Classes have started!

We had our first class 2 weeks ago!  Sewing in the hoop.  All of the gals sewed a make-up bag and a business card holder.  Jen made matching ones and wanted to make more!  Can't wait to teach these with the public as they were very fun!

Hoping to have another class soon.  What shall we learn?

Getting ready for the Gammill to arrive!

So many things to do to get ready for this store.  Today I am meeting with the contractor to see how much it will cost me to do the renovations to the site we are looking at.  Pat and Al are working on the bathroom in the basement so that we don't need to run upstairs when we are working on the long arm!  The long arm arrives in 2 weeks and they are madly working every day that Pat is not working!  This is a picture of them trying to run electricity.

Walls are partially up and the door is in!  The flooring went in last night. Plumbing is ready for the toilet and sink...yippeeee!

Hopefully we will have running water by tomorrow!

Projects in process

Well, as promised, here are a few pictures of some of the projects we have been working on.....I will put more up later.....

American Sewing Guild participated in the Project Cinderella. About 20 dresses were donated by a formal wear shop for the project. All the dresses either needed repair or something else done to them before they could be sold (@ $25) to girls for the prom. What a deal - a $200-$300 dress for $25! I took home 2 dresses. The two dresses I took home had SAMPLE permanently stamped in very obvious places. This long dress had the stamp on the back just below the waist line. At the very last minute (3 hours before the dresses were due back) I had an epiphony.

The dress reminded me of dresses that were worn in the Jane Austin movie Emma. I thought a train would cover the stamp well. After rubbing the stamped area with a cleaner for 2 hours, I was able to reduce the stamps appearance so that it would not show through the organza train. What a project!

The second dress had SAMPLE stamped on the back of the top.  I found a lacey fabric that matched perfect.  Unfortunately, the stamp showed through.....SO, I sewed a whole new bodice out of a matching lining fabric and lace on top, sewed it to the top of the dress, adorned with some cute little flowers front and back! 

Quilts are being sewn too!  Here is the top of one that is done using a fabric foundation.  We have 6 foundation fabric designs and 3 are now done.  Dee and Al helped with another foundation fabric design!

Here is another one Dee finished.  These are all waiting for the Gammill to arrive!  Hopefully, I will have time to put some more pictures up soon.  I have 6 quilts waiting to be quilted on the long arm as soon as it arrives!!!

Ramping up!

Too many things, not enough time!  Sewing (always first), bathroom construction in the basement (temporary home of the soon to arrive Gammil long arm), looking at store fronts, writing on the business plan, visiting banks, ohhhhh - of course, cooking, cleaning, and family.

Where to start... The bathroom is almost finished.  I will see if I can get pictures up and viewable.  Pat and Al have been working like mad dogs and have the whole room framed, electricity in, plumbing in (Pat got wet....) and flooring gets glued on Sunday.  Monday the real things go in...the toilet and sink!  Yippeee.  Then I don't EVER have to leave the basement!

The store fronts have been fun to visit.  We keep going back to the same one as our top pick.  Not sure it is the right one yet (kind of expensive...) but sure has the right location.  Construction is the scarey thing....walls to take down, electricity to install.....Also expensive.  Hoping to meet with a contractor to see what it would cost us.

Banks - visited 3 banks.  They were all very nice people, but one stood out and hopefully next week we open a business account in one of them.

Met with the SBDC (small business development center) and discussed what they can help me with.  Basicly, they can edit my business plan and suggest other people to talk with in terms of loans and grants....

So, most importantly, quilts are being constructed to go on the long arm.  I will try to post some pics soon.

Writing, writing, writing......

The business plan is almost done.  This is the most writing I have done since getting my masters degree....It's also SEW much harder.  Trying to think of every little thing that bankers etc might need is VERY time consuming and hard.  I spent one whole afternoon researching the demographics and benefits of opening in this area.  Not the easiest data to come up with.  I haven't done any sewing at all this week.  Our board meeting on Tuesday went well.  We all will be going to look at buildings next Tuesday.  Hopefully we will find a location that we all will like.  Our favorite site might be too expensive.  We shall see.