Garbage Truck Backpack for J

So it seems like most of the boys I sew backpacks for have names like Jason, James, Joshua... is it a coincidence that I am always sewing for "J" kids?

Here's the latest/last backpack I made for the summer.   This one will be for little J as he's going to preschool.

This will be the first time someone has ordered two side pockets and I think it's a great idea!

Overall it's got the same look and feel as this one or this one.  I really like the look of the quilted bottom vs a flat bottom.  It's soft but has structure.

I love little boys and their backpacks!  Can't wait to see a pic of little J in his backpack!

Last call for the Baby Stuff Giveaway and other shop news

Some house cleaning items...

1. A couple of days ago, I wrote about a really cool baby stuff giveaway hosted by Jodi Kendall.   The Baby Stuff Giveaway ends TONIGHT at 11:59pm. If you haven't had a chance to enter, please enter on her website.  I'm giving away these 3 Josh & Teo Toy leashes.

2.  For the month of August, my ETSY shop will be stocked mainly with ready to ship items and toy leashes.  I have temporarily removed the mini wallets, wrist wallets, and stroller bags but will bring them back in September.  Toddler Backpacks are available for order but they won't be shipping until the 3rd week of September.  I hope to be seeing a lot of the beach over the next couple of weeks.

I'm going to be taking some time off in August to enjoy the rest of the summer with my family.  Joshie starts J/K in September and I want to spend as much time with him before he is in school for the next 20+ years.  The craziness has already begun as I have been buying a ton of uniform clothes already. 

It's July 31 but summer is still here!

Leslieville Tree Festival

Sunday was my first outdoor show at Leslie Grove Park in Leslieville.

Both kids caught a cold so we didn't bring them with us.  For the past couple of days, I was fretting about the weather.   Doing an outdoor show is always risky, even if you have a tent!  This is what the weather network said our day would look like.   Thundershowers!!!

But we didn't get the torrential downpour, just a couple of light sprinkles to keep us cool. Phew!   Amanda at Leaf was really nice about giving us a table with good foot traffic near the entrance at Queen/Jones.

Here are some pics from my table display.  As we all know from an earlier post, hubby is a whiz at many things.  This time, he built me two stands to display my toy leashes.  I also brought some tricycle bags, stroller bags, and Teo's brand new bulldozer backpack.

Here's an up close shot of his backpack.  I didn't tell him that I made this for him until AFTER we got back from the show.  

I missed the tree planting part of the day, but I did get to see the scary scarecrow on stilts and a performance by Zero Gravity Circus.



Overall, we had a great time!   Special thanks to hubby who didn't get to watch the Euro Cup (Go Italia!) but we made it to the TV just in time to watch the kick off.   Also special thanks to my friends and family that came by for moral support!

ETSY - Toronto Meet Up

I've been a little swamped the last week and so I didn't get a chance to write anything about the first EVER Toronto ETSY event. It was held on June 15 at Oz. It was nice to mingle and chat, listen to 3 veteran sellers, and talk to Nada, our Canadian Community Manager.  My friend T came along with me as she is considering opening up an ETSY shop.  Hubby decided to stay home - he predicted he would be one of 5 males and he was about right!

Click on the link to see the ETSY Flickr pictures: ETSY Toronto Meetup

Afterwards, I went to Watusi for dinner with my friend T and we got some yummy dishes for sharing.  The beets were yummy and the chick pea french fries were quite unique.  I'm going to have to figure out how to make the fries for the kiddies.  What a great idea.

OK... time to go get ready for Sunday's market at the Leslieville Street Festival!
 

Owl Toddler Backpack

 
I started this owl backpack 3 months ago. It's a first birthday gift for little A and it took me way longer than I expected. I guess I'm the kind of person who works better under pressure. I have only made these backpacks for little boys so it was such a pleasure to make something a little more girly.

Although I could probably make this owl gender neutral by changing the colours, I went with pink. I used recycled jersey for the applique... the pink owl was from a cerveza cusqueña t shirt that I got in Peru. I bought it after hubby and I hiked the Inca trail. When I washed it at home, it shrunk to toddler sized proportions. I didn't even get a chance to wear it! I've been waiting for a chance to repurpose it into something else. Given that it was a beer shirt, I didn't want to make a toddler dress out of it.

Too many choices for the piping...

 
It took me forever to sort out where the eyes would go.

But I finally figured it out

Some more pics...

Side shot... no pockets this time

I also made the lining a little different this time.  I decided to sew the lining to the backpack and cover the open seams with bias tape.  To be honest, I'm not sure which method I like better.  This way keeps the lining tight against the bag but I like the seams hidden, not covered. 

Joshie said he wanted this backpack too or if not, then I have to make him one with a dinosaur on it AND an owl.  Oh boy... he is growing up way to fast.   I guess it's time to move him up to the medium sized toddler backpack.

Here it is on my front porch... waiting to be given to little A.

Edited 11/2012 - New pic of the little A

Happy Sewing!

Sew Mama Sew Stroller Bag Winner

Thank you to all of you lovely people for taking the time to stop by my blog and enter my stroller bag giveaway.  It was nice to read the comments and meet new bloggers.  You were all nice enough to tell me what you liked from my shop which was really helpful for me as I work to move my business forward.  

Using the Random org number generator, the winner is: #100:  Congrats to atabanana29 who said:  I like you on FB!. 

As a thanks for all who entered, I am offering Sew, Mama, Sew! readers a coupon code that will provide you with a 10% discount on any item in my Josh & Teo ETSY shop.  Just make sure that you enter the code SEWMAMASEW10 before you check out of my shop to receive the discount.  This code will be valid until Friday June 8, 2012.

