So Here’s The Thing...

I’ve been absent a while. In fact, this is actually my first blog post of the YEAR. I have been SUPER BUSY to say the least.

A little over a year ago, a couple of things happened that HUGELY impacted my life. Outside of one Facebook group in which I’m very active, I pretty much abandoned all forms of social media. I had neither the time nor energy.

I’ve mentioned before that my husband is a pastor. Well…one thing we do in the African American church is we wear hats. LOL! Well not me. I’m a very occasional hat wearer but I digress. Last September, the day before my husband’s pastoral anniversary celebration, I accompanied a friend (also a pastor’s wife) to a hat show. At the hat show, we met a lady who is also a pastor’s wife. The two of them were talking & somehow it came up that I sew. “Do you sew for others?” she asked. Occasionally. “Do you have any pictures of your work?” CERTAINLY. Long story short, I showed her some pictures I had on my phone and we exchanged contact information. Ok we’ll come back to that later.

Fast forward a few weeks. My friend was having a really hard time finding anything she liked for her husband’s pastoral anniversary celebration. (This is the first thing, by the way). She wanted a specific color. A specific shape. It just was not to be found on the rack. She tried on one of my dresses. She loved the silhouette but it unfortunately didn’t fit.  I convinced her in the 11^th hour to let me make something for her. She didn’t want to impose because it was such a last minute thing. Nevertheless, I made the dress - same dress as the one she tried on. We added a sleeve.  It fit beautifully. And she styled it to perfection. She posted a picture on Facebook and tagged me thanking me for making the dress for her. All of a sudden I’m getting friend requests and messages from people asking if I could make the dress for them. What else can I make? How much would I charge? Whoa Nellie! I wasn’t prepared for any of this because I don’t sew by trade. I am a business analyst by day and a hobby sewer by night. The overwhelming response came as a complete shock to BOTH of us. That was in October.

 

 Lady Carla Nelson wearing vintage-inspired with boat neckline and 3/4 length sleeve.



 

OK, now remember the lady we met at the hat show? Here comes the 2^nd thing yall. Well HER husband’s pastoral anniversary celebration is in November. She initially wanted a dress made for a banquet; but I actually ended up making 2 dresses for her. And she liked the fabric we chose for her banquet dress so much, we bought out the bolt and I later made a 2^nd dress from the same fabric. SHE posted pictures on Facebook and once again, my inbox was on fire.

 

 Lady Doniella Ligon wearing vintage-inspired dress on left and shantung/floral jacquard formalwear on right.

The next several months were a whirlwind of people both locally and across the country wanting me to sew for them. And it all happened so fast that I didn’t have time to really prepare because it was not something I set out to do. So in a nutshell, this has been the reason for my absence.

Right now I’m taking a breather. Just taking some time to regroup and regain some sanity in my personal life. My husband has been EXTREMELY supportive and PATIENT. But right now we just need some “us” time. And I’m thinking long and hard about if I will continue with sewing for hire and in what capacity. I haven't sewn a thing in a month except 2 pillowcases for a gift exchange LOL.

Lady Carla Nelson (left) and Lady Doniella Ligon (right)

both wearing vintage-inspired dress in ivory shantung.

I have been challenged and forced outside of my little comfort zone so much and have grown so much in my skill over the last year. I have so much more to share with you. Over the next series of posts, I’ll be doing somewhat of a year in review and sharing some more of my “client sewing” with you guys and some other things that have transpired.

Stay tuned!