Hip Violet

Easy Fabric Gift Bag Tutorial

2011-12-22T15:08:00.000-08:00

This year I'm trying to cut back on my wrapping paper usage, so I made some of these easy, festive,and reusable fabric gift bags. So can you! If you can sew in a straight line, you can make these!

Materials Needed:

Fabric

Ribbon

Tools Needed:

Sewing Machine

Iron

Safety Pin

Ruler

Fabric Marker or Washable Marker

Start out by laying out your fabric on a flat surface and laying the gift on top.

Move the gift about 3" down from the top of the fabric, more if it is a thicker item.

Find out how wide you want to cut your fabric by laying the fabric over your gift (just like when you wrap it with wrapping paper!).

Then add an extra 1-2" past where you need it. Mark with a washable or fabric marker.

Also mark the right side of your fabric so you know how tall you want your bag. Gee, I really did a great job keeping that ruler straight, huh?

Now cut out your fabric piece. This does not need to be an exact science, I didn't even use a ruler!

Now take your fabric and fold down the top edge about 3/4". This will be the casing for a ribbon drawstring to close the top. My ribbon was about 1/4" wide, if you're using a wider ribbon, measure your ribbon and add about a half inch so you have plenty of room for it to fit.

Press your seam with a hot iron.

Now it's time to sew! Using a straight stitch, sew a straight line down the edge.

Whoa! Looks like Santa needs a Chiropractor! No really, you can see the finished top seam here.

Now fold your fabric in half with right-sides together (that means the correct side of the fabric is together). Line up your side and bottom edges as much as possible. Feel free to pin them if you would like - I was livin' on the edge and went pin-free!

Sew with a straight stitch down the side and across the bottom.

Here is what it should look like!

Now turn it right-side-out - it looks like a bag, right? Yay!! Now find where your seam is. Cut two tiny holes with a sharp scissors pretty close to the seam. Try not to cut through to the other side! Cut it wide enough to fit your safety pin through.

Cut a length of ribbon that is double the length of your bag plus a few inches.

Tie a double knot on one end. Attach a small safety pin to the other end.

Push the safety pin end into the little hole you cut and start feeding the ribbon around the top until it pops out the other side.

Pull it out enough to tie another double knot in the 2nd side (you may have to cut a little of this ribbon off as it can become frayed while you're pulling it through) and VIOLA! You are done!

Have a very Merry Christmas!
jesi

{Handmade Baby Gifts} The Holidays are Coming!

2011-11-15T18:44:00.001-08:00

Here is my newest applique design - a FOX! Isn't he cute? This bib is so new it's not listed on my Etsy site yet. BUT I'll have a bunch of these at all my upcoming Craft Shows! Look at the sidebar on the right for a complete list of upcoming shows!

A great customer of mine wanted to cover up her little boy's shirt and bow tie at a wedding reception with... a shirt and bow tie! Here you go!

For Little Ghouls and Goblins

2011-09-21T21:39:00.000-07:00

Check out these super cute Halloween inspired items from my fellow Etsykids members!

Halloween Costume Cupcake Toppers from Your Blissful Day

Halloween Twirl Skirt from Chew Chew's Closet

Ghostie Hair Clips by marmalade creations

Happy Halloween Fabric Banner by The Polka Dot Tot Shop

Happy Halloween Patchwork Flannel Blanket from SweetieBugs

{Handmade Baby Shower Gifts} New Bib Designs!

2011-06-27T19:04:00.001-07:00

I have been busy making some new bib designs! Here is a really cool gender neutral bib with retro lamps fabric. Appliqued on top is a green whale in black thread. The back of this bib is black fleece.
Here is one of my popular horse profile bibs! This one has a beautiful pink and mint green fabric in the back, and a pink checked horse appliqued on top.
I also found this great green floral fabric and appliqued a coordinating stripey green elephant on top. So cute!
Here are some other favorites from fellow members of the Etsykids Team!

Super cute bacon & eggs felt hair clip from marmalade creations:
Biker Dude cloth wipes set by Applesauce Crafts:
And this amazing dress made out of (my favorite!) a vintage tablecloth! This is by Chirp & Bloom:
Happy shopping!
jesi

Handmade Appliqued Kitchen Towels

2011-05-25T21:55:00.000-07:00

*New Product!*

I have been making these appliqued kitchen towels for a while now as gifts for family and friends, and finally had some time to make some for my shop! Perfect for it you love the look of Hip Violet, but didn't have any kids to buy for!

Check out my Etsy shop for a full selection!
jesi

Appliqued Wall Art, Anyone?

2011-05-04T16:27:00.000-07:00

I'm trying out something new! I had an idea to make some wall art for my awesome Grandma for Mother's Day. She already has a few kitchen towels and I wanted something she might see more often (we live across the country from each other and I miss her!). So here is my first try! It's 12" x 12" and actually went pretty smoothly for my first time!I have had a lot of interest in making some to sell - they would be really cute nursery artwork, kids room art, and just generally nifty to hang around your house. My husband just-so-happens to be a carpenter and already told me he can make any size frame pretty quickly and easily.

I'm excited about possibly expanding into more adult areas - I often get asked what I'm going to do with Hip Violet when my girls are grown (they are currently 4 and 2 so I have a while!) and although I always think I'll be making bibs, I would love to be able to offer handmade items to a wider variety of people!

Let me know what you think!

Also, the craft show season has BEGUN!! Up first is one of my favorite shows, the Horseshoe Craft & Flea! It's in NW Denver and features tons of my favorite indie crafters as well as antique and vintage finds too. What more could you ask for? Oh, I know - FOOD TRUCKS! This year they have a ton of really great local food trucks as well as one from The Food Network's Great Food Truck Race! What?!?

See you there!

jesi

p.s. Guess what? I'm TWEETING! Follow me @HipViolet!

Giveaway!

2011-04-19T14:03:00.001-07:00

It's time for a GIVEAWAY!! Simply post a comment with your favorite Easter candy and you'll be registered to win this super sweet Mushrooms with a Music Note bib! This bib is gender neutral and would work great for boys OR girls!
One entry per person please! Winner will be drawn at random on Friday, April 22.

Check out all my great bibs at my Etsy Shop, perfect for all those baby showers you have coming up this spring and summer! All my bibs are handmade in Denver, CO using designer fabric and super sweet appliques. They make a perfectly unique gift!

Come and join my Facebook page for even more giveaways, advanced notice of new designs and much more!

Denver Just Between Friends Sale Coupon

2011-03-25T12:19:00.000-07:00

Hip Violet and marmalade creations will be sharing a booth at the Just Between Friends Sale in Denver from April 7-10. We are so excited to try out this great event! It's a HUGE HUGE consignment sale for kids clothing and gear. Every year I hear about it, I can't wait to be there!

April 7 - 10
National Western Complex, Denver
Thursday-Friday 10a-7p
Saturday 10a-4p Military Appreciation Day and 25% off sale
Sunday 10a-4p (Half price sale)

Print the coupon below for FREE ADMISSION to the Just Between Friends Sale!

And print this coupon for a free pass into the Early Bird Sale on Wednesday evening!
We'll be there Thursday through Sunday in one of the booths around the outside of the sale - come on over and say hello!

jesi

Custom Sets and Horse Bibs

2011-03-22T08:34:00.000-07:00

There isn't anything better than sewing up tiny items for babies that haven't arrived yet... and even better are babies I am related to! These two sets are for my little niece who is arriving this spring. They are both big into camping and wanted to stay away from typical girly colors, so I used my camping fabric to make a birdie bib and onesie for them. My sister-in-law Kelly LOVES peacocks, so I searched high and low for this great peacock fabric and make a mushroom bib and onesie out of it. I simply cannot WAIT to see my little niece wearing them! Actually I can't wait to HOLD her, but that's another story!