Have a happy Sunday!

p.s.  I will participating in the Winter 2012 SMS Giveaway so be sure to check back!

Introducing the Tricycle Handlebar Bag!

Now that the warmer weather is here, we have been out and about a lot.   There's something about the smell of lilacs that makes me happy (and makes me sneeze!).

Today I'd like to introduce you to something that I have been working on for the last 2 months.  It's finally here... the Tricycle Handlebar Bag!

Backstory:   Joshie's tricycle gets used daily for our walks.   However, when he wants to bring his toys along with him, he usually has to stuff it between one of the bars and hope for the best.  When he tries to collect sticks and stones along the way, I have to carry them!  So then it hit me... a handlebar bag for his tricycle!    I wanted a bag that would be easily accessible for little hands and easy to put on/take off so I decided to make him one.

Here it is:   a denim handlebar bag with the words "stuff" appliqued to the front.

It snaps on quickly

I lined with a fun animal print cotton.  Toss in your stuff - rocks, sticks, balls

I left it open (no closure) because we keep his tricycle in our shed.  I also interfaced the denim to give some more structure to the bag.

Joshie was very happy with his new tricycle bag.  His exact words were "nice"!  Why didn't I think of this sooner?

He loves his bag but baby brother loves it even more!

 
If you would like to purchase a "Stuff" Tricycle Bag, please visit my ETSY shop Josh & Teo Handmade. 

Linking up with:  I heart naptime

Happy Sewing!

Laptop Sleeve

Sometimes I get so wrapped up in doing stuff that I end up very behind on other things.  Here's a great example... my sister graduated from teacher's college last May.  I "gave" her a laptop sleeve that I didn't yet make.  Yet here we are, one year later and I finally made it for her.  (Sorry!!)

When I participated in Made by Rae's Spring Sewalong, it made me stop and think about sewing something for fun, and not just for my ETSY shop.  It also reminded me to take time for me instead of parking myself in front of a sewing machine/tv/computer.

I was so happy I made this during the kids' two hour nap.  Usually I do housework or veg out in front of the computer.  It was so easy to make and you only need 4 things.  This was my first time using fusible fleece and I am now a convert!

It's got a rounded zip... next time I think I'll make a gusset instead - to me it'll look better


And I worked out on the elliptical for 20 min (so yay for me!)

I hope she is able to use this... I put my laptop in and it was too big for the case.

In the worst case scenario, she can turn it into a magazine holder ;)

Happy Sewing!

Happy 1st Anniversary!

Today is my 1 year anniversary for my ETSY shop.   Wow does time fly by fast!

I can remember putting up 5 items for sale and then jumping for joy when I got my first order.   When I got my 100th sale in December, I think I jumped up and down too!

I started selling toy leashes and over time, I began to add  new items to my shop:  stroller bag, mini wallet, toddler backpack, wrist wallet, and nursing covers.  Everything I design has been inspired by my two little ones, tested by myself, friends, and my kids.

Along the way, I learned a lot.  I was featured in some blogs, been in Chatelaine two times, and was interviewed by a radio station in Calgary (still awaiting the air date).  I met some very nice people through ETSY and Blogging.  I started a Facebook page for fun, got confused by Twitter, and got addicted to Pinterest.

I started this blog as a way to document my time at home with the boys and it turned into the mish mash that it is today:  stuff about the kids, stuff that I make for fun, and stuff I make for my shop.  

I have to give kudos to my super awesome hubby.  He listens to me go on and on about my shop, designed all my graphics, and is my sounding board.  Here are some of the things he designed:

He made me this banner to encourage me to apply for a craft show.

He also designed my product labels

All in all, it's been a lot of fun!

For those of you who are thinking of opening an ETSY shop or currently have one, here are some tips that worked for me:

1. Create a business plan - even a loosely defined business plan will help keep you on track
2. Know your audience - Who do you intend to sell to?  I make products that appeal to parents who want handmade and unique items that are functional AND stylish.
3. Pricing - do the math based on your expenses and see what similar items may be selling for in the marketplace.  Make sure you know who your competition is.  In the handmade market, it's not the big box stores.
4. Customer service - be on top of your orders and communicate communicate with your customers.  If your order is going to be late, tell them. 
5. Create continuity in your brand image.  When you sell on ETSY, it's easy to open up a shop but creating and maintaining consistent look for all of your branding is important.  This means consistency with your web banner, marketing graphics, facebook/twitter/social media pages, physical packaging, etc.... the list goes on an on.  
6. Know your limitations - I can't work on my shop full time as I have 2 kiddies under 3.5 years old.  I could work on my shop during their naptimes but not without burning out myself.  I keep a small number of items in my shop (30) instead of shooting for 100.  I also have a ton of products I could add to the shop but have chosen to focus on a small few.
7. Support Team - you can't always do it alone so enlist help.  Hubby is my shop "helper" but family helps too by watching my kids once in a while, or by purchasing fabric for me when they are out shopping.
8. Take care of the business end - not just the crafting end.  This means, keep your receipts, track $ going in and $ going out.   
9. Know your SEO - it's inevitable... you need to use words to describe your product in a way that moves you up in search engine results.  After all your hard work, you want your SEO words to bring your shop to the first page of a google search, not the 20th page.
10. Enjoy it - it's hard work but have a good time doing it.  This is your chance to get a small taste of running your own business so learn what you can!

Happy Sewing... back tomorrow!