Who knew?

About a year and a half ago I had been entering into giveaways on facebook pages, if you haven't seen these basically it was pretty awesome, a page would host the giveaway and other pages would donate items in order to gain more fans and get exposure.  You would like the host's page as well as sponsor's pages for items you wished to win.  I did extremely well with this and won quite a few different things from a 31 hard case wallet (that I love and still use), to numerous cloth diapers and accessories, hair bows, leg warmers, nail polish, etc...but the one thing I always entered in for and never one...tutus.  I wanted a cute little tutu for my little princess.  They were so cute, and I knew she would love it.  But after so many attempts and not winning one, I got curious, and looked at it, and decided, well, how hard can this be? I bet I could just make one.  So I got everything I needed for it, and I made one.  Not only did it turn out super cute, she absolutely loved it, and so did other people, with in 2 hours of posting I had 5 people wanting to buy one.

I decided I could probably do pretty well with this and started a business page.  It was incredible, I was literally flooded with orders and had many repeat customers.  I started designing my own designs and people loved it.  And I loved it too...............for awhile.  Don't get me wrong, I appreciated each and every order I got, and all the people and girls who were so thrilled to get their tutus and bows as I started doing those as well.  But quickly, I got burned out.  I had gone back to school, my daughter quit taking naps so there was not near as much time to get things done during the day, and one big thing happened...my mom got me a sewing machine, and I found my real artistic passion!  So, I decided the tutu business was just not for me, I completed my remaining orders and closed my page down.

Now let's go back a little bit to my mom getting me a sewing machine.  This is where the "who knew?" title comes in.  My mom either likes to throw money away (probably not the case) or she just really wanted to make me happy, (I like this idea better) but she didn't think I would really do much with the machine.  ***Thank you mom for not telling me this at the time and crushing all my hopes, dreams, and ambitions lol***  But I will be honest, she had very little reason to believe that I be good at sewing, I did horrible in home ec in Jr High when we had to make boxers, and I basically hadn't touched a sewing machine since.  But I got it and the first thing I made with it was a skirt, it wasn't perfect, but Emma loved it, and it turned out pretty darn cute.  The kicker...I had no idea what I was doing, no pre-made pattern, or tutorial.  I just bought fabric, got some measurements, and used cardboard from an empty diaper box for a pattern.  That is the skirt pictured here.  Excuse the wet hair lol.

Looking back there are definitely a few things I would do differently on that skirt, but it was definitely a learning experience!  After a few more sewing projects, some with patterns, some from tutorials, and some just out of my head, my mom, my husband, the rest of my family, as well as myself, were all pleasantly surprised.

Pictured below in order Belle of the Ball Dress (first 3 pictures) (my own design), Apron Knot Dress (no pattern but not really my design), Little Man tie (pattern), Milk Maid Dress (modified pattern), Sweetheart Halter (modified tutorial) , Peasant tunic (pattern), Fairy Tale Dress (pattern), Ruffled Romper (modified pattern), and Peek-a-Boo Skirt (no pattern)

Everything and more is available at www.facebook.com/baileylynnboutique and some stuff is also listed on Etsy:  www.etsy.com/shop/baileylynnboutique