I also shipped off an order to my favorite horse tack shop, Millbrook Tack in Michigan! They carry a lot of my horse bibs (that's bibs with horses ON them, not bibs FOR horses!) and they recently got this shipment of 8 new bibs. Stop by if you need a great baby gift for those horse-loving friends of yours!
We're getting our list of summer craft shows together and I think it's going to be a great summer! We're trying out a few new ones and going back to a bunch of oldies but goodies! Stay tuned!

jesi

p.s. I'm now on Twitter! Follow me @HipViolet!

Hip Hip Hurray!!

2011-03-07T08:39:00.000-08:00

Guess where I'm posting this from? MY NEW SEWING ROOM!! Yippie!!!

Just to refresh your memory, here is where I did all of my sewing before (better known as the Dining Room)

And now... TA DA! Here is where I get to sew NOW!
(please note my daughter Violet on the left - she picked out her clothes allll by herself today!)

I lucked out too - the desk used to sew on fit PERFECTLY into my little "shipping nook" on the left... with an inch to spare! To the right is the closet which someday will have doors and shelves.

My big, huge table to work at. Sure beats the teeny area had to clear off every time in my old room! I can actually have all my gear out for each project at once, AND cut fabric without moving over to the dining room table! Underneath the table are some of my bins for blank onesies and shirts.
Fabric!! And my current inventory of clothing which will go on a real rack as soon as I put it together.

Today also happened to be a day when Violet is home sick from daycare, so we set her up a little chair and tv so she can rest (and get her fill of movies!)Speaking of Violet, yesterday she told me she didn't want to watch a movie during her "quiet time" and instead wanted to watch me sew (awww!). Instead of watching, I put her to work! She did a really great job taking all the pins out of the bibs after they were sewn to the fleece backs. I'm trying not to get too excited about the fact that she is interested in sewing, but it sure would be fun if one or both of my girls ended up wanting to help!

I'm off to sew in my new room! Have a great day!
jesi

p.s. Denver-area moms - I'll be at The Village at Edgewater on Wednesday, March 9 from 10:30-4:00 with all my Hip Violet stuff. Stop by and let the kiddos play while you shop!

Fabric Drive to help the African Community Center

2011-02-08T10:46:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I was introduced to Ashley from the African Community Center of Denver - she was hoping to find some better craft shows in the area and I have been to a few! Ashley runs a sewing class at the ACC in Denver who teaches refugees how to sew. They make wallets, computer cases, pillowcases and handbags and sell them at local craft shows. I had a really nice conversation with Ashley and found out they run almost exclusively on donations which allows the most profit to go to the women who are working.

"We Made This is an income generating project at the African Community Center. ACC, which enables men and women in the refugee community to work together to create 100% recycled hand-sewn items. In an effort to learn new skills, work, and become a part of the community , we sew these items from recycled fabric donated to our center. Through the project, we learn and develop employable skills and create a sustainable community together.

We are working as a collective. From the person who sews the bag to the person who delivers the items to the store, we all get a percentage of the cost of this bag. Proceeds support a special refugee fund for the We Made This project and participants."

Check out their website here.

This week I went to visit and drop off some fabric and an extra sewing machine that I couldn't use. It was really cool to see the room they sew in, meet some of the ladies and watch them work!

Sewing Room at the African Community Center

Rachel teaching the ladies how to sew from a pattern

Tons of cool "vintage" sewing machines in use at the ACC.

Some of the beautiful items they have been making!

As I mentioned before, they run almost exclusively on donations so they can pass the profit on to the refugees, most of whom are on government assistance and can use every bit of help they can get.

Here is where YOU come in! I would love to encourage you to donate supplies, gift cards, or just some good vibes to the African Community Center! Below is a list of supplies they could use - I will be gathering these supplies until the end of February along with other members of the Denver Handmade Alliance. I would love it if you would join in!

• Cotton Fabric (no knits or decorator fabric)
• Needles (machine and hand stitching)
• Thread (all colors)
• Rotary Cutters & Blades
• Sewing Measuring Tapes
• Quilting Batting
• Buttons
• Self-Healing Boards
• Interfacing
• Extension Cords
• Sewing Machines (broken & older ones are okay!)
• Gift Cards to Joann Fabrics & Hancock Fabrics

If you have any of these items that you would be willing to donate, please let me know! If you are local, you can drop them off at my house or I can pick them up. If you are not local to Denver and still want to help, you can send items to me or straight to the ACC. Contact me through my Facebook page for my address or for more information!

I'm so excited about the opportunity to help this organization and these women! I know our crafting community can come together and really make a difference!

jesi

p.s. on another exciting note, there is a good chance I will be hiring one of their graduates to come and work for me once my basement studio is finished! I got to meet her at my visit and I can't WAIT to see how it goes!

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

2011-01-15T12:55:00.001-08:00

I can finally see it! A glimmer of light at the end of my Craft Room tunnel :)

Hip Violet Headquarters has always been in a little corner of my living room. It started in the corner of our rental in Denver where we lived the first year, and moved to the dining room of our new house about 2 years ago. It's a pretty tiny space, as craft spaces go, but over the years I got pretty good at organizing and making the most of the space I was lucky enough to have. Here are some pictures of my current work space:
Yes, I sew under the light of a fancy chandelier!It looks pretty good in these pictures because I cleaned it up... Normally there are piles and piles (and PILES) of stuff. Currently my pile of fleece is only about a foot away from the ceiling :). It's a tight space and I NEVER have enough room to store everything I need. Plus if I need to cut things out (fleece, my bib pattern out of fabric) I need to use my kitchen table which isn't always cleaned off or clean!

This house DOES have basement (yay!) but it had some issues before we bought it so they had to gut the whole thing down to the stud walls. So even though we have the SPACE for a studio/office for me, it wasn't nearly ready. And due to time and financial constraints these last few years it's been slow going.

Here is how it looked when we moved in:
Then in September of this year my husband (who is a carpenter and generally handy person - lucky me!) put up the stud walls.This is the North wall with what will be my little shipping "nook" and closet.

A few weeks ago he was able to get the electrical figured out, put in 6 new lights, and insulated.
And today. Today was HUGE! We now have drywall!! It looks like an actual ROOM!!! I can't stop going down there and smiling!

North wallThis room is approximately FOUR TIMES the size of my current work area. Do you know how GREAT it's going to be when I'm moved in? I can hardly wait! It will probably be a few more weeks until I can start moving (which is fine since I'm trying not to sew much this month!), and when I do it will be a little bare-bones for a while. Eventually my husband is going to build a wall of cubbies and a desk on the South wall, and I'll have a large cutting/ironing table on the West wall with lots of storage underneath.

So there you have it. I'm hoping by February I have a real live sewing studio! I think it's going to be a whole new chapter in the Hip Violet book and I can't WAIT to start it! YAY!!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

2010-12-29T12:49:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

Ah yes, change is in the air :) With the new year I've decided to make some changes to Hip Violet and I would love love LOVE your opinion them! As added incentive to get your feedback, if you post a comment here on my blog, you will be entered to win a FREE Hip Violet item!

So here goes!

1) Price Change
I love designing and sewing up my items - I really do! But it has become pretty apparent over the last few months that I need to put my prices up in order to stay in business. Starting January 1st all of my appliqued bibs and short-sleeved apparel will be $18 (previously $15) and all long-sleeved apparel will be $20 (previously $17).

Now I know a lot of you really love the size and fit of my bibs but didn't necessarily need the fancy applique (or the cost of adding it!). I've got your answer! I am going to offer a new "budget" version of my bibs that do not have an applique. Same great size, snaps and quality crafts-woman-ship, but offered at $12 so you can stock up! Looks for them soon on my Etsy shop! And if anyone has a great name idea for these bibs, let me know! Maybe Thrifty Clean Bibs? Bargain Bib? Economical Eater? Cheap n' Clean?

2) Apparel
I have really been struggling with my appliqued apparel and if I should continue to sell it or not. I really love doing it as it seems to be a good option for people with kids older than bib-age, but I have a lot of trouble finding blank shirts, keeping a full inventory of the multitude of sizes needed for kids apparel, and even with how to display it all at craft shows and online.

If I did decide to discontinue apparel sales, it would not be until later this year as I have a big inventory of blanks at the moment. I would also still offer them as a custom order.

