Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow

Ahhh, tomorrow. So much gets put off until then, and sometimes, for some of us, it never arrives. Luckily for me, my tomorrow is beginning today. Today is my lucky day, because I think I found the ticket to finally getting some help figuring out some of the things I need to get done...metaphorically...tomorrow.

One of my TagTalk cards from my etsy store

But first, I wanted to post one of my new Magic Baby designs. I love making jumpers, capelets, overalls and the like, but I really love making outfits. You know, matching jackets and skirts, or a top and leggings, a kimono jacket with matching overalls...things like that. Admitedly, they are slower to sell, probably because they are more expensive. In making outfits, though, I try to maintain my commitment to unique, one-of-a-kind styles, which are also highly functional for babies and their parents:, so I try to make the pieces both adjustable and reversible.

My newest Magic Baby outfit, a soft-waisted fairy skirt with a reversible jacket

It's been fun getting out my fall fabrics to work with. For this design, I have pulled out the wonderful star-sprinkled twill for the jacket. It is paired with pinwale corduroy and matching cotton for the details. As you can see, I haven't finished the reversible jacket yet. I have made two matching covered buttons for the jacket, one for this side, and one for the reverse. Tomorrow, I just need to make the buttonholes, then sew them on. The jacket has roll-up, adjustable sleeves, a cute bottom ruffle, and a shaped neckline echoed in the fairy skirt peplum. The back is here, on the left. I appliqued matching corduroy edged with piping to the jacket neckline. Cute!

The back of the skirt peplum dips lower than the front, and is finished with trim and matching covered buttons. The skirt waistband, which you can't see here, is a nice, stretchy soft knit.  I love it!

Because all of my designs are produced by me, and are one-of-a-kind in terms of the fabrics used, I have been really trying to figure out how to expand my design presence. I don't want to mass produce, so I've been thinking instead of how to develop my designs into patterns. With over 25 years and a substantial reputation designing, making and exhibiting art quilts, a solid selling book under my belt, and now my work in designing baby clothing, I want to find a way to reach a larger audience. Enter my friend, fellow artist and tech-guru Shannon Okey.

I first met Shannon when we were both doing book-signings at the Sewing Expo in Cleveland. We were seated next to each other, and I liked and admired her from the moment we met. If you are a knitter, you probably have some of her wonderful knitting design books. I later discovered, by comparing our linkedin profiles, that we have similar backgrounds, the strangest one being that we both speak German! Anyway, Shannon is younger than I am, and I am in complete "I'm not worthy" mode when I see what she does on the web. I had been planning to call her next week to ask for help, when, today, in catching up on blogs I follow, I read hers, and immediately signed up for one of her new online classes, e-book basics. My goal is to learn how to create my own pdf pattern files, teach my honed-over-many-decades workshops online, and generally try to upgrade my knowledge of the online world. Starting a blog and my etsy shop were first steps. Thanks, Shannon, for giving me a "ticket" to my tomorrow.