Why I Do What I Do (When I Do What I Do) And Why I Love Doing It

Why I Do What I Do

(When I do what I do)

And Why I Love Doing It

Lately I’ve had a lot of opportunities to speak up about why I love what I do and why I want to do it. Opportunities like this usually come up as questions regarding the odd lifestyle I’ve chosen to live… I live in a constant pile-acious mess of fabric, thread, invoices, bills, scissors, pins and million unsorted things. I work when I feel best which sometimes is at 3 am. My ideal workspace is a big empty room with great lights where I can put all my toys and take naps under the cutting table. I can put in 60+ hours a week on my various client work.  I don’t punch a clock or wear a suit; pj’s and Post-it’s are more my speed. My client products range from leather work to scuba gear.

And I love it. I struggle daily to keep my business going because I love what I’ve made.

Early on in my business someone told me that I won’t be without problems, like I assumed that running my own shop would be easy. Certainly I never expected that I wouldn’t have problems. Having a business is hard. I don’t like doing paperwork, dealing with hard clients or spending time writing quotes; anything not sewing feels difficult. I’ve learned that all those things that I hate doing are worth it when I see what a difference I make to my clients.

Perhaps for some people it’s hard to understand why I make the decisions and take the risks I do. I won’t ever be happy working a 9-5, it’s just not me. That’s not how I work best. One of the strangest things people see in me is how weird it is that I want to live in my workspace. My current search for a live/work shop has been full of questions about exactly why would I want to live like that. It’s hard to not take it personally but I know what I need for me. I know what I put into my work and for me it is personal. I have devoted my life to becoming the best at what I do and I am fortunate enough to be able to operate in a way that allows me to do what I love every single day. When you find a job that you love that much… doesn’t it make sense that you’d never really want to leave it? Maybe everyone else hasn’t found their passion but I’ve found mine and these are just the things I have to do to make my dreams into a reality.

Calm before the storm...

My love of sewing goes beyond any hobby. My love of teaching my craft goes beyond any work book or lesson plan. My joy in creating the built world goes beyond anything that I have ever felt in my life. In everything I make, I find consistently that the joy is always there through the discovery of handling new fabrics, building patterns that work, helping clients reach their goals.

Sewing is not a dying art to me. I make money with it. I pay my bills with money that I have made making patterns, cutting fabric, and sewing together all kinds of products. Sewing is the most flexible industry for growth and I believe it will be the job that will help turn around the crap-ass state of affairs in our country. Anyone can sew if they are willing to learn and I will be the one to teach them. Give me an outlet, a machine and a willing victim and in no time I’ll give you a line seamstress able to be employed in a sewing shop.

This is what I was put on this earth to do.  I am not getting out easy. I not only expect a challenge, I welcome it. I belong in a position where I can help others through my sewing knowledge. My passion for sewing is deep and I won’t quit being weird to you so love me anyway. Support me as I grow this business. I am going to change the world, I just know it.

I’ve said it a million times, I just want to work and make people happy, and so that’s what I’m going to do.

xo Adrienne

Thanks for indulging in my ridiculous titling of this personal essay ;) 

And, yeah, I said "crap-ass." It's the truth and you know it. Forgive the language lol

One Year...

Holy cows, has it really been one year? I stopped in to visit the crew at the last shop I worked for and I realized that my leap from working for the man to working for myself occurred one year ago this month. Where on Earth has the time gone? Granted, I technically still work for the man, many different clients both men and women hahaha but generally it's acceptable to say that I work for myself.

One of my interns learning to use an industrial machine

I have spent this time making lots of mistakes and lots of leaps forward. Gotten paid, gotten not paid. I had some wonderful interns work with me this summer. I have joined the Peoria Chamber of Commerce in order to begin reaching a new local audience of other businesses that might need my services. I am really so thankful for all of the wonderful people I've met along my journey who have given me great advice and been great clients. I am super proud of the clients who are now able to grow to wholesale some of their designs, and some of my clients who are able to move to larger manufacturing facilities after all the beginning steps of working hard together.

Working in a pop up space at the SeedSpot office

I still have a long ways to go yet. I am currently looking for a merchant service to take payments and serve my clients better. Always looking for a next great big cutting table. Always working to get the sewing room in order... don't tease, if it's clean, I am clearly not busy enough hahaha. Always looking to add new clients with awesome projects to my list.






I am tired, but extremely happy and I wouldn't trade all the lost sleep for anything. This is a hard road in almost every aspect but the sewing, got that locked down, but I love it. Helping new businesses grow is worth all the work when I see them reach goals and get to the next level.


Time to send out some thank you cards to all my clients and to update my policies to reflect the needs and capabilities of my growing business.

Purses

Over the years I have made purses of all kinds. Simple purses, purses with lots of pockets....purses made for no reason, purses made for specific people. The best part about making a purse is that you can make them exactly to specification. No two designs are ever alike.

Wristlets, clutches, tote bags, purse...however you call them I love making them all. Each has it's own personality and is a great way to experiment with new techniques or play with expensive fabrics on a smaller scale in a responsible way.

 I've collected here all the purses I've made that have pictures of them. I am saving messenger bags for a separate post since I am working on a new style that I'll want to include in that. So many purses, where should I start?   Chronological makes sense but I think I'll start with sparkliest.







This is a quick little zippered wristlet shaped like a lime because what else would go with a Dos Equis bottle costume? It's made from eco felt in two colors and outlined in sequin trim so it really pops. I didn't make a pattern for it, it was one of those cut as you think and sew as you go projects but I am thinking of making it up as a quick pattern soon.





