Hey Baby (bibs)!

I have played around with baby bibs in the past, but now I've stepped it up a notch and am having a blast!

Flannel comes in so many whimsical and adorable designs ~ they lead my imagination in all sorts of directions!  I've added chenille for the backing to add not only to the functionality (it's thicker and more absorbent), but adds to the texture and the all over design and fashion.

And to set them truly aside from the thousands of baby bibs out there, I always applique something on the front.  That's why I love the flannel designs so much ~ they inspire my appliques.


The crowning touch (almost literally) ~ I have discovered how easy it is to use pearl snaps and they add a touch of class to the bibs.  I had a real lesson when it came to the snaps...  I bought an expensive ($26) tool to attach the snaps.  After a very frustrating experience ~ they wouldn't attach and I ruined several snaps ~ I logged onto Pinterest (my new Google for all things crafty!).  It didn't take long to find a couple of awesome (and easy to understand) tutorials on how to attach snaps.  The real treat?  I found links to a fabric website (I thought I knew them all but I'd never seen this one) with super cheap pearl snaps (in colors no less!) and a little metal tool to attach the snaps.  It cost $2.50, all I needed to add was a hammer!  Easy peasy attaching.  And I've only hit my thumb once with the hammer.  (wink)  Needless to say, I returned the $26 "tool."

So here's hoping my customers will like my new products as much as I do. :) You can find some in my Etsy shop ~ with more to come!

Listening to the Customer.

When one of my loveliest of customers called last week with a special request I immediately said, "Sure! - What do you need?" (See my previous post re: saying "yes!") In retrospect this was maybe one of those cases where I should have said the "What do you need?" part before the "Sure!" part. But on second thought ~ as always ~ I learned and grew.

My lovely customer is an older woman ~ very creative and imaginative ~ and lucky me, she loves my products. A friend of hers is throwing a baby shower for her daughter and my customer is invited. She decided she wanted one of just about everything I make: a dog (but not a Wee Dog - something else); a knit hat; a Wee Traveler bag; a pillow and a baby blanket for the baby's car seat and stroller. Oh, and none of this pastel-baby-looking stuff; we want dark, strong colors because the baby is a boy. And she loves my little truck applique, so could I please incorporate that somehow. And coordinate them all? Oh, and she needs them all in a week.

Keeping in mind that I was in the throes of preparing for the RAW: Natural Born Artist event at the time and slightly freaking out about that, as well as having many additional orders in the queue, I wondered... what had I gotten myself into?

But she is a dear soul, so I agreed. The dog, the pillow, the hat - snap. Done in a short work day. The bag... I hadn't made one in awhile and it took a couple of runs to get back in the groove, but it finally clicked. And the baby blanket ~ I've been talking about adding Baby Bubby Blankets (small for car seats and strollers) to my line for about a month, but hadn't made a proto-type yet. So it was time to dive in. It was surprisingly easy and I am excited to say I can officially add them to my line.

You see the finished gift set above. Not something I ever would have dreamt up for a baby shower, but now that I see them all complete and together ~ I must give credit where credit is due. My dear sweet soul of a customer had a fantastic idea - unconventional, one-of-a-kind and fun! Now I can't wait to show it all to her!

Once again - lesson learned - to listen to what the customer wants and go with it. Inevitably delightful surprises will result!