What do you think?

3) Custom Orders
I really love that I can offer custom items for special occasions, and I plan on continuing to offer this service. However starting in January I will only be taking 3 custom order "slots" per month. If you are interested in a custom order, let me know and I'll get you on the list for the month of your choice. Once it is your turn, you can order up to 5 items at a time. The running list of custom slots will be on the right sidebar on this blog.

4) Wholesale Orders
Currently I have 5 super-fantastic wholesale accounts, but I'm looking to add a few more this year. If you know of a really cool boutique that you think my bibs would be a good fit for, please let me know! I am currently looking for places outside of the Denver area as I think I have plenty here!

Thanks so much for reading this far! Make sure to post a comment - I not only would LOVE to hear your opinions on any/all of the above issues, but you'll also be entered into a drawing for a FREE Hip Violet item!

Thanks again!
jesi

Meet the Newest Hip Violet Family Member...

2010-12-06T07:02:00.001-08:00

I'd like to introduce you to someone. She and I are going to be spending a LOT of time together...

This is my new-to-me Bernina 530 Record. It may not be the most beautiful, high-tech machine (I think it's another 1970's model), but MAN can it sew!

I had one of my worst fears come true late last week. I was sewing for my biggest show of the year (Holiday Handmade in Denver) when at 11:30pm the night before the show with a STACK of shirts waiting to be appliqued... my trusty Bernina 810 died. REALLY died. I'm pretty sure the motor is busted. After a few &$*@&$ I got my backup machine from the basement, relearned how to sew on it, and finished up my work. The backup is fine, just SUPER slow and weird and loud. And it doesn't do NEARLY as good of a job as my Bernina.

Then I did what any Vintage Bernina Loving Person would do. At 3am, I searched my local Craigslist to see if there were any for sale :) And I found this one.

No frills here!But look at that niiiiiice stitch. And did I mention how QUIET it is to sew on? I think I may even be able to TALK to my husband while I'm sewing!
And the best part? Check out the carrying case! Of course there won't be a lot of carrying. She is a BEAST!!! I cannot believe how heavy these old metal machines are! I need some help naming her. She is in rough shape as far as cosmetics go and is old. Any ideas?

Speaking of Holiday Handmade, here are some pics from the show! It was at THE most beautiful craft show venue - the Sherman Events Center in Denver. I think it used to be a Greek Orthodox Church. Every inch was covered in something decorative!

You can sort of see my booth on the left-hand side. I'm in the second row on the corner.
Birds-eye view! I was so lucky to have a corner booth!
I had a REALLY great show - my best yet! It was my first show doing something a little different - usually all my bibs are one-of-a-kind but that was causing some odd issues so I decided to do 3-of-a-kind on each bib and when one sold, just took out another one of the same. It worked GREAT! It was really fun to see which bibs sold the fastest (I had a few where they would sell within a few minutes of being out - crazy!), and I actually think having less choices for people was better so they weren't overwhelmed with so many!

Speaking of designs, below are a few of my Holiday Bibs. Most are available through my Etsy shop. They would make a great gift OR the perfect thing to cover up your own baby and their adorable holiday clothes at mealtimes!

I also have two Hanukkah bibs. Check them out!

One more show of the year and then I'm done for a while - come and check out Firefly Handmade in Boulder this weekend!

See you there!
jesi

Holiday Open House!

2010-11-04T12:41:00.001-07:00

You're invited to our Holiday Open House! There are two dates and locations to choose from - we'd love to see you! We're your one-stop-shop for holiday gift giving - both Hip Violet and marmalade creations will have our entire inventories available and they make great gifts!
Can't make it to the parties? Check out the other awesome shows we'll be at this holiday season on the list to the right. They include Fancy Tiger's Holiday Handmade as well as Boulder's Firefly Market.

See you there!
jesi

Birthday Sets and Hats

2010-10-17T18:38:00.000-07:00

I finally had the chance to get some professional pictures taken of my daughter Willa modeling my 1st Birthday Sets. These are always hot sellers and I've really wanted to get some great pictures of them to post on my Etsy site as well as use in advertising. I'm so happy with how they turned out!

If you are in the Denver area and are looking for an AWESOME photographer, please make sure to check out Jessica Juriga Photography. She is super easy to work with, great with kids, and takes really fabulous pictures!

A while back I had the chance to make some great Hip Violet baby shower gifts/decorations for two little twin girls. A friend of mine had me make two bibs, two t-shirts and two onesies all with birdies for her friend's baby shower. She hung them up as decorations at the shower and gave them to the mom-to-be as gifts too. The two little ladies are finally here - and sporting their adorable birdie shirts too!
Speaking of babies, I got a few blank hats and was able to do a little birdie applique. I also have done a tiny owl. I have a few more left (and can get them in baby blue and white) - let me know if you are interested! They will be $15 each.
Make sure to check out my Holiday Show Schedule over on the right. I will be at some GREAT shows this winter - make sure to stop by and get all your holiday shopping done!

New Retail Location & Fun Sets

2010-09-09T14:48:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to announce that my bibs are now available at Tomte Craft in Denver, CO! Here are just a few of the bibs I dropped off:

I also had the chance to do a really fun set for a mom with a little boy who is due in a few weeks for a "surprise baby" - since they don't know what they are having, we did one for each gender!
And a funny little set for a fun couple - one is a big Florida State University fan and the other is a huge University of Florida fan. This is for their daughter! And just a note - although you won't see "licensed" fabric like this on my Etsy site or at shows, I am happy to make them if you send me the fabric!
Have a hip day!
jesi

Another Chance to WIN!

2010-08-25T07:16:00.000-07:00

I was recently featured and reviewed on the HSUper Parents Blog - check it out HERE!

There is also a chance to win a super cute gender neutral bib in one of my favorite fabrics - Retro Kids in the Kitchen!
I have also been busy adding new bibs to my Etsy Shop - let me know what you think! They are my newer style where I am doing a lot more pattern-on-pattern applique instead of solid fleece. I am loving them but I always love your opinions!

Keep checking back on my site - I'm hoping to add a bunch of new onesies and t-shirts later this week!

Have a great day!
jesi

Introducing 3 New Appliques!

2010-07-27T16:25:00.000-07:00

By popular demand!

The Turtle
The Strawberry
And the Hedgehog
I'll have a few of each at the Sweet William Market in Stapleton, CO this weekend!

jesi

Happy Birthday, Hip Violet!

2010-07-21T07:02:00.001-07:00

We are turning TWO this weekend! In celebration I'm doing giveaways every day this week on my Facebook page. Come on over and join in the fun!

Hip Violet's Facebook Page

If you aren't on Facebook and would still like to enter, post a comment here and I'll add you to the list!

My Own Little Birthday Girl!

2010-06-15T06:46:00.000-07:00

It was my youngest daughter Willa's 1st birthday last weekend! I can't BELIEVE she is one already! Time really does fly... But it was REALLY fun to go shopping for some super cute fabric just for her 1st Birthday Set. I found this awesome retro mushroom fabric that worked out just perfectly! Here she is showing off her shirt at the Botanic Gardens.
And her bib. Yes, I did make mushroom cupcakes too :)
If you have a little person turning 1 or 2 and would like a custom birthday set (you pick the fabric!), let me know!

Sibling Sets! These two whales are for a sister and brother - so cute! These make awesome gifts OR are a cute idea for family photos.I whipped up a few tank tops for my daughter Violet - she told me what she wanted and *I* picked the fabric! She loves them!

Craft show season is in full swing - if you're in the Denver area, make sure to check out my show schedule on the right. I have TONS of new products at each show and it's always so fun to meet everyone! Tell us you saw this on my blog and get an additional $2 off your purchase! :)

See you there!
jesi

Cute Customs!

