Tips and Tricks Tuesday

When I dove head first into this journey of owning my own business I had no experience with an embroidery machine. In fact I didn't even think of the machine as an option until it was suggested to me (several times lol). I realized it was the only way I would be able to really make the adorable designs on the clothes I wanted to make. When I purchased the machine I read the manual front to back and was still very confused. It told me how to operate the machine but there was no information about how to actually applique designs on clothes. The websites I purchased my designs from were also lacking in dummy-proof videos that told me what to do. There was a lot, and I really mean A LOT of trial and error going on over here. I thought I would put together a weekly post of ways you can avoid all the mistakes that I made and hopefully you won't waste as many materials and as much time as I did!
I will also get into ways to keep track of inventory and other things that are part of the no-so-fun book keeping aspect of owning your own business. Thankfully I started my business in September and really got things going in October of 2013. When tax time came around I only had a couple months worth of information to gather and sort through rather than an entire year. I kept every receipt and tracked every sale I made but that didn't even touch what I needed to be doing. Thank goodness for the Excel class I took in college! It saved me from having to purchase expensive accounting software and made the little bit of OCD in me happy. Now I just have to remember to continue to fill in my spread sheets as I make sales and use materials. This is something I personally need a set day each week to do otherwise it will get forgotten and I will be scrambling to figure it all out again.
So come back next week and I will share with you some tricks and tips I have learned that will make things run smoother and produce high-quality work your customers will love!

My Sleep Consultant ROCKS!!

My first 2 babies were great sleepers, or at least that's how I remember it anyways! My third son has been a little bit different starting from the moment he decided it was time to meet us. He came 3 weeks early and was a tiny little guy weighing in at only 5 lbs 8 oz. We decided to have a home birth and in order for that to happen you have to be 37 weeks along and the baby has to be 5 lbs 8 oz to stay home after the birth. Well he met those qualifications right on the dot, no more than the bare minimum. The first couple months were a huge blur. He had a very severe tongue tie and we spent a lot of time trying to get him to breast feed correctly. By the time I knew it 4 months had passed and his sleep was still terrible. He would wake up after only 20 minutes of being asleep. I decided to try the swing and for a few days it was like a miracle. He slept about 7 hours over night and was taking actual naps. But after a few days he started waking more frequently again. For the next 4 months he slept in the swing, batwing swaddled and I would sit on the floor and feed him a bottle every time he woke up. I have no idea how many times I was doing this each night. Between exclusively pumping and feeding him I don't remember much. I had heard about sleep consultants and wasn't sure it was something that was truly worth the money you had to spend. After all, I was a pediatric nurse, I "knew" about babies and knew all the "do's and don'ts" of getting your baby to sleep well. I had it settled in my mind he was one of those babies people talk about- the ones that just aren't good sleepers. I had joined the club of exhausted mamas, with a baby who just didn't like sleep. I had a phone conversation with Deb from South Sound Sleep Solutions and thought maybe she could help but I still wasn't convinced. A few days after I spoke to her my little guy decided, out of the blue, that he now hated the swing so I started putting him in his crib. He did much better than I thought and didn't seem to wake up any more often than before so I figured maybe he would just figure this sleep stuff out and we wouldn't need to hire anyone!! A couple weeks later he decided to wake up 8, 9, maybe even 10 times in one night and I was D-O-N-E!! I could not take any more nights of broken sleep and days of dragging myself around trying to stay awake. I felt my own mental health was barely still intact. Deb came for our initial appointment and had some things I could change right away. Within a day or 2 Xavian was already taking very well to the changes and the best part was there were NO TEARS!! He was getting a bottle around 11pm and 4 am and was doing really well with that. Then about 2 weeks into it he seemed to figure out what time I'd be coming in to feed him and he was waking about 10 minutes before my reminder would go off. This little boy is too smart!!!  I called Deb and we discussed options. I knew it was time to implement an actual sleep method but I was dreading it. It literally made me sick when we were talking but I decided I needed to push forward. I was just so worried he would be screaming since the method that would work best for him did involve leaving him for short periods. That night I went in and fed him around 11 pm without any issues. I went to bed and when I woke up and checked the clock it was 430am. He hadn't woke up crying for his bottle yet and I was surprised. I'd like to say I went back to sleep until I got him up at 730 am but I had to pump and he did fuss a little off and on so there was not a lot of sleeping going on for me.


