Just Trucking Along

I feel like all my updates on Facebook and Twitter these days are all Emily related. I've become one of "those moms." I'm sure I have people blocking my feed because I post so many pictures of the munchkin and share in all the new experiences she is discovering.

She has discovered she can grab things and has put both a lemon and an apple slice in her mouth. The look on her face from the lemon was priceless. She did enjoy the apple, although she's still too small to actually try eating it, but I'm sure that day will come very soon.

We have started to figure out a schedule with her being at the store, although I still have trouble getting her to take naps when we are there. She entertains herself quite a bit, so I can start doing things at the store.

I have a friend who has been down on her luck recently and we have invited her to come stay with us for a little bit while she gets back on her feet. The great thing is, she is a seamstress and loves kids, so that means I might actually get stuff done at the store in a reasonable amount of time. 

I have been teaching myself sewing machine maintenance, which is pretty cool because I have been purchasing "dead" sewing machines for the last year with hopes of resurrecting them. I have successfully resurrected 5 from the dead and they will be available for use in the sewing studio.

I'm hoping the sewing studio will be done soon. I really want to be able to offer its use. We have 4 large pattern tables already made and will have a total of about 12 sewing machines including one or two sergers. We have finally become partners with a dress form company so we will soon have dress forms in a variety of sizes for use in the studio as well as for sale.

There is really just so much I'm trying to accomplish with the queen of time suckage fussing in the background. I have been trying to actively photograph everything in the store so all merchandise will be available in the online store. That just seems to be time consuming and a half.

Lets see, what else? Oh yeah- we are going to be offering a summer sewing camp 3 times this summer for kids and pre-teens. And the most exciting part of it is, I plan on hiring 2 people to help me. One person for the classes and one person to watch the munchkin. I have always wanted to be an employer like my parents, and now is my chance to do it.

I have also been planning a few lingerie design bootcamps, which are week long intensives in lingerie design. These will be offered in September. The advanced bootcamp isn't on the books yet, but it will be planned for either October or November as a 2 week intensive collection development. 

Other events: I will be doing a couple sewing machine clinics where I will show individuals how to work their sewing machines, adjust the tension, change the needle and keep proper maintenance on them. 

OK. That was a lot of updates. Maybe this is just for my sanity, you know, writing it all down. The next thing I need to do is get the word out about the shop and all our offerings.

Visit us online at www.porcelynne.com or at our shop Porcelynne's Fabric Boutique, 1915 W. Redlands Blvd, #107, Redlands, CA 92373.

The Store is Finally Open

Over a month after my original open date, the store is finally open for business. Doing things with a newborn proved more challenging than I had anticipated. At least at this point she is starting to entertain herself with toys and taking 2 hour naps at least twice a day.

I'm happy with how the store looks, but it is still lacking in a rounded selection of fabrics and supplies. The back room has been the evil step child of the shop. It's been the last thing on my mind.

We have built 4 beautiful 4x8 cutting tables on wheels and will begin the custom sewing machine tables next. I am refurbishing a dozen old sewing machines for use in the shop and I might even offer refurbishing old machines as a service of ours. My husband can make custom tables. Maybe we will do one for sale and see if anyone is interested.

I'm hoping to have the back room ready for classes around the first week of May. I want to have a grand opening party and also want to have an artist featured in the shop for May and June.

So many wants. I also want to sell enough and book enough classes to keep my doors open. I know, tall orders. All I would need to do is book 3-4 classes a month and the bills are paid for. Here's crossing my fingers.

Time is flying by

These last 4 months have just flown by. My little Emily is getting so big. She is sleeping through the night and making all sorts of funny sounds in the hours she spends awake. She keeps smiles on our faces all the time. Her smile makes my heart melt every time.

I wrapped up the winter quarter at FIDM last week and don't have plans to teach any more classes there for the immediate future. It's nice to realize that I don't have to do that 2.5 hour commute at 5am for a while.

More importantly, we have been working on the store. The painting is pretty much all done. I have lots of touch ups to do but that can be done at any time. We started building the fixtures last weekend and I have to say that they look mighty good.

I've been ordering specialty corset making supplies as well as diaper making supplies. Yes, I am tired of spending top dollar on those gDiapers that she keeps outgrowing. I haven't sewn anything outside of school in over a year and I'm itching to do so.

I just want to be open already! Impatient, I know. I've actually arranged for a baby sitter for a few days this week so we can get more things done. Emily puts a serious damper on accomplishing tasks.

The countdown to our opening has begun. We plan to open our doors April 3rd and do a grand opening sometime in May when I am satisfied with the state of the store. Let's just hope people come to the store.

Getting closer to my goals

Ok, so I guess I wasn't really prepared for how much time a baby would take, but I'm getting the hang of it. Emily is going to be 6 weeks old on Wednesday. I go back to work at FIDM on Tuesday and have 2 classes in draping.

I've started getting serious about finding a space for my business. As much as I'd love to open a retail store front, I don't think it's practical, so I'm looking for an office space that can serve as a teaching studio and retail shop.

I've found a few locations right on the outskirts of the historic downtown Redlands that are much more affordable. I figure as my business grows, I can upgrade to larger spaces.

Today, after scouting out spaces and urban hiking with my baby, we came home and started to make space for me to be creative. Our downstairs area/walkout basement has been basically a large storage area for my stuff and other random things.

We cleaned up the space and moved things around, so tomorrow I will be setting up and organizing the space. I hope to start my next lingerie book within a week or so. I guess I'll just need to figure out juggling the baby and my creative self.

I'll keep you updated on how the juggling goes.

My little one has arrived

My daughter Emily was born on December 5th at 4:51 in the evening, weighing 9 pounds, 6 ounces and 21" long. She was a big baby and yes, I did it naturally.

