No Nibbles (or Bites)

I decided to add some lower-priced items to my Etsy store - girl's hair clips. I'll admit they're still on the higher end for the category, but I was hoping to see some kind of interest. No luck. It doesn't help that Etsy is flooded with hair clips for girls, but it was something I could do without a huge up-front investment. Here they are.

I really need to do some marketing, and get some of my New York neighbors to visit my store, but I'm a little bit afraid that they'll actually want the stuff, and I won't be able to find the time to do all the sewing. I'll do it soon, though. I really need to find out whether this is worth continuing to pursue, or not. In the meantime, I'm finding a good use for the huge roll of brown cutting paper I bought. Take a look at my kids' giant art canvas.

Hopefully one of these days the rain and cold will give way to some real summer weather. I'm going to try getting a sitter to come in once a week to take the kids out to the playground while I get some work done. This is my high note for the week: I finally used my new coverlock machine!!! Too much fun! (Well, for me, anyway.) And I did a boy's T-shirt pattern that was actually perfect on the first try!!! Of course, it's always something - I can't get the tension right on my serger, so it looks like a trip to get it serviced before I can sew the shirts. Oh well.

Totally Off Subject - The Eczema That Wasn't

My poor youngest child. He's had eczema since he was about 4 months old. It started on his cheeks (as you can see in the photo). It sometimes crops up elsewhere, but those spots are easily taken care of. His cheeks are a different story. We were told to use an over-the-counter hydrocortisone and Aquaphor or Vaseline. It had absolutely no effect. Then we were given a prescription strength hydrocortisone. It helped a little, but at the end of the week (the amount of time the dermatologist told us to use it), the eczema was still there. By eight months, the spots had grown bigger.

Back to the dermatologist. They gave us a stronger cream - Cutivate lotion. We had also already switched laundry detergents, I always moisturize after baths, have him dressed in cotton... all the typical things you're told to do. These photos are of him between thirteen months and fourteen-and-a-half months. As you can see, his chin is really bad now, too, and he scratches until he bleeds. And yes, we have tried covering his hands. So we started trying some other things we had heard about. We tried wheatgrass spray - no luck with that, and I think it stung, though it's hard to tell since he yells any time you do anything to his face (or change his diaper, or dress him, or...you get the picture). We tried Vanicream, TriplePaste, and Remedy Skin Repair Cream. Nothing. Then the eczema got infected.

Here he is with the infection. It made his glands swell up, so he has this big double chin. Take a look at his forehead in this photo. We thought at first that the eczema was spreading, but I didn't think it looked quite like what I was used to seeing. I had taken one of my older kids to the pediatrician for another matter (a tick that had made a lymph node swell up), and at her urging, we made an appointment with an allergist. They did a number of scratch tests on his back - at this point, the only place on his body clear enough. It didn't seem that he had any kind of allergic reaction going on. We did find out he has a slight allergy to dog dander, but not enough to cause this. We had another dermatologist appointment for the following week, but the day after we saw the allergist it had gotten still worse, and was even on his eyelids. The allergist gave us a prescription for antibiotics, so we started giving him an oral and a topical antibiotic for the infection.

In this picture, you can see how terribly swollen his eyelids are. This was two days after we had seen the allergist. I started to get worried, and didn't want to wait for the dermatologist appointment, so I started calling different dermatologists until I found one that could see him right away. (This was on a Friday morning.) When we went in, she told us immediately that this wasn't just eczema, and wasn't just a bacterial infection. My baby had eczema herpeticum; the herpes simplex virus had come in contact with the skin on his face, and while this wouldn't be a big deal for any of us (in fact, it happens to us all the time), he managed to get infected.

Despite how common both the eczema and the herpes virus are, this is not a very common condition and is misdiagnosed as allergies (at first) fairly often. The dermatologist was really worried about how close to his eyes this was, and wanted us to see an ophthalmologist right away. The trick, of course, was getting a last minute appointment on a Friday afternoon. We ended up at the NYU Medical Center ER. Finally, a bit of luck - the infection was not in his eyes. You can see here how this was all over his body. Like a monster case of chicken pox. Fortunately, this isn't contagious, so my other two little ones were okay. Of course, my next worry was how he'd gotten this, and how I could keep it from happening again. Unfortunately, the virus is everywhere. He could have pick this up absolutely anywhere. The key to not getting it again? Keep the eczema under control. Back to square one. We started him on a course of acyclovir for the eczema herpeticum.

