Why I do what I do

There are times in my life, I have to pinch myself to believe this is really my job. I didn’t plan to create my own handcrafted clothing line, it happened & I embraced it.

I absolutely LOVE what I do, love to create & love when you all get your packages and are as excited as I am! I am one woman, a wife, a mother, sister, daughter. I feel very blessed to be able to share my talent with women all over the world. I love being in a place where I can be a part of another woman’s happiness & see her confidence as she gets to spoil herself a bit with something new ❤

Where has the time gone?

The last month+ has flown by so quickly, that I can hardly explain it! So much has happened, so many items I’ve sewn, new fabric suppliers I’ve found and so many new designs I’ve created. Business has been busy!

I have several new changes coming up to improve the business. I’ve built up my fabric supply and my sweet husband has created a new cutting table and lots of fabric storage. He even special ordered a 5’x8′ cutting mat to fit over my entire cutting table! I love it and it makes it so much easier!

I have lots going on tomorrow so I’ll cut this short but its time to start blogging more for sure!

I’ll leave you with some of my newer designs.

Sewing tip: When your machine just wants to eat up your knits

I love knits! I honestly prefer sewing with knits over any other fabric. People look at me crazy when I say that. Yes, knits can take some time getting use to, but in my experience, they are also the most forgiving when it comes to fit!

When I first started sewing, I’d grab something from my closet and cut it up to refashion. Knits were my go-to since I didn’t use patterns and I could just guess my way through sizing. Now I have a better understanding of fabric and sizing and I still LOVE knits!

With that being said, I have found some knits to be finicky and at times my machine has tried to eat them! Okay, maybe she’s not trying to eat them, but she sure acts like it 🙂

I have my stretch needles in, my tension set, everything in order but some times it just won’t happen. But I discovered this magical little thing…

Well, I tried this little trick, placing tissue paper under the fabric as I sewed…even used a stretch double needle to hem a tunic and not once did my Bernina try to eat the fabric!

So, I thought why not share this little trick with all of you. I know you can buy stabilizer at the sewing store but why spend money on that when you can buy a packet of tissue paper anywhere for 99 cents?!?

Give it a try! Seriously, just lay the tissue paper under your fabric and sew through just like it’s another layer of fabric! Pull the tissue off after your finished and you have a beautiful stitch!

Patterns smatterns

I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t found the time to write…busy sewing, with nothing to blog about? Since this is a sewing blog, that makes little to no sense at all.

I truly need to take the time to just write! I have started taking some new sewing classes which is so much fun! My husband bought me a Baby Lock Imagine serger in December as a birthday gift and I absolutely love it! The shop we purchased it from offers free classes with purchase. I attended my first class a couple weeks ago and am happy to report that I’m very confident in my ability to change my thread, adjust settings for each fabric weight and I can serge a pretty corner, inside and out! I’m very excited to attend my next Baby Lock class this upcoming weekend.

I also went to my first Bernina class since I got a new Bernina sewing machine. What a beauty it is…so different from my Brothers, Singer and New Home. With the new machine purchase, I’ll have 3 free classes, then pay for the more advanced classes 🙂

I’ve also been attending another class specifically learning how to take patterns and adjust them to customize your fitting. For those of you that have been following me awhile, you know I don’t use patterns. Patterns have always seemed like a foreign language to me, mostly because no one has taught me how to use them. So, I enrolled in this class because it seemed to fit me well, learning how to create custom clothing. I make everything in my boutique custom, using each of my clients body measurements to ensure a great fit!

This class has forced me out of my comfort zone and into the world of patterns. How fun it is to truly understand how to read, cut, adjust and customize a pattern to your own liking! I’ve learned how to measure flat patterns and to measure myself and others correctly. I’ve learned how to choose which pattern size to use even if it means adjusting just one part of it to fit a fuller bust or narrow hips! I’ve learned how to add a dart, remove another or create gathering in an area the pattern doesn’t call for. I now know how to go up or down 1/2 a size instead of dealing with something being slightly too snug or just a bit too loose. I’m amazed at how many little cuts, turns and adjustments can really be made to printed patterns.

Well, I’m off to finish this counting game with our 2-year-old night owl who never gets sleepy like the rest of us! She’s definitely my shadow and I love how much she loves playing, counting and reciting her ABCs, even if its nearing midnight 😉

From the husband of RefashionMama

Hi! Thanks for reading RefashionMama’s blog!! I’m Cris, RefashionMama’s eternally lucky husband. For anyone who isn’t aware, RefashionMama isn’t my wife’s actual name (yes, really). When I first met her all those years ago in that empty waiting room at Kaiser she identified herself only as Summer. I’m not even completely sure she had a last name but we’ll talk about that later. Anyway, truth be told, she’s the love of my life (most of the time). Except of course for when she’s on here with you guys. Or is hunched over her sewing machine – or is it called a serger? Whatever. Or posting her latest design creation (and her lunch) on Facebook. In other words, pretty much doing anything that takes her away from us – her needy and loving family.

I realized recently however that trying to keep her away from her new hobby would not only be next to impossible but also cruel and unfair. She obviously loves to sew and it turns out she’s not half bad. The blouses and dresses she’s made look great and if I had the hips for it I wouldn’t mind sporting a few myself. In any case it was obvious we would have to come to her if we hoped to ever see her again. For me that meant baby sitting our two year old daughter and two boys (9 and 10) for most of the night until they all passed out. Then, her and I could relax on the couch with a beer and a new episode of House Hunters in the hopes it would lead to a not-so-impromptu make out session. I didn’t mind most of the time. After all, the boys are easy. Our daughter, however, is not. As a baby she had colic, which for those of you still on birth control, is the highly scientific medical term doctors have given to babies who hate their parents. The result of having a colicky baby is lots and lots of unconsolable crying, that most of the time for us went well past midnight. It’s enough to make a person want to run away and never come back.

But you don’t! Cause you cant live without your kids and we definitely can’t live without ours. Well now our daughter’s two and things are a little easier. Which is what this post is about. Summer and I have decided we’re going to turn this hobby of hers into something much bigger. What exactly? I have no clue. Obviously our main motivation for now is income. But only because it has to be. Money has never motivated Summer and I to do anything really except feed our children. We’ve always been more interested in improving our quality of life and that of those around us. Maybe in the end we can do something good for this world. We probably owe it that considering how much we take from it and from each other. I’m sure we do.
So from here on out Summer and I will post every step we take trying to turn her Facebook Boutique into a full fledged clothing line. There will probably be a million details we’ll need to cover which is great! We’ll make sure and document everything, big or small, in case it can someday help someone else who is trying to do the same thing. Hopefully some good will come out of it. I do have to include one important disclaimer though: Neither Summer nor I are English majors!! Everything will be proof read but some (maybe a lot) of mistakes in grammar are inevitable. Ok?! Great! Talk to you again soon.