It's taken a little while to get adjusted to having a baby in the house, between figuring out feedings, changings, sleepings, and all the little noises she makes. The first few days at home were pretty rough. I felt like I had gotten hit by a bus, it backed up and then the bus ran me over again. Emily was still traumatized and trying desperately to breast feed.

Around 1 week old, I realized I wasn't producing enough milk, which made me feel quite inadequate as her mother. I had to stop breast feeding and start pumping. After a day or two of that, I realized I needed to supplement her food intake with formula. I really didn't want to do that, but I had to think of the well-being of my daughter, and not my own inadequacies.

Besides handling a newborn as a new parent, I also have been struggling with a crazy pregnancy rash called PUPPS. I had never heard of it, but I have been in misery for nearly 3 weeks now. It appeared a week before she was born on my stomach. I thought it was nothing, just the result of my belly getting big fast and my stretch marks itching. The day after Em was born, this so called rash, started spreading to my arms, legs, chest, back and everywhere else you can think of.

I called the doctor regarding this rash and they just said take Benadryl and use itch cream. I didn't like that answer, so I went looking for natural herbal supplements to help it along its way. PUPPS is basically a skin irritation caused by the liver detoxing my body of excess hormones and toxins. I decided to try Milk Thistle and Dandelion Root Supplements. I also decided to try taking a hot ginger bath to help with detoxing the skin. I've been on the supplements for 2.5 days now and took the bath once and the rash is about half of what it used to be.

I just hope in another day or two it will be completely gone. I also found out that the Benadryl I've been taking may be the culprit for me not producing enough milk for my baby, since antihistamines dry you out. Ah, I'm just glad to have my baby out of my belly and in my arms. She is the sweetest little mellow girl ever. She barely cries and just hangs out with us all day long. I'm slightly dreading going back to work.

I guess I really need to get things squared away for finishing my online classes and get back to the planning for the store and workshop classes. I really would love for that to be my sole working situation. Cross your fingers for me.

Online Class Delay in Release

I have been planning to get my first online class filmed and edited prior to having my baby, but it appears that won't be happening. I have filmed all the demos, but I wanted to film introductions with me introducing the projects and I just don't have the energy to do so.

I have 4 weeks left and I can barely move, let alone breath and feel comfortable in front of the camera. Once I feel like I'm not hauling a big rig on my body, I will finish my first online class. Actually, my goal will be to launch about 2 in December, 2 in January, 2 in February, etc.

I'm a little disappointed since I wanted to release my crowd funding campaign after launching my online class.  This leaves one other thing I have to deal with, which is filming an introduction for my Indie GoGo campaign. You may not be surprised to see me being filmed on my couch too large to move.

Last Wednesday was my last day at work and I'm so glad, otherwise I would be struggling today to just walk into my classroom. The question is, what will I do for the next 4 weeks until my baby arrives? I will take ideas.

I guess I could work on more outlines for the classes to be productive. Maybe start a new book on something that doesn't involve me getting up and sewing. I have been wanting to write a little ebook on how to write and publish a non-fiction/educational book.

I have never felt so helpless and lazy, although I guess I'm technically not. I am growing an entire human being inside my gigantic uterus. I think I need a support group for pregnant women in their last few weeks of pregnancy.

Ahhh! I also need to photograph a bunch of trims I purchased last week for my online store.

So much prep work

There is so much that I am preparing for: the arrival of our daughter Emily, the online classes I hope to begin launching before the arrival of our daughter Emily, and the lingerie design school and fabric shop I will be opening early next year.

First thing is first. The arrival of our daughter Emily.

The nursery is mostly completed except for the dressers to put all her stuff in. I'm using the old bedroom set I grew up with and trying to refinish them to match her crib, changing table and glider. I say the words "I'm trying to refinish," very loosely. David has had to take over the refinishing because of the fumes and my energy level.

I swear, I am going to do something awesome for that husband of mine someday. Other than that, I think I'm prepared, or as prepared as I'm going to be. There are still a few things on our registry I should purchase before we bring her home, but I'm not too worried about that. The mothers (mine and David's) plan on being here right after she is born, so I'm sure they can help us figure out what we are missing.

Secondly, the first online class is being built.

I've been in front of the camera before so I don't know why I'm getting so nervous about being filmed. I filmed most of the tutorials already, which are focused on the machine, my hands and the sample itself. I will have to do a voice over for those, but I'm not on camera for those and can read from a script. The hardest part is the personalized teaching I'll be doing in front of the camera.

I've thought about just writing the text in the lesson, but we all know its sometimes easier to listen to someone than read. So, I'll be including both in the class- to accommodate the readers and the watchers. I gave myself the goal to have class 1 complete by October 31st.

Lastly is preparing for the school and store.

The classes are already outlined and just need a little refining which I'll handle in the new year. Its the prep for the supplies I've been working on that seems to never end. I've been slowly buying display fixtures, sewing machines and other supplies. I currently have 7 of the 10 machines I need, although they all need servicing to work in tip top shape.

I've also been investing in fabrics and more trims, although the trims are selling just as fast as I'm buying them.  I've decided that I want to offer corset supplies in the shop since the Ren Fair is such a big deal here in the Inland Empire. Now that is a whole other expense I wasn't anticipating on including, but I'm figuring it out.

I've decided to launch a crowd funding campaign to help raise the money for the rent and security deposit and miscellaneous things I still haven't figured I need yet. I plan on launching that as soon as my first class is available online. I'll be offering gift certificates and other goodies, so stay tuned.

So much to do and so little energy to do it in. Miss Emily is due in about 5 weeks. My last day at work is Wednesday, so that means I need to get cracking on my preparations for everything.