2010-05-23T14:52:00.000-07:00

I have had the best bunch of custom orders lately! It's so fun to see what other people pick to have done - a lot of times it is a fabric and applique combo I wouldn't have tried and it always turns out so cute! Here is my current favorite Retro Deer fabric with a little dotty whale:
And Retro Rockets (this was the last of it, I'm sorry to say!) with a Rocket and then a matching initial onesie
This was a first birthday set - one without a cupcake! I love this idea as you can most definitely use both pieces after the party!
Here is another initial set - this one was out of my cute Retro Pets fabric that I rarely use even though I love it! I think I may have to try it out for my next batch of bibs for the Paris Street show!
And last is a set of kitchen towels for a good friend who is getting married soon.
Contact me if you'd like to order your own custom set or items!

Have a great day!
jesi

Craft Shows!

2010-05-12T13:15:00.001-07:00

Hurray for craft shows! We were at the Boulder Artisan's Market this past weekend and it was so much fun! I am sharing a booth most of the summer with marmalade creations - my good friend Nicole makes simply adorable felt hair clips. Check out her Etsy shop here!

Since we are sharing a tent, we had a top banner and two back banners made. Plus Nicole made this super nifty fabric banner that we put on the front. It turned out so cute, even if we do say so ourselves! It was very inviting and felt like a little boutique inside :)

Here is my side!
Even thought it was a little chilly (PLEASE remind me this summer when we're sweltering that the first shows we did were FREEZING!!), there was a great turnout and I sold a ton of stuff! Plus my favorite part - I met a bunch of really fun people! I love talking to everyone and seeing who they are buying for or just what they are up to for the day. Every show I meet the most amazing people and get to laugh - a LOT (of course Nicole helps with that too - we have the exact same sense of humor!).

My list of shows is up on the right - check it out! The next one is A Paris Street Market in Littleton, CO. It is a super cool show with about 70% antiques/vintage dealers and the rest are handmade. I went to check it out a few weekends ago and came home with all sorts of fun finds!

Soooo I was SUPPOSED to be on a fabric-buying-freeze. I have kind of a lot. And I need to USE it before I buy any more. But late one night I couldn't stop myself... I started searching on Etsy... and you all know how that goes! I am happy to say that I found a really great fabric shop that is semi-local - they are up in Fort Collins, CO and they had the BEST selection of fabric! The best part is they shipped it so soon that I got it two days later! Check out Sew Materialistic on Etsy by clicking here!
Yes, that's retro deer, garden gnomes, cars AND 80's guitar picks. I'm in fabric heaven.

I made this set from the Retro Deer. It is already sold but let me know if you'd like one - I still have plenty of fabric left!

My youngest daughter Willa is now 11 months old now and she is our last. There is very little that makes me want another baby and I have RARELY ever uttered the words "I wish I had a little one to wear this!"... until I made these two little t-shirts!

Talk about tiny. And cute. Ugh!! These were both custom orders for friends of mine. Let me know if you'd like something similar and I can see about ordering the shirts! They are great for cloth-diaper fanatics such as myself. Especially in the summer you can just have them wear a t-shirt and diaper with a cute cover or wool and it's so cute! I'm happy to try to match it to wool if you'd like!

See you soon!
jesi

Another Giveaway!

2010-05-02T14:46:00.000-07:00

Check out a review, interview and giveaway at a great blog! WeeShare
She is giving away a really sweet gender neutral bib like this one:

Gift sets have been selling FAST at the craft shows! Check out these two still available on my Etsy site:

I have been BUSY sewing for my next craft show! I'll be at the Boulder Farmers Market next weekend (May 8) near downtown Boulder. I can't wait! Let's hope the weather is better than last year when it was freeeezing and raining!

Here is a stack of 33(!!) bibs all appliqued with eyes sewn on... just waiting for their fleece backs!
Check out my list of upcoming shows on the right to see where I'll be this summer!

Bib Giveaway

2010-04-08T11:44:00.000-07:00

To celebrate my big Etsy Front Page success, I'm giving away a bib!

The bib I have up for grabs is a second - the fleece of the cupcake melted when I went to iron it (which is really weird - NONE of the other ones melted and I've only had that happen once before!). It's on the fleece of the cupcake but honestly, once you're about a foot away you can't even see it. Plus it obviously still works great as a bib.
Note: if this giveaway goes well and I have a lot of entrants, I will possibly be doing a lot more "seconds" giveaways - I have a stack of them and haven't figured out what to do with them yet!

To enter, please post a comment with either the name of your favorite pet, or your favorite pet name (does that make sense?). I'll randomly draw on Sunday, April 11th. If you do enter, please make sure your e-mail address is in your profile so I can contact you!

On the front page again!

2010-04-07T08:27:00.000-07:00

One of my bibs was featured on the front page yesterday! It was so exciting! The coolest part is that it looks like it was all horse-related items (how cool is that?) and it was picked by the Etsy staff. That always gives me warm fuzzies :) It's the bib down on the bottom left. It's still available (even after getting 230 views and 8 new item hearts yesterday!.

Hip Violet Photo Shoot!

2010-04-01T13:10:00.003-07:00

I had some professional pictures taken of some of my stuff - I'm so excited for how they turned out!

This is my youngest daughter Willa:

And my oldest daughter Violet
Models :)

Parties & Moby Wraps

2010-03-27T17:15:00.000-07:00

I'm back in my home state of Michigan for a visit and decided to have a PARTY! I talked my sister into hosting and it turned out great! A ton of my friends and family came - it was SO great to see everyone! And fun to show them what I've been up to! It started off looking like this:
Yummy food!
And ended up like this! I sold all but a few bibs, and a bunch of clothes too. So much fun!
Back home in Denver I'm now offering appliqued Moby Wraps through The Giggling Green Bean - they are an awesome cloth diaper and natural parenting store on Tennyson St. if you're in the area! They sell Moby Wraps or bring your own! It's just $12.50 for the first applique, $6.50 per additional. Here are a couple of them I have done so far - they have been turning out so cute!
If you're not in the Denver area but would like more info on how to get your Moby "jesified" contact me and I'm happy to work out the details!

The weather has been pretty nice in Colorado this spring - before I left for Michigan I took my girls to the local park with a stack of sewing that needed to get done. I love this view! This is my youngest daughter hanging out while I hide threads and sew on eyes.
Have a great day!
jesi

New items at Hip Violet!

2010-03-04T06:08:00.000-08:00

A few new things I've been working on!

First, my birthday sets seem to be a huge hit! They sure don't stay in stock very long on my Etsy site, that's for sure! I also do customs, or in this case, a "Super Custom"! I don't usually keep zebra print in stock but a good friend was having a zebra & hot pink themed birthday for her little lady so I found this fabric and made this set for her.
Earlier this week I finally had a chance to make some bibs for my store. I posted them on my Etsy site and on my Facebook fan page, and all but ONE of the new bibs sold within hours! That was pretty exciting! Here is the pile of items ready to be packaged up.
And my packages ready for the post office. I am also now offering a new applique service - appliqued Moby wraps! These are AMAZING baby wraps - in case you're not familiar, they keep your baby close to you (which makes THEM happy) while letting your hands be free (which makes MOMS happy!). This one was a total lifesaver to me when my daughter Willa was born. This is my friend Jessica with her adorable daughter Ella showing it off. This service is offered exclusively at The Giggling Green Bean in Denver, or contact me for details! I also went FABRIC SHOPPING! Ah, my favorite thing. I am always in need of cute boy fabrics so I found these:

And I've had my eye on this one for ages for girls. I am a sucker for any bright color + black. I can't wait to try out some bibs in everything!
Later!
jesi

Hip Violet was on Ellen!!

2010-02-09T18:43:00.000-08:00

Holy cow! What a great surprise!

A Hip Violet bib made its debut on the Ellen show this week! It was shown on Jessica Alba's daughter Honor!

Here is the picture:
And here is the actual bib:
Can you BELIEVE that? I am still in total shock! And just super excited - not only that it showed up on the show, but that Jessica is obviously using it and likes it! How cool is that?

I'll just be here on Cloud 9 for a while...

Don't forget to check out my Facebook Fan Page! I do giveaways often, and you'll get first dibs on my new products!

jesi

What do I make...