At our follow up appointment with the dermatologist (the one who diagnosed this), she started talking to me about getting the eczema cleared up. She wrote out a prescription for a cortisone cream (is this sounding familiar?) and told me to slather Aquaphor on him. I tried telling her how I think that makes it worse. His skin seems to start bubbling up and getting weepy underneath it. Her response was 'it takes time for this to work'. She also wanted me to give him a lukewarm bath twice a day, every day, for 15 to 20 minutes. Okay - she knows I have two other little kids. How does she think I'm supposed to manage that one? My day is already so packed with preschool drop-offs and pick-ups (two different schools), vacuuming up after the dog (a daily occurrence - the shedding monster), fixing and cleaning up meals and the occasional trip to the playground. So I nodded and took the prescription, then decided to ignore her and do what I thought was working.

I use Renew lotion, from a company called Melalueca http://www.melaleuca.com/, on my beyond-ridiculously-dry skin. If it's good for me, I figure it should be good for him. I've been putting it on him as often as I can; about 6 or 7 times a day. It's not cheap - although compared to some of the prescription creams it's a real bargain. I love it. You can't order it directly from their website - you have to get it through one of their representatives or sign up for their program, but I think it's worth it. I get mine from my sister (thank you forever). I am using the cortisone, but only every other day, one time per day, instead of the 2x daily that was prescribed. We also give him Zyrtec at night before bed, both to help with the itch and because it seems to help him sleep better. I've been doing this for four days now, and here is where we are. I'll post another photo next week, since this one is a little hard to see (he wanted to hold the camera).

Basically, the herpeticum sores are going to get better in time, but if you can see his chin and cheeks here, you'll see that they already look as good (or better) than they did when this whole thing started. I'm delighted. Then, to top it all off, I met another mom at the playground who echoed my feeling that the Aquaphor made the eczema worse (her son had it just as bad as mine). Finally vindicated! It's a good feeling. Almost as good as seeing baby's eczema start to get better.

At Last - A Table

Well, it's not the table I wanted and not what I originally ordered, but it's a table. After waiting the initial 10 weeks for the first table, I was told it would be another 2 - 3 weeks. A week and a half into that, I got a call saying another 5 - 7. Enough was enough. My back couldn't take anymore. So it was WalMart to the rescue. Within a week, I had a table. Made of rusting metal and a bumpy slate top, but it's a table. Of course, now the chair I have is too low, so I'm sitting on a milk can. None too comfy, I'll tell 'ya. Still, better than standing. I even got the bulletin board hung. No mean feat with our old walls; plaster over terracotta blocks. So here it is:


And, if you look on the right-hand side, you'll see my new coverstitch machine waiting patiently to be taken out and played with. Just a few more jackets to sew first!

Miscellany and Tedium

I've been cutting and sewing pants now for about a week, and I'm bored. Really, really bored. I thought I could save some time and money by making all the sizes of pants at once, and it's only 20 pair, but after sewing 80 pockets.... complete burnout. Which is one of the reasons I'm here messing around instead. Here's a picture of 20 pair of pants in progress.

So what else is going on? Still no table. I got a call this morning saying the table was on backorder for another 5-7 weeks. My back and feet are killing me. I can't take standing and sewing at the kitchen counter that much longer. I'm thinking legs from Ikea and a piece of banded plywood should do the trick.