This one is another simple zippered clutch shape made in wool felt and lined in purple satin. I made this in a Day of the Dead theme with a skull butterfly of my own design worked out in hematite seed beads and bugle beads.










I made this bag on a slow day at the shop when I worked alterations. I had a bunch of belts that were going to be tossed  and instead I wove them up like this. I thought they made a great textural detail for a pocket on this simple square tote. It's lined in black satin and the straps were made with wavy topstitching lines.

Yum! silk. This bag was made custom for a lady using the Alchemy feature on Etsy. I loved bidding on jobs, so sad that that feature no longer exists. Any who, we came up with this design that included her initials embroidered to match the lining, two lengths of straps, a tissue holder and a lip gloss finder. The lining was a gorgeous watermelony pink and featured a lot of  pockets to be organized.

This bag was made for a swap on Craftser about a million years ago. I called it "the bag that made itself" because it made up in an hour or so start to finish. I was so excited to make it that my brain willed it into life in a flash. This was the first moment that I realize now began to foreshadow my new life at higher speed tactical sewing. The shape of these pockets are basically the same shape, minus the flap, of the magazine insert pocket on a rifle case that I made... These zippers were sewn in the same fashion as many of the tactical pouches... Boy if I knew that my life was going to explode into the world of tactical gear when I made this bag hahaha If only they knew that my skill at sewing tactical gear came from my skill of purse sewing I am sure they too would be laughing.
























This wristlet was made as a makeup case for travel. It's made of two side panels of cotton with bamboo batting quilted through. They were sewn together using a neon pink binding for finishing and an exposed zipper with blue tape. It makes a fun combination of colors and textures. I have a few more in various fabrics cut out, it's a great stash buster pattern. I am testing it out for my someday line.




















These totes I made while working at the above mentioned tactical company Wilderness Tactical. During a cleaning flurry/ run in with the scrap box I flexed some of my creative muscle to show how we could make a whole product out of the scraps too small to cut a regular product out of. The strapping was a roll of strong cotton webbing that we never used so it was a real win win and true to form "overkill never fails" Wilderness mentality. It is a version of this shape that we made up originally as a quick Christmas gift idea which got added to the line. 







This last large tote is a test pattern I am working on for my someday line. It's made of a cotton with bamboo batting. The outside has a pocket between the handles but it's in matching fabric so it's hard to see from this quick picture. The straps are neckties and are just long enough to wear both cross body and over the shoulder. I am short though so maybe that's why it fits me cross body haha. I added vintage pom poms under the tie as I sewed it down just for funsies.


Each new purse that I tackle bring new and exciting challenges. I am a total hardware junkie and purses are a great way to utilize the world of hardware. Each pattern has new sewing order and techniques that keep me refreshed. The best part about sewing a purse is that it is something useable that can be enjoyed. It's a great balance between form and function.

Who Taught Me How to Sew?

Who Taught Me How to Sew?

The most asked question that I get from inquiring minds is always to find out who taught me how to sew.  Sewing is a topic that I am constantly learning through reading and picking the brains of other seamstresses. I consider that every person and book I have come in contact with has added something to the arsenal of skills at my ready. Take the good with the bad even; certainly we can even learn what not to do by watching others and sometimes that is a more valuable lesson.

The first garment that I recall seeing be sewn was made long after I was interested in sewing but it grew the spark for the needle and thread that was deep in my heart already. The act of creating things is part of who I am as a human being. I do not recall a day where I sat without something in my head or a mess of cutting growing around me while I sat on the floor of the living room. That first garment was my 8th grade graduation dress and it was made for me by my Aunt Petey. We chose the fabrics and pattern together while she was on vacation and she constructed most of it while I danced around visioning how pretty I would look while I gave my speech at graduation.

From there I began searching the library for anything I could read about sewing. Old sewing books, rug hooking, hat making, shoe making... any topic I could find. I commandeered my mother's sewing machine and made huge messes in the living room trying to achieve my goals. Through sheer force of will I made wobbly bags and skirts that I wore with pride during high school. I even managed to squeeze out two homecoming dresses for myself and one for a friend as well as neckties for my date to match me. During high school I worked in a fabric store. Being around fabrics and notions and women with experience in sewing brought my sewing curiosities to a higher level of thirst. I began more detailed experiments with better fabrics and corect techniques. Slowly I began paying attention to the steps and not skipping parts. I noticed that the designs came easier to me in construction and that I wasn't needed the instructions in the patterns. Half the time they seemed harder to me any way.

One of the women that I worked with owned her own alterations shop where she invited me to work with her. Through college I worked with Blanca and she shared with me all the wonderful secrets, all the wonderful things she had collected in her life. Under the warmth of her sharing kindness I grew unafraid to take larger projects. She taught me to take every kind of work and just figure it out. Her certainty that I would figure it out grew in me.

That lesson lives with me daily as I take on all sorts of unusual sewing work. It's not ego at all but that spirit that she imparted to me that if I dive into myself, into my brain, and heart that my fingers will know what to do. That spirit has led me to make luggage, wedding dresses, back packs, a tent, and numerous patterns for clothing. That spirit guides me in knowing that I am on the right track in my life. I am at home with my sewing machine and with my tools. I thrive with a challenging project on my plate. I thirst for new problems to solve. I live to share all that I have learned in the same way that Blanca shared with me.