New Ava Felt Flower Pattern Tutorial Coming Soon...

It seems to be the norm for artists, designers, crafters, and creative people in general to ignore that the sun goes down and that sleep is kind of required to function the next day when the sun comes up. It's 4:33 a.m. here in Austin, Texas. I am sure that most people on my street are "night night" and there is something I truly love about the silence except for the noise of the insects outside which seems to penetrate the windows of my studio. I know tomorrow I will be exhausted, but I am so excited about a new pattern in progress that I have to blog!

I love the creative process! I am sure the creative process is different for everyone, but for me it really is what keeps me up at night. Whenever I am working on a new pattern, I crave the silence and work all night...many nights. I can't even tell you how many hours go into the design process of even just one pattern. It may look like I knocked it out in a few days, but nothing could be further from the truth. The hours are countless.

So here I am dreaming with my eyes open of an imaginary one-stop supply store that is .5 miles down the street from my house, with all of my favorite things:

1. Gorgeous high quality silk selection of which I would only purchase 1/4" of a yard of because (a.) I wouldn't want a single 1" square to go to waste and (b.) I wouldn't want to break the bank.

2. Rhinestones! I am in love with rhinestones but not just any rhinestones you can find at Joann's or Hancock's or any of the big box places. Oh no, the quality of these really doesn't compare to what you can find at a gorgeous little sole proprietorship shop like the Silk Road (go here new website coming soon!) in downtown Austin. If you ever laid your eyes on these you would never ever be able to return to a big box for any of your rhinestones. They are well worth the few extra dollars and definitely will make your creations stand out above the rest.

3. Trendy buttons and knick knacks for the centers of my flowers.

4. Silk, silk, silk ribbons. The hand dyed ones that get my heart beating faster when I see them. I just love hand-dyed high quality ribbons. Once you feel those and work with them it is impossible to return to poly ribbons.

5. Costume fabrics and nettings. I love nettings and mesh fabrics. They are incredible to sew with because they do not fray. Anything I do not have to hem is fabulous! I personally don't like to hem much. I love the end result of handmade clothing, but anything I can do to simplify the process is wonderful!

6. Wool felt in every single color under the sun.

Speaking of fabulous products, I am working on a felt flower pattern (stock up on your wool felt now!) and I just finished ordering my products. I have been searching for the right materials all week and finally at 4am I found exactly what I didn't know that I was looking for. I can't wait for the mail to get it here fast enough! I am quite impatient with the mail so if that wonderful supply shop I am dreaming about would appear sometime soon, that would be great.

Well "night night". I'm going to try to possibly wind down. It's not that easy for me when the creative process is ignited! Unfortunately, sleep is required. Maybe I'll make a quick stop by my sewing nook for just a minute before I cave in to my eyes closing....

xoxo

I Had to post some fourth of July photos of my girls. They looked so cute in their outfits from Erin on Etsy (find her shop here). Her applique work is amazing! She made a tee for Ava, the cutest ruffled fabric and tulle bloomers you have ever seen for Addison, and her adorable tee. I seriously adore her applique work. It puts every applique tee I have ever seen to shame. It was perfect! I loved the little bows on the shoulders of Ava's tee. So sweet!