that, I just make my dress for family events. This past weekend, John's cousin got married and I wore a sample that was never intended to become a real dress. I was playing around with lengths last year and made this. Because I never intended to wear it, I had to rush to hem it the night before the wedding. And it didn't quite fit anymore and the grain on the bodice runs the opposite of the skirt, and there's a seam on the back because I ran out of fabric making that long skirt and when I used the pocket, my hand busted it open. So, I wouldn't say "success" at the time.

But looking at the photos, I'm kind of in love with the length. It's rather flattering on me, I think.

 So, sample dress, you were a success and I'm happy I had a last minute rush and you were the only unworn handmade dress around.

JD Wolfe Pottery

 I'm on an incredibly talent-packed Etsy team and every season this team does a swap. I was so excited when I opened the door last week and saw that I was receiving pottery! That very day I had broken one of my favorite vintage porcelain plates and was feeling really low about it. Silly as it seems, I'm pretty attached to the few home decor "knick-knacks" I own.

The whole time I was opening the box, I was literally squealing with delight. Haha, just looking at these photos makes me feel that excitement all over again. They're so precious AND I GET TO KEEP THEM FOREVER! I can understand your jealousy right now, but I won't give them up; not even one. But, you can get your own set on Jennifer's Etsy page.

And I just bought these awesome stickers from another team member; SparrowNestScript. I think the little bowl is the perfect holder for them, right?

Told you it's talent-packed.

xoxo,
Kasey

Fingernail Inspiration

This cute necklace that I have been eyeing for quite some time has inspired me! I went out and bought Wet'n'Wild "I need a refresh-mint" and "Sugar Coat" and with a little bit of tape gave myself a mani. Sadly they didn't have gold polish, so I settled for a soft pink.. kind of like the shirt she styled the necklace with in the listing.

I love having my nails painted. It makes me feel made-up at all times; even days I don't shower. So, three cheers for nail polish... ! I don't hear you cheering, but I'll let it slide.

Dianna has a whole bunch of fabulous jewelry, so go check her out!

Case of the Mondays

I've updated my current fabric options. It makes me a bit sad to see fabric patterns go. I realized that I have quite an attachment to them, so it's a good thing I know how to sew, otherwise I'd have a hoarding issue.

It's been my intention to slow down a bit for the last week and take a 3 day weekend. However, frustratingly dumb mistakes and 4 last minute dresses meant that I didn't do what I had set out to do. I did have a LOVELY day yesterday though. I spent the entire day with people. I'm a slight extrovert who works from home by myself all week, so the ideal "rest" is sometimes just a coffee date or a movie with a friend. I feared that my hermit ways were turning me into an introvert, but apparently, I'm fine. John was surprised by how much I spoke all day. And I don't mean surprised in a good way. I mean, I was over-sharing left and right. Totally embarrassing..

This weekend I'm attending my cousin-in-law's wedding and I made 3 of the bridesmaids dresses and the mother of the bride dress as well. I'm looking forward to seeing all the ladies in them. I get this heart bubble when I see someone twirling in my dresses. :)

So, here I am to say that I'm alive and well and I can't wait to show you the summer items I'll be adding in the next few weeks! Here's the dress from the sneak peek. I love how it turned out. I debated the horizontal bodice, vertical skirt for a LONG time. And I'm happy to say that I went for it!

I wish I had some pastel shoes to wear with it. Please pass a link if you know of any!

xoxo,
Kasey

A sneak peek!

A new summer dress is coming soon. :)

Also, note: I never make my bed...

Sewing Update

My turn-around time is running about 2.5 weeks now. But John had off from work and helped me catch up a bit. It should be back to the usual 1-2 week turn-around in just a few days. He was so so so fantastic that we were able to complete 8 items and finally ship a large wholesale order.

It's headed to Milk Handmade in Chicago. Go check it out if you live there. It's beautifully curated and Hallie is a really sweet lady.

xoxo,
Kasey