2010-02-05T14:33:00.000-08:00

when I can make whatever I want? Hm. That's a good question. I took some time off in January to make some things for myself and my girls. Luckily (or unluckily!) my oldest daughter Violet now asks for specific appliques. She has been wanting an owl so I made her this shirt
For Willa I made her these two things:
I have a few more of these lightweight hoodies in stock - I am thinking about trying some appliques on the backs too!

My first birthday sets are going like hotcakes! I listed this one on Etsy, posted it on my Facebook Fan Page (be a fan! Get first dibs on stuff like this AND enter to win giveaways!) and it sold within a few hours!
Here are a couple of sibling sets. These also make great gifts for the family that has everything!
And some twin sets for good measure! This set below is for twins that are due this summer:
And a 1st Birthday Set for two of my favorite twins!
Have a great day!
jesi

Christmas Gifts & New Items

2009-12-21T13:27:00.000-08:00

First, I find that I post much more on my Facebook Fan Page than I do on here, so if you are on Facebook, please come join us! I have been doing giveaways and and all sorts of good stuff!

Now on to the fun stuff! I was asked to do a shark applique for a nifty family in Georgia and I came up with this guy - he'll soon be added to my pile of appliques available! I've been adding tons of new ones to keep things fresh and keep me motivated!
I also was asked to do a larger sized bib for a local family with a special needs child. This bib has an extra 1.5" to the tab and 3 settings for the snaps so it should fit with no problem!
close-up of the extra length:
In case you haven't seen it, here is my new guitar applique! I put these on some dish towels for my brother who happens to be a guitar player in a band in Montana.

I have also been delving into my pile of adult t-shirts I have and trying to make some things out of them! Here is a fun fleece flower I've been using.
Finished product!

If you do happen to check my Etsy site, you will notice that I am VERY low on inventory! I almost sold out of bibs at my last sale (I sold 40+ bibs in 2 days!) and only have a few shirts and onesies left too! I have been so busy with my custom orders and personal gifts for the holidays that I haven't been keeping it updated. In the next few weeks I plan to get everything I have out on there, but I am taking the month of January off - my Etsy site will stay open but I will not be sewing. If there is something you were looking for - let me know!

Have a wonderful holiday!
jesi

Show Season!

2009-11-29T07:44:00.001-08:00

Coming from a horse-showing background, Show Season used to mean SUMMERTIME filled with the scent of fly spray, Pepi (smells like strawberries!), and hours of bathing, grooming and RIDING!

Now, however, Show Season is the fall and winter and means craft shows in churches, at fairgrounds (ironic, as that is where I used to show!) and even ones at my house!

Last weekend I did the Molly McGee sow at the Boulder Fairgrounds. It was really successful - I met a lot of new customers and vendors and even got some of mt Christmas shopping done!
This year I also decided to have a Home Show. A lot of my friends can't make it to the craft shows (plus a lot of them are far away) and had been asking about things for Christmas gifts, so I hosted a Girls Night Out/Hip Violet Home Show! It was really fun - I was very thankful for all my great friends who have been my best customers all year and it was a fun way to say thanks! If you are interested in earning some free Hip Violet stuff (or cash!) let me know - I would love to do more of these in the future!

My items are also at The Giggling Green Bean here in Denver. You can see one of my bibs here:
This week I (for the first time!) hit some Black Friday sales! But I wasn't shopping for Christmas Gifts - but for SUPPLIES! I spent a few hours in the morning at Jo-ann Fabrics where they had their thread and buttons on sale, and finally took the plunge and got the big huge things of thread since I do tend to go through it rather fast. Here's my rainbow of new thread:
I also got a bunch of new fleece AND some great flannel fabrics which were $1.50 a yard. Couldn't pass that up! I also went to one of my favorite fabric shops, The Fancy Tiger, where they were having 15% off all in stock fabric. Designer fabric is very rarely on sale so I took full advantage! Speaking of the Fancy Tiger, I am very pleased to announce that I got into their "Holiday Handmade" craft fair this weekend! Check out the link above for more info and an awesome list of vendor's. I can't wait!

'Tis the season for Christmas Bibs! I snagged some fun holiday fabric early-on this year and made these cute bibs that are perfect to cover up those cute Christmas dresses and protect them from all the great Christmas food!You can order your's on my Etsy site!

I am also adding a new set to my collection: First Birthday Cupcake Sets! These are the PERFECT idea for 1st birthdays! You'll get a tee shirt with a cupcake and one candle as well as a matching bib. Have your little one-year-old wear the shirt for the party, then cover up with the bib for the Cake Eating Extravaganza! Available now as a custom where you pick the fabric. Contact me for details!

We've come a long way, Birdie!

2009-10-14T19:26:00.001-07:00

Ah little birdie and owlie... how far you have come! I was just cleaning out some of my photo files and came across my first bibs and appliques and wanted to share.

My first bibs - I made these for my niece. This was the first bib pattern that later got reworked into the one I use now. It's not a whole lot different! I did use a lot of velour on the back of the bibs at first and now exclusively use anti-pill fleece.
Oh birdie. You were not very cute. Sorry to whoever has this one (Haley, is that you? I owe you a new one!!)
Birdie now...Owl before... I have since learned exactly where to put the eyes (between the wings!) and how to position the wings better. Thankfully!
Owl now!

And my newest little guy, the dinosaur! He is a QUICK seller on my boys tees and bibs, I can hardly keep them in stock!
I was also asked to make a 1st birthday bib for a sweet little boy with a cupcake. I wasn't so sure how a boy cupcake bib would turn out but I think it was super cute!
Check out all my upcoming shows on the sidebar - there are a ton of them coming up! If you're planning on coming and I don't post a coupon, e-mail me and I'll send one to you!

Craft Sales Galore!

2009-09-20T19:35:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited about my new craft show tent (and banner!). It was so easy to set up and my bibs and onesies fit quite nicely inside.

Unfortunately the weather was less than wonderful - it was overcast, chilly and raining. We ended up packing up early in a downpour. BUT I still had a really good show. Since it was in my 'hood it was fun to meet people who knew about Hip Violet already. A bunch of my friends also stopped by and shopped - thanks guys!

In other news I have been embellishing some other things too... I put some birdies on my Moby Wrap the other day. Here is my super-professional bathroom-mirror photo with my sweet little Willa.

My sister-in-law Heather from Mani Celesti (awesome prenatal, postpartum and infant massage if you're in the Denver area!) wrapped Willa up at the festival this weekend (I know, you can hardly tell there is a baby in there, she was sooo comfy!). Soo cute! I am be offering to "jesify" other items too - let me know if you are interested and we can work out the details!In other news, check out the sidebar on the right for all my shows I have booked this fall. I even have two that I'm still waiting to hear about. I'll be BUSY but they are so much fun!

AND don't forget to become my fan on facebook by clicking here.

Till next time,
jesi

2009-09-06T12:28:00.000-07:00

My first show of the year is this weekend and I'm SO excited! I'll be at the Sunnyside Music Festival in Denver. If you haven't been, it's a really fun, laid back event with great music, yummy food, a kids area and of course lots of fun and unique vendors. It's completely free - come on by, bring a blanket to sit and watch the bands and let the kids play!

This is also my first show since having my daughter Willa almost 3 months ago. Needless to say, it's a good thing she's sleeping a little better so I can get some sewing time in! It's been a bit more tricky to find the time to sew with two little ladies around the house, but we're getting into the swing of things slowly but surely!

First, here is a coupon to use if you do make it to the festival (click on it to enlarge, then print):
To prepare for the show, I finally broke down and bought a canopy tent. It arrived this week and already we LOVE it and I can tell we'll be getting a lot more use out of it than just the craft shows! Right now it's set up in our backyard in preparation for a BBQ tomorrow:
The Colorado sun can get pretty hot, and even though we have a covered back porch we get the afternoon (super hot) sun so I think we'll love having something to put up and get some relief! I got this one from Costco, it's called a Caravan Canopy and I've heard that they are pretty good and comparable to Ez-Up tents... but MUCH cheaper!

