Excused Absence

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I tell you what, last week was a hectic one.  We had one ER trip (the little guy, he’s fine) one big dentist trip for me (me, and now I have a broken temporary crown and an infected tooth – is that TMI?), and one bored kiddo (the original Bobaloo, home for spring break).  I kind of dropped of the face of the internet for a while. 

 

 

 

 

I’ve finally been putting all that brand new fabric to work!  I ended with one bolt less than I thought (the blue and orange polka dot one is out of print), but it still feels like a HUGE amount of fabric.  I love it.

 

 

 

 

The pink polka dot fabric makes just the cutest bias tape.  Speaking of, I switched around how I make bias tape this time and it was so much faster.  I usually use the continuous strip method, but this time I cut my bias strips first like this, then serged them end to end.  The serger is so fast, plus the seams didn’t get bound up in my bias tape maker like they usually do.

 

 

 

 

I’m on an apron streak right now.  I just finished up a custom Crayon Apron for an adult who wanted one for her face painting brushes (there’s a picture on the bobaloo! Facebook page) and now I’m working on new ones for the Irvington Iris Tea Room.  Doesn’t that pink polka dot bias tape look adorable?

 

I’ve got our Craft-Night-turned-Sewing-Night at my house tonight and a meeting of the Uncommon Craft Society of Indianapolis tomorrow night, then it’s time to get to work on products for Record Store Day on the 16th.  What have you guys been up to?  I’ve missed you!

A Sweet New Bag + That Awesome Blanket

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Last week I took a break from the stock-the-inventory-closet sewing and made myself this sweet new bag!





The pattern is from V and Co. and is super simple and fun to make.  There aren’t even pattern pieces – you just cut it all out with your rotary cutter and it sews up in no time!





This is a serious bag, not a dainty purse.  On Sunday it happily held my usual purse stuff, two kiddo jackets, an American Girl doll, a folder full of paper, my big camera, and a box of Rice Krispie treats (it was a party, what can I say?).  It’s that handy size for when your kids are too old to require a diaper bag but you still end up hauling around half your house.

You should also head on over to Vanessa’s blog – it’s full of fun sewing projects and loads of inspiration.  It’s definitely one of my faves.





I’m not the only one getting something new around here.  Remember the awesome chenille blanket I mentioned in last weekend’s Weekend Links?  I started one for the little guy!  Poor thing – being a second child to a busy mom means he hardly has any handmade stuff, so I’m excited to finish this up for him.





I’m following the tutorial from Aesthetic Nest that was linked to on Living With Punks.  So far it’s going surprisingly quickly given that I’m not a great quilter and it is A LOT of quilting.  You better believe I’ll be showing pictures of this one when it’s done.

What are you guys up to?  Any new fun projects?  Want to tempt me with another project for myself?

By the Numbers

Tweet One thing I love about running my business through the internet is the MASSIVE amount of stats available.  I looooove numbers and I pretty much obsessively check Craftopolis, Google Analytics, and Blogger Stats. For some reason, this week I have reached some big numbers, so let’s have some sharing time!

Number of Blog Followers through Google Friend Connect – 21!  I love each and every one of you lovely ladies (and my husband, who was the first).

Pageviews of the blog – just broke 5000!  That seems like such a huge number to me!  The tutorials I posted were both on One Pretty Thing, and that really boosted visits to the blog.  The Fancy Burp Cloth Tutorial is the most viewed page BY FAR on my blog.

Number of sales in my Etsy shop – 26!  I was excited to reach 20 on Monday, but then a had a few more sales Tuesday and Wednesday.  I’ve been listing new stuff like mad so I’m sure that has something to do with it.  I had my first repeat buyer this week, which is awesome! 

Pageviews in my Etsy shop – just over 12000!  Holy moly.  That makes my head spin.  Some big contributers to that number were being on the front page of Etsy in September and the giveaway going on at luvinthemommyhood (go over there and enter if you haven’t!).  Speaking of, if someone with a big blog offers to host a giveaway, DO IT.  Totally worth it for the number of people going through my shop this week!

Sweet Little Boys in my lap helping with my post – 1!  Isn’t he the cutest?  His big sister is at a sleepover, so it’s just the two of us this morning.  His doctor referred to him as a toddler yesterday.  He may be walking, but I am still insisting he’s a baby.

Have a great weekend!  I have a meeting tomorrow that will hopefully result in some good news – I’ll fill you in Tuesday.  Oh, and don’t forget about my gift card giveaway!