Setting Down New Roots in 2020

I’m not one for writing up a list of New Year’s resolutions, and I’ve never picked a “word of the year” before. Don’t get me wrong…I LOVE the beginning of a new year, fresh starts, and getting back on track with good habits.

But this year a word just came to me. And it feels so right.

My word is ROOTS.

This word comes from my struggles in getting my rhythm back in my small hand made business and life habits in general after our move this last summer. My habits at the old house weren’t falling back into place at our new house.

I have been wanting to take my creative business down a different road for many years now and was feeling stuck on how to get out of the comfort zone I had been in making and selling baby hats. I love making hats, which is why it has been hard to head down a different path.

The path isn’t really all that different, but it will require new education, new focus, and some new habits.

This is where my word ROOTS comes in.

I think of the roots as being the life force of a plant. Without healthy, solid roots, the plant is not going to thrive. But you can’t see the roots, they are underground, behind the scenes.

This year, what I’m going to be focusing on won’t be visible. But I’m hopeful that the results will be beautiful.

I’ll still be sharing, I’ll still be creating, I’ll still be showing up. Things may not even look different from the outside. Just know, that a lot of growth is happening in the roots.

Sewing Pastel Spring Baby Bonnets

New chicks, easter eggs, fresh wildflowers, blue skies, fresh veggies from the garden, all these spring favorites make me think of pretty pastel colors and new life!

Pastels and spring go together like chocolate and peanut butter. Not only are these pretty shades of fabric perfect for spring outfits, but the cotton is so light and airy, the perfect thing on a sunny afternoon for babies first spring!

These are going to be baby sunbonnets with ruffle brims, for the girls. I always prewash my fabrics before sewing. Then it needs to be ironed. Next I’m ready to cut the shapes out. These ruffles need to be gathered before I sew them to the bonnet. Then I add white cotton lining to the inside of the bonnet, chin straps, done and ready for springtime fun!

Coming Soon!!!

xo Emily

Come visit my shop for other bonnets and sun hats for sunny days ahead! Sign up for my newsletter and get 15% off your first purchase.

Giving a New Meaning to Finished

I haven’t taken a real personality test in over 20 years, but I’m pretty familiar with who I am. I’m that person who has a strong desire to finish what I started. Are you one of these? This trait has many rewards, this I know, but would you believe it also has it’s drawbacks?

My younger self (also a seamstress, I’ve been sewing/knitting since before I could ride a bike) could never abandon a project before it was competely finished, even if I knew I didn’t like it, and even at the cost of wasting time finishing. Only once I was completely finished would I release myself from the burden of the project.

I feel like just recently, I’ve crossed a major line of progress in using my “don’t stop until you finish” character by changing what “finished” means to me.

Finished doesn’t have to mean that an actual product was made to completion. It can also mean that the project has served its purpose, and sometimes that happens before it is actually complete.

FINISHED has become more about the PROCESS and less about the PROJECT.

Take this project of knitting a tank top, for example. I’ve knit myself and others many sweaters, but have recently been drawn towards making my own tank top pattern. Once I knit this one far enough to try it on, I realized how much I hated the fit. Rather than getting down on myself for wasting that time and yarn, I counted this project a success since it brought me one step closer to knitting that tank top I dream of, and immediately started unraveling.

And the good news is, there was just enough yarn after I unraveled the whole tank top to knit this baby sweater!

And the even better new is, I enjoyed every stitch along the way!

xo Emily

Looking for a knit or crochet project? I’ve got a growing list of FREE PATTERNS HERE so you too can get lost in the process too!

Take a Tour of my Living Room Sewing Studio

Welcome to my upstairs living room sewing studio! I’m so thankful for this room and I’ll tell you why. I love being able to sew and not be secluded from what the rest of the family is doing. With my studio space right in the middle of our upstairs living space, I don’t have to feel shut away or disconnected from my people.

My husband built me this huge and beautiful sewing desk that fits perfectly into the corner of our a-frame room and has been such a great space for all my fabric and supply storage, cutting and ironing, and of course room for lots of sewing!

Our house is an a-frame, which means this upper room has that awkward triangle ceiling that can be challenging for certain furniture arrangements, and impossible for wall art. But this wall of windows with an ocean view makes up for it all! The natural light up here is amazing. It can heat up, but the curtains I made out of white sheets helps so much when the sun gets too intense in the later afternoon.

My work space is constantly evolving as my projects do. One of my latest improvements to this space is adding all the storage baskets to my sewing desk. It makes this space look much less cluttered, and more cohesive. I found all these at the thrift shop and spent less than $5 each!

I love having all my yarn on an open shelf. For years I kept it in plastic bins, and it was so hard to feel creative when all those colors and textures were hiding behind each other and smushed. This shelf keeps me inspired. I may not keep it super tidy, but even messy ends have a certain charm of their own, don’t you think?

I actually do still keep a plastic bin of yarn under my sewing desk. It’s all the yarn that I no longer am inspired by, or pieces that are too small for a size run of bonnets. I keep this older yarn around for our little friends who come visit. Most of the kids who come to my house know that there is yarn upstairs and a friendly lady (that’s me!) ready to teach the next stitch whenever they ask!

You can see how this space has evolved in these older blog posts…from when we first moved in and I was still sewing on an old fold out table to when my custom sewing desk was brand new.