I am really excited to get all my stuff set up in here this weekend. I love that I can hang things from the bars inside and it came with sidewalls so it will look very bright and cheerful inside - and like its own little store!

I also had my dear husband build me a few more racks for clothes. These sit right on my tables. I would like to paint them but I'm not going to have time before this weekend. I'm currently thinking of ways I can bribe him to sand, prime and paint them too.

Speaking of my husband, he also helped me out this week by cutting up my fleece into bib-sized pieces for me. It was a HUGE help! Funny, this is only about 1/3 the fleece I have, but it's a start! After this show I'm definitely going to take an evening to cut up ALL my fleece so I can make my process more time-efficient.
And here is a little stack of brand new bibs awaiting their snaps. I am planning on having around 40 bibs and 10 bib and onesie sets, as well as a bunch of onesies and tees for the kids. Someday, I promise, I will actually get out my stash of adult tees and start sewing THOSE up!
I hope to see all my Denver friends at the festival this weekend! Check back soon for a play-by-play of how the show went and pictures of my booth!

Front Page & One Year Anniversary!

2009-08-01T18:44:00.000-07:00

What a great one-year anniversary present! I made it on Etsy's front page just a few days ago!

My bib and onesie set was featured and the best part was that it was chosen by Etsy Admin which I feel like is a pretty big honor!

The funniest thing is that it was found by searching for the word "modern" - I had literally JUST added this set the day before, and had JUST decided to start using the tag modern on my items after seeing a few other people use it. How crazy is that? The Universe aligned for me on that one!

Over the one hour that it was on the front page I got almost 500 views, 23 item heart and 33 new shop hearts. That pushed me over the edge to more than 400 shop hearts! I was pretty excited about that!

And yes, the other part of this is that my shop has now officially been open for ONE WHOLE YEAR! Yay! It has been such a fun year - from learning the tricks of selling on Etsy (check out my writeup here about some of the Etsy Tips & Tricks I've learned!) and fabric/notions buying (I love sales!) and dealing with the whole CPSIA stuff, to modifying and designing a whole slew of appliques... it's been so much fun! My favorite part is hearing how much my friends, family and complete strangers like my stuff. It gives me warm fuzzies all the time!

I'm slowly getting back in the swing of things and sewing more now that Willa is napping a bit better. I still don't have nearly the time I did before and I'm hoping that can change for the better soon since I have SO many new ideas and SO much I want to sew! I'm trying to slowly build up my stash for my first sale of the year - I'll be at the Sunnyside Music Festival in Denver on September 12. It's an awesome neighborhood festival and it was really fun last year!

I am also happy to announce that Hip Violet bibs and apparel can be found at a great new cloth diaper store in Denver (the only one of its kind! How a city as "green" as this could not have a cloth diaper store before this is beyond me!) called the Giggling Green Bean. It's on Tennyson Street in Denver and besides carrying all my favorite cloth diaper brands, they now have a bunch of Hip Violet gear too!

Here are a few of my latest editions to my website too:

AND I'm now on Facebook! Search for Hip Violet and look for my logo (there is one other "business" called Hip Violet - raising money for a little girl). Become a fan and you'll be registered to win a FREE custom item!

Later!
jesi

My latest creation

2009-06-28T13:18:00.000-07:00

I've been working on this one for NINE whole months! :) Meet my newest little lady, Willa. She was born on June 11 and is just the sweetest little thing! Since she was a "surprise" baby (we didn't find out what we were having) I wasted no time after she was born in making her a few "hip" onesies!
Now that she's a whole 2 weeks old, I think I'm ready to open my shop up to custom orders again. If there is anything you've been wanting, please let me know, I'd love to make it up for you! I do have to limit myself to existing applique patterns and fabrics I have on hand (check them out, I've added new ones!).

The Nesting has Set In!

2009-05-15T16:41:00.000-07:00

Well folks, it's happened. I'm 8.5 months pregnant for baby #2 and the nesting has hit full force! We kicked my 2 year old daughter out of her bed this past weekend (okay, so she very willingly transfered to her "big girl bed"), I got the nursery kinda set up, AND I made the Going Home From the Hospital Onesies for this little girl or boy who is boppin' around in there!
We're pretty excited to see exactly WHICH outfit is going to be used! :) My daughter has said it's a boy from the very beginning and I'm starting to believe her. We soon shall see!

In other news, I am officially done taking custom orders until further notice. Mostly because I got THIS whopper of an order the other day and I think it will take me until my due date to finish it! A friend of mine ordered TEN custom bibs for her little girl who is due in July. I'm so excited to be making things for friends and she has great taste in her fabric choices :) I did throw in a couple of extras so hopefully I can update my Etsy site with just a few more new bibs before this little munchkin arrives!
I also did this hand-dyed twins boy set with elephants. Cute, huh? I have come to both dread and LOVE when my customers say "Do whatever you want!" which was kind of the case with this set (she knew what colors she wanted but that was it!). It was really fun to put it together and make them the same, yet different. Ah the fun of twins!
Even though I am not taking customs, I HAVE been replenishing my fabric supply (which is, of course, half the fun of making stuff - SHOPPING!). I have updated my flickr account with all sorts of new hip and trendy fabrics. Check them out here!

Have a great day!
jesi

I can finally feel my fingers again...

2009-04-26T08:23:00.000-07:00

Holy Chilly Craft Show, Batman! We all nearly died of hypothermia. Okay, so it wasn't QUITE that bad, but it was cold (low 40's), rainy and just plain cold. But we survived! And we actually had a lot of fun despite the weather.

My friend Nicole and I set up our tent (it was probably a hilarious thing for others to watch since neither of us really knew what we were doing) and set up our gear. I'm actually pretty happy with how the booth turned out, although next time I definitely want to get a sign or something to hang on the front to say who we are and what we have.

And me and my favorite craft-show booth-sharer, Nicole. Yes, I have on a winter coat, hat, scarf and even had long undies on.
Unfortunately because of the "craptastic" weather, the turnout in Boulder was less than stellar. I did, however, get to meet a couple of people who came from Denver which was really great, and did sell enough to cover my booth space (and the 37,294 cups of Chai Tea I had to keep warm!).

So the bad news was that it was not that great of a sale. AND we didn't get in to any of the other sales at the Boulder Farmer's Market which is very sad as I really think it would be the perfect venue for us. We are on the waitlist and I talked to the director and told her we had a lot of people asking if we'd be back so hopefully that will help move us up the list!

The GOOD news is that I have an absolute TON of bibs (I was a sewing Mad Woman and made up almost 30 new ones in the last week), five adorable bib/onesie sets and a bunch of shirts and onesies. I will have them online within the next week or so and I think you're going to love them! I specifically tried to make some cute gender neutral ones (which, consequently, was what sold at the show) too!

So check back soon to my Etsy site to see the huge inventory I'll have soon!
jesi

Hip Violet is on the road!

2009-04-20T14:35:00.000-07:00

Come and visit me at the Boulder Farmer's Market this weekend (April 25) in Boulder, CO! I'm so excited to be bringing all my bibs, onesies and tees! I have been VERY busy sewing and I have tons and tons of new fabrics and designs. Many of which will probably never make it to my Etsy site!

Click here for more info on the Boulder Farmer's Market.

I am also excited to be sharing a booth with my friend Nicole who makes the awesomely cute and cool felt barrettes that you've seen on here before. It's going to be a great day!

See you there!
jesi

Fun with Celebrity Gifting

2009-04-04T09:58:00.000-07:00

Over the last few months I have been lucky enough to get accepted into a program that sends gift baskets to celebrities. It's a great way to get exposure, and if you're lucky enough to get a picture of your product on a celebrity kid - you're good to go! I'm just excited to get my products in the hands of some famous people who might help spread the word!

This is a bib and onesie set I did for Molly Ringwald. She is due in August for boy/girl twins. The onesies are custom dyed and they both come with matching bibs.