Baby X happy in his crib

But he did AMAZING! Babies are so much smarter than we give them credit for, probably because they can't communicate with us. If anyone isn’t sure that hiring a sleep consultant is worth the money, I say ABSOLUTLEY! I can put it like this: weighted blanket to help baby sleep: $40, extra pacifiers for the crib so he can find one: $10, night light: $3.99, sound machine to drown out anything that might wake him: $29.99, sleep consultant: priceless!!! He has continued to do so well with sleep and he even takes 2-3 hour naps on top of sleeping 12-13 hours each night. I am still in awe because I truly believed he was just one of those babies that don't need much sleep. There is no such thing, trust me! I am so thankful we had the opportunity to work with Deb. Being able to actually sleep through the night has given me my sanity back. I cannot thank her enough!

 

 

My beginning



The first pair of pants I made!



2013 was a year full of changes and new beginnings. I was blessed with my 3rd baby boy in May. He came unexpectedly 3 weeks before he was due, to my surprise. I was in labor at work all day and in total denial, after all he wasn't supposed to come until June! We had a beautiful home birth and it was more than I could have imagined; so much better than the 2 previous inductions I had in the hospital. I planned to quit my job as a nurse for about a year to be home with my kids. With him being my last it was a bittersweet time and I wanted to soak up every moment with my babies while they were still little. I made the decision to cloth diaper, mainly to help save money while I was home from work. At first the cloth didn't work, I had a tiny little 5lb 8oz baby boy and he was swimming in the newborn covers I had. Once he grew enough for the diapers to fit, his clothes didn't. He quickly "outgrew" clothes because of his fluffy bottom and I found myself going through his dresser frequently to put away another stack of clothes that just weren't roomy enough in the tush. About 4 months after my baby boy was born I was again going through his clothes I thought to myself, "I know so many mama's that cloth diaper, why in the world are there not pants that fit over cloth?!". It then struck me I should make some! Now, I have sewn in the past but nothing too hard. I made scrubs when I graduated from nursing school, crib bedding (with my mom's help) before the birth of my first baby, and a few projects in between but that was about it. I got out a few pairs of pants that were different styles, did some reading online and starting cutting. I made a pattern with some freezer paper and then sewed my first pair of pants out of an old t-shirt. I was so excited! They fit great over his huge cloth diaper AND his legs! It's OK if you are looking at them thinking, "those are really terrible looking pants!", I thought the same thing! I was seeing if my design was even going to work, I wasn't going for pretty here guys!



the first REAL pair of pants I made!!



 After what I called success, I went on and finalized the pattern and then started sizing them. That was a loooong process! You can't just add an inch to the waist and the bottom of the legs and think the pants will look right, trust me!! Thankfully I had several mama's who were more than willing to let me use their little ones as models to help me get the fit right. It took a few tries but I finally had my finalized patterns for all the sizes. As I continued to create, my ideas grew. From the beginning I knew I wanted each pair of pants to have a design on the tush. I had no idea how to sew them on but I was determined to figure it out. I read up on the subject and found you could use a regular sewing machine to sew a satin stitch. I was in business! I got to work right away with my trusty machine and sewed an owl on my first pair of pants. I have to say I was pretty surprised that it looked so good for my first try. But, I also knew if I was really going to do this as a business there was no way I could make each pair of pants that way, it was too time consuming.

my first design
 

With the help of my awesome step-mom another idea was born! I was going to get an embroidery machine and appliqué my designs on the clothes!

It's been a fast journey, and one I never imagined I would be on. I definitely had to adjust to being a stay-at-home mom who owns a business making clothes, but I wouldn't change a thing. I love being home with my kids and I truly enjoy being able to create adorable clothes that other people really like. Thank you to all my family and friends who have supported me and helped me along the way! You have made this possible for me.