My husband and I sent out the link to my Etsy store last week. I had a bunch of people view the site, but no orders. I know my things are a little on the expensive side, but I had hoped for at least a couple. Three thoughts came to mind. 1) Maybe there's just not enough stuff right now. I have other items I'll be working on, but I have to finish some of this sewing before I can move on to something else. And maybe once I have additional sizes available on what is there, that might help also. 2) This is really nice stuff. I'm trying to think of a way to let people actually see and touch and feel. 3) I've got to try and come up with some marketing ideas. I'm going to try finding some other sellers with compatible things, and see if we can post links to each other's sites to help increase traffic. I think I'll also try making postcards to give out in the neighboorhood. Maybe I'll even impose on family some more, and try to get them to do the same. And lastly, I might try to host a show/party in my building if I can find anyone else who wants to show.

That's it for now. Time to go pick up the older kids from school.

Designing a New Dress

I've been working so long now on my 'line', that it's feeling stale (even though very little of it is actually posted for sale yet), so I've decided to throw in a couple of one-of-a-kind dresses. I have some really pretty floral linen fabric that's been sitting in a box for a while, so I thought I'd use it. To save some time, I'm going to use a pattern I created for my niece's christening dress for one, and re-make a commercial pattern for the other.

One of the best parts of design (at least for me) is this 'playing around' stage. Just laying the fabric out, looking through my trim box, choosing colors... this is what I live for. I can't pick up a piece of girly fabric without gathering it at the top like a skirt. (I know there are some out there who know just what I mean.) Here's the fabric and some different trims.

I took my length of fabric and shaped it flat on the counter to make the rough shape of the dress. I considered the idea of making the bodice white, but it wasn't quite right. I liked the way the white set off the trim, though, so I wanted to keep it in some manner. I ended up making a flat bias piece, about 5/8" wide, at the waist and sleeve. Then I decided to make the collar white and add the trim there. I ended up using the trim shown in the center. (And see how nice the fabric looks gathered up on the 'skirt'?)

The only un-fun part of making this was realizing I didn't have any lining that was already washed (and the linen was), so it meant getting the washing machine going. I hate laundry - in any way, shape or form! And here's the finished product, below. Don't you just want to go buy it? (Say yes.)

A Time Consuming Little Jacket

A friend asked me how I was going to price my clothing. We talked a bit about materials and hidden costs like pattern paper, then she asked about my time to make these things. Oh, boy.

I already knew that if I factored in the salary I had been making when I was working for the doll company, the clothing wouldn't be affordable for anyone. (Well, maybe some - but I'm talking about most.) So I decided to just price it at a point where it might sell, and I might be able to make a buck, and pretty much disregard my time. I still wasn't expecting this time-crunching monster of a jacket, though.

Here came lesson number, ummm..... 374? Don't design your things, make the patterns, buy the fabrics, then think about cost. Here's the little demon I'm talking about.

Isn't he cute? I thought so until I started to time how long it was taking me to sew this. So much time was being taken up just changing the thread colors. And the topstitching - what a pain. And the number of pieces in this jacket? Fourteen, if you don't include the pocket tabs as part of the pattern. It takes thirteen steps just to sew and finish the sleeves. Okay, I'll stop griping now.

I decided to make four of these in each size (12 & 18 months, 2, 3, & 4T). Twenty jackets in all. I've only finished four so far. Maybe I'll have these done by the end of the month. We'll see. Still, there has to be something interesting in the design - otherwise, what's the point? Anyone can find a plain denim jacket out there - and for a lot less than what mine costs. The next jacket (or dress, or shirt) I design, though, will definitely have more consideration for time factored in!

So Much for Chronological Order

If I try to do this in order, I'll never get anything done. I'm going with the 'what's on my mind right now' style instead.

So I'm waiting for a table I ordered. Eight-to-ten weeks didn't seem like that long a time when I ordered it, but now.... Here is my current work space (so to speak). Yes, it's in my so-called kitchen. Note the serger on the opposite counter - right side. Between working and cooking, I spend half my life right now in this 14 sq. ft. space. So very much fun!

Here is our back hallway, where I plan on putting this table. Of course, there's no electrical outlet back there, and the closest one is in the living room/kitchen. My husband will be thrilled to have another cord running the length of the apartment and around the doorway. On a positive note; he won't have to look at my mess on the counter anymore. I'll post pics of the new space in a week or two.