This is a shirt for one of Jennie Garth's girls. And this was for Brooke Burke's youngest son.This was was really fun to do! It was for Gwen Stefani & Gavin Rossdale's youngest son. I hunted down some black & white houndstooth to make a ska-inspired baby bib!And another black & white bib, this time with skulls for Ashlee Simpson-Wentz and Pete Wentz's new son.And this sweet little birdie was for Jessica Alba's daughter.I'm not sure if I'll do many more until I figure out if these got me anywhere, but it was fun to do and very surreal to think about sewing up something for someone famous!

In "real life" news, we recently moved which is why I've taken a hiatus from sewing and blogging. This was how my sewing room looked for a few weeks:
I finally put it all back together yesterday. Ah... much better!
Eventually I will *gasp* have my very own ROOM in the basement dedicated to my sewing. I already have so many ideas for what I want it to look like! Luckily my husband is a carpenter so he can usually magically make things like cubby holes and shelves magically appear! Unfortunately it's going to be a while until that room is done, but I'm excited that it will happen eventually!

Happy Spring!
jesi

The Monsters are HERE!

2009-02-25T19:22:00.003-08:00

I posted about my new monster applique a few weeks ago and now they have arrived on BIBS!
They are so much fun to make. I love that they all have their own little personality and I love figuring out which buttons are going to make the best crazy eyes! :)

I have also tried making a few bibs out of "upcycled" material. I found this great skirt at Goodwill a looong time ago that I just KNEW would make an awesome bib (or two, or three) plus I love the idea of reusing and recycling fabric. At one time I thought this was going to be my niche in the bib-making business but I'll admit it - I love buying new fabric too much! Anyway, this is my upcycled bib:
I am actually thinking about offering a new kind of custom on my Etsy site where customers can send in their own fabric to be made into a bib or an applique for a shirt. Maybe a nifty old concert tee of theirs, a piece of fabric from their favorite old set of sheets, or something like that. Maybe I'm just a weirdo in that I keep stuff like that... I have an old R.E.M. concert tee from 1985 Fables of the Reconstruction Tour (no, I did not go. I was 9.) that I got back in 8th grade and thought I was sooooo cool. I still have it. I think it would make an awesomely cool and hip bib. I also kept 2 cushions worth of fabric from the fabled "orange flowered couch" that at one point lived in my parents old bedroom. Then in our basement forever, then in my college dorm rooms, then in our first house. It is really obnoxiously bright but also wonderful. I have been wondering why I still have it and what I should make out if it. Maybe a bib! Or a cool applique for a shirt for Violet although I hate that she grows out of stuff so quick. Maybe mommy needs a new appliqued shirt!

ANYWAY, my point being if anyone has something like this laying around and they wouldn't mind being a guinea pig for my new idea, please contact me and let me know! You'll get a discounted rate on teh bib and you'll be able to say that yours was the prototype! :)

Trunk Show Success & My New Best Friend

2009-02-09T14:55:00.001-08:00

Our Kiddie Trunk Show was a huge success! It was so much fun to meet up with other local "kiddie" crafters, and meet a lot of local parents who came out for the festivites. Plus the Red Trolley Ice Cream & Coffee Shop where it was held was to die for! Yes, I sampled both coffee (well, tea), their amazingly yummy breakfast granola, and a bowl of ice cream for lunch :)

We were set up in their back room. Here is what my display looked like:
And here is my friend Nicole from marmalade on the right, and my new friend Claudia from Sew You! set up her great capes and aprons on the left.
We had Anya from the Music Train come and set up her stuff and she did two performances during the day. It was so fun to watch the kids play the instruments and sing along! It was so crowded during her morning performance that you could hardly get in the door! Thanks to everyone who came out to support local and support handmade! We all greatly appreciated it!

AND... my big news of the weeek... I GOT A NEW SEWING MACHINE!!! One that will hopefully stand up to the rigors of bib and onesie sewing a few hours a day. She is my new best pal.

Meet Penelope. She is a 1979 Bernina 810. No bells and whistles, but completely easy to use (I learned how in about 10 minutes), oh-so quiet, and built out of sturdy metal to last forever. I am SOO happy!
I also thought I'd show a shot of my updated workspace. I started out at first with one little tiny basket of "scraps". Now I have three huge ones! From left to right are fleece scraps, pattern scraps, and the cutout middle of the bib scraps on the far right. I have a hard time throwing things away, huh? But all the scraps do come in handy for my appliques and I am rifling through them often ;)
Later!
jesi

Kiddie Trunk Show - Coming Soon!

2009-01-25T13:40:00.000-08:00

Come and check out the coolness of our neighborhood Kiddie Trunk Show!
Click on the picture for a bigger, printer friendly view!

And just a small update on the CPSIA legislation that requires lead and phthalates testing. So far nothing has been amended, but it does appear that we have a couple of high-ranking senators who have gotten wind of what this law will do to tens of thousands of small businesses and are hard at work trying to find a way to keep us all in business!

And just to clarify - all of us strongly believe in NOT having lead or phthaltes in our kids items. However fabric NEVER had EITHER in them, and all of my other products were tested by the manufacturer. Unfortunately how the law is written currently, I would still need to test. Eeks!

Thanks again for all your support and if you're in the Denver area, stop by and see us on February 7th!

Long Time, No Post!

2009-01-07T13:56:00.000-08:00

You've missed me, admit it!

Confession time: Over the last month I've had to deal with morning sickness (yup, Hip Violet is expanding by 1 come June!), a flu epidemic in our house (which my dear husband never even caught - LUCKER!), going on vacation over the holidays, and now... wondering if I'll still be in business in a month!

See, there is this lovely new law on the books that takes effect February 10 which, as it is worded currently, will put Hip Violet and most small businesses out of business for good. The law states that all items made for children under 12 years old must be lead tested. Which, as a mom of a 2 year old who still puts everything in her mouth, should make me ECSTATIC. Believe me, anything to make toys and clothing more safe for our kids, the better. But they kind of forgot about us "little people". See, to lead test ONE item costs upwards of $500. Each. Thus if I tested each of my bibs (each unique item must be tested) I would be out $486 per bib. Hm. The math just doesn't seem to add up to me! :)

Here are some great links on the subject if you'd like more information:
http://www.etsy.com/storque/craftivism/cpsia-updates-and-calls-to-action-3157/
http://nationalbankruptcyday.com/

The sad thing is that this law is retroactive. And covers EVERYTHING. That means that kids consignment shops would have to test each article of clothing that comes through their doors. So would thrift stores. Which really means that all kids consignment stores and the kids sections of all your favorite second hand stores would be GONE. There is no way they could afford to test. And in this economy when consignment shops and thrift stores are the busiest they've ever been, it just doesn't make sense.

What can you do? You can write to your senators and representatives and ask them to SAVE HANDMADE! Save the small businesses, the LOCAL businesses, the mom's who sew and knit and create awesome unique products that you can't find at Target or WalMart.

*whew* off my soap box.

So needless to say, my sewing has slowed down a bit. Now call me crazy, but I really do believe that they'll see the error of their ways and see what a huge mistake the very broad wording of the law was. In fact, there is already some "talk" that this is true. So I'm not announcing a store-closing yet (not when I just was getting off my feet, no sir-ee!), and even if the testing DOES need to be done, guess what? I just bought 14 adult sized t-shrits today and their in the wash right now ready to be appliqued for my adult fans :) Stay tuned!

But, I'm still sewing. In fact, I just listed a bunch of new bibs, shirts (including girls sizes!) and onesies on my site. Here is my latest edition, and currently my favorite bib to date:

AND I've even been coming up with some new funky appliques. Like this monster, for instance. Who say's BOYS get all the fun of monsters? Look for more monster bibs, shirts and onesies on HipViolet coming soon!

I also got this great new set of fabric this is my new favorite. So I made two bibs out of it yesterday. They are both available on my site!

I'll keep you all updated on how things go with the CPSIA law, but in the mean time this is a GREAT time to buy handmade... it may be the last time you can!