Thanks for stopping by!

xo Emily

How to BE in 2019

Don't you just love a fresh start?! This year I opted out of my normal goal setting "to do" list and instead wrote a list of "to be's" for myself.  It was a list mostly made up of adjectives, a lot of which already describe me, but that I want to intentionally turn up the volume.  

Obviously, creativity was near the top of the list, as was peace, simplicity, faith, self-discipline, and generosity.  I think by focusing on being these adjectives, I will be extra aware of what isn't fitting into this intentional lifestyle, things that can creep up without me realizing, things like fear, doubt, and laziness.  

This year it's all about who I want to BE, not what I want to DO.

Because I want to BE a more creative person, I'm already exploding with new project ideas, things to make, patterns to design and I can't wait to share them with you!

Obviously one of these new projects is going to involve this amazing Daisy Chain yarn from Knit Collage. Does it not just scream CREATIVITY!?

How do you like to mentally prepare for a new year? Leave me a comment, I’d love to know!

xo Emily

Come to the Beach with Us :: a Video

Take a trip to one of our favorite beaches with us! Ruby takes the camera and catches a few glimpses of our trek to the beach and behind the scenes of our scarf photo shoot on location.

I love this video for so many reason! First of all, this memory of laughing with my daughter. Teens really are special people and I love getting to be a part of the awesome woman she is becoming. Of course, the fact that we love where we live and we can share this special place with you via video is another reason I love this. And getting to combine my two passions, nature and creating, into one visual explosion is beyond thrilling!

You already saw the outtakes to this video, and if you haven’t, it’s worth a good laugh. We really do have a lot of fun together! You can watch it here.

And to get your hands on one of these scarves, you’ll find them in my shop.

Or if you’d rather make your own, I’ve got a free pattern for you here!

xo Emily

Check out the new scarves in the shop here and as always, become a new subscriber to my newsletter and get 15% off your first purchase, and once you're on the list, you’ll be the first to know when new products are added to the shop.

Behind the Scenes at Golden Hour :: Knit Scarf Photo Shoot

Hand knit winter “Golden Hour Scarves” are in the shop!!!

Ruby and I headed down to the beach lasts week to get some photos of the new scarves I knit and we ended up putting together a few videos of the process! We had so much fun, but I must admit that talking in front of the camera is going to take a lot more practice. It’s definitely way out of my comfort zone!

Feel like you’d rather knit your own scarf? I’ll send you the pattern! Click the link to let me know what email you’d like me to send it to: Free Golden Hour Knit Scarf Pattern

These outtakes are quite possibly my favorite part of the whole photo shoot! Getting comfortable in front of the camera takes a lot of practice, but it’s much easier with a buddy (or daughter!).

Check out the new scarves in the shop here and as always, become a new subscriber to my newsletter and get 15% off your first purchase, and once you're on the list, you’ll be the first to know when new products are added to the shop.

I Can Do It All, I Just Don't Want To

This last spring, I decided it was time to work outside the home. I thought my girls were at an age (teenagers) where they would be better off with me gone more often.  I thought I could go to work, still be a present wife and mother, still homeschool, and still enjoy my hobbies. But guess what? I was totally wrong. Personally, I can't do it all. Well, no, I take that back. I can do it all, but I decided I didn't want to.

And it wasn't just me, but it was my family too! They missed having me around. They missed the spur of the moment conversations that we used to have, dinners prepared where we all sat down together as a family to eat, just my presence in the house was missing even when everybody was independently doing their own thing. Every time I left for work, my heart would break, and I was reminded how these last few years of having my girls living at home were too priceless to not soak up every last bit.

It was a hard decision to make, believe me, because once I got to work, I had a whole new wonderful crew of friends who quickly became my second family. It was fun to be challenged to learn a new skill and to feel like I was part of a team.  But my priorities were clear, family first.

As of this week, I am now officially working from home again, happily sewing hats and knitting bonnets. So thankful that I have this option. So thankful for the time I get to spend with my girls. So thankful that creating is in my soul!

Behind the Scenes:: a Fall Crochet Project

I've got a new crochet project in the works!

It's a collaboration with my friend Alysia of Magnolia and Oak (@magnoliaandoak on Instagram), who hand dyes yarn in the most beautiful of colors.  She invited me to come up with a simple crochet baby bonnet pattern, one easy enough for beginners,  that she could include in a kit with her hand dyed baby alpaca yarn and a hook, everything you would need to make your very own baby bonnet!

There will be more details coming soon, like where you can get these kits, the colors it will come in, and what the bonnet looks like.  But for now, all you need to do is think of who you need to crochet a baby bonnet for!  Oh, and if you need to, start brushing up on your basic crochet skills with the Blue Corduroy Crochet Lessons series.

To be the first to know when this crochet kit will be available, and about other upcoming projects and products, sign up for my mailing list!

Looking for a simple crochet project to practice your skills? Grab my Free Crochet Dishcloth Pattern for Beginners!

Sewing Studio Tour

Come on upstairs.  This is where I sew, where the family hangs out, and where the light pours in every afternoon.  I call it my studio.  My family calls it the living room.  Whatever.

Mark just made me this beautiful custom sewing desk with extra storage space, and a table top for ironing and cutting out patterns.  I've never been this spoiled before.  The desk is tall enough that I can stand to sew, or I can sit at my chair, depending on what feels best at the moment.  All my supplies are super handy without being in the way.  And I actually prefer to have my workspace in the middle of where the family hangs out, keeps me part of the clan.

Photo credits to Ruby for taking the beautiful photo of my desk and sewing machine (second photo from the top)!  Thanks Ruby!