Have a great day!
jesi

Holiday Shopping on Etsy

2008-12-03T19:39:00.000-08:00

Fun news! One of my bibs made it into the "Baby Gift Guide" on Etsy! I'm really quite pleased as the employees of Etsy pick the products and they are really picky about what they'll use. YAY! One of my "Extraordinary Equine" Bibs is in the 2nd row.
And I wanted to take a minute to encourage everyone to shop on Etsy for their holiday gifts this year. You won't find a better selection of UNIQUE gifts that you purchase right from the artist. It's also a great way to support your local artist AND get a gift that is really nifty too!

Click here to shop Etsy's other gift guides. Or go to Etsy's home page and start searching for that perfect gift! For instance, my brother (and brother-in-law and step-dad) like fishing. So I'll do a search for "Fish" or "fishing" and then you can narrow it down by price or item. I have found some GREAT and fun items that way! Don't forget to also check out the vintage section.

In other news, I am doing one other fun "trunk show" this weekend.

Holiday Trunk Show
Featuring unique gifts you won't find at Target and without the frenzy. The focus is on gifts under $100 (great selection under $50!). And, if you see something you think would look great on you, we're happy to send a "hint" to your personal Santa Claus!

We will be serving wine, hot chocolate and tasty bites PLUS complimentary gift wrapping. Cash and checks only (thanks!)

Where: Berkeley Row • 4400 West 46th Avenue #102 • Denver
(at the corner of 46th & Tennyson)
When: Sunday, December 7 from 2:00 - 5:00pm

Invite anyone and everyone! I have been busy sewing up a lot more appliqued tee's in larger girls sizes (I'll have size 4T-12), more onesies and of course lots of bibs! See you there!

Can the 3rd time be a charm too?

2008-11-25T06:59:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I had my 3rd craft show and it was a BLAST! I'm finding out that one of the reasons I really like shows is that I get to meet some really amazing fellow crafters (Hi Dorothy & Becky!), and I just love talking to the customers and seeing what they pick out (usually not at all what I would have guessed!).

My booth space was a little bigger this time - 10x10 - so I borrowed an 8' table and here is what it looked like!
It actually changed a bit by the end of the day - I moved the rack on the left up to the table and pushed the table up to aisle level. It seemed to work better. I also need to get something to go behind me - it gets a little cluttered looking when you can see the people behind me! I'll have to see if I can talk my dear husband into building a contraption that folds up and is not too heavy to carry!

So I'm a sucker for the mountians... my drive up to Longmont was so so beautiful with the sun coming up and just starting to hit the snow covered Rockies.

I like this one. I love Waffle Houses. This might be the closest one to our house and it's about 45 minutes away!

Overall it was an awesome show. I sold over 25 bibs and 10 onesies/t-shirts. I had a lot of questions about bigger sized t-shirts (kids and adults) so I'm taking the plunge! I just purchased a bunch of t-shirts in size 4-12 which will hopefully be on the site within the next few days. The two horsie t-shirts I had sold already! I also bought a bunch of onesies since those make such great gifts too. I may start doing some bib/onesie sets too. The possibilites are endless! :)

Here is a look at the two shirts I had (I can make more if you're interested!)

I also sold out of my bib/burp cloth sets so I am going to have to make more of those too! I think I may make a couple that match the bib that was in the magazine as those have been selling like hot cakes! :)

If you would like to get a quick e-mail when I do add my bigger sized t-shirts to my Etsy site, or if you are interested in a custom shirt (same price as the ones pre-made! They'll be $14), please let me know! You can contact me through my Etsy store (click on the "contact" button). I promise I won't send out a ton of e-mails (I hate spam too!).

Thanks to everyone who I met at the sale - especially the mom with the adorable twin boys who came just because she saw I was going to be there on my Etsy annoucement - you made my day!!

Til next time...
jesi

Hip Violet is in "equestrian" Magazine!

2008-11-18T13:30:00.001-08:00

It's OUT! The November issue of the United States Equestrian Federation's member magazine "equestrian" is showing up in mailboxes all over the country. With a lovely HIP VIOLET bib in the Gift Guide! I'm so excited! The magazine did a beautiful job of laying out the pages, and they only did 21 items so look how big my bib is on page 3 of the spread!!

Above is the page to the right with the ordering info. I'm so excited to see if I get any orders from the ad! I am also trying to scurry around and make a few more horse bibs - I got this great horse fabric a while ago and have yet to make anything out of it!

I'm thinking those would look cute with a little stirrup or snaffle bit applique. I better get crackin'!

In other news, my next (and last) craft show of the season is this weekend! It's the Mollie McGee Holiday Craft Fair at the Boulder Fairgrounds in Longmont, CO. Come and see us and get a jump start on your holiday shopping! It's Saturday from 9-5 and Sunday from 10-4. Keep in mind that strollers are not allowed on Saturday - time to get out the baby carriers! :)

See you there!
jesi

Second Time's a Charm!

2008-11-14T09:33:00.001-08:00

I had my second craft show last night and it was a SUCCESS!! Plus it was really really fun and in an absolutely AWESOME venue. I already can't wait for next year!

It was a benefit for the Parenting Place in Boulder, and it was in the evening so it was pretty festive. There were appetizers, drinks (my friend Nicole and I have decided that ALL shows should have a bar... we appreciated the extra sales!) and a jazz band. So fun!

Here was my booth set up this time. Pretty much the same as last time :)
This was in an art gallery though... again, why can't ALL our shows be in galleries? Much much better than in church basements or exhibit halls of fairgrounds :) And warmer too! My friend Nicole and I had booths right next to each other and we were right in front of these huge windows that looked down on the streets of Boulder and the mountains. I can't think of a more fun place to have a show! Here was my view:
Nicole sells amazingly cool felt barrettes (we're now the proud owners of 2 more), beautiful handmade jewelry, and her signature "Twombley" dolls that are sooo cute! We had so much fun - I wish we could do every show together! Here we are posing with our booths and some of the artwork on the walls of the gallery.
Nicole got a bib for a friend of hers, and found out it fit her perfectly ;)

Overall this show was MUCH more successful and MUCH more fun! I sold almost as many bibs and I did onesies - in fact I'm headed out in a few minutes to see if I can expand into some bigger sizes of shirts to applique (I'm thinking 2T-4T). I was really surprised at how many people bought them, and how many people wanted special orders (which I gladly will do!). I also had THREE seperate people ask if I had matching onsies for twins they knew... so I guess I'd better start making some doubles!

I also sold quite a few barrettes and gave out TONS of cards. I'm really thinking about going "corporate" - I think my bibs would make really great unique baby gifts for business owners to give customers. Nicole and I might try out a few networking dinners to see how that goes. How fun!

The other thing I learned at this show is that I need to be more specific to genders when I pick out my appliques and colors. I had made a few green onsies with floral appliques (thinking for a girl) but people kept asking if it was for a boy. And I had a cute off-white onesie with a brown floral elephant and that one also kept getting the boy look (the onesie had ruffles on the sleeves, so I think not!). SOOO I really need to stick with more traditional colors for boy and girl so I don't confuse people!

It's just always so much fun because I love that my booth makes people SMILE. Even if they don't have kids or grandkids or anyone to buy for, it was really cool to see people smile when they saw what I was selling - and to hear that they thought everything was so cute. Yay!

'Til next time
jesi

Christmas is Coming!?!

2008-10-20T13:24:00.000-07:00

Whether we like it or not! So I made some cute Christmasy bibs to get in the spirit!

I also just finished up a fabulous custom order - these were SO fun to make! Thanks Molly for picking such fun fabrics!

In other news, I've been having some sewing machine troubles. My dear sweet Beatrice (my Kenmore sewing machine) fell ill and I had to borrow my friend Sarah's brand new Brother machine. It sews GREAT but it took me a few hours of swearing at it before I figured it out. They did NOT make those very user friendly! So special thanks to Sarah for saving my little sewing butt!

If you have a chance to peek at my Etsy shop you'll see that I've been adding lots of new bibs lately. I finished about 18 bibs this weekend - many of them are horse bibs and I even did a couple just for the little cowboys in the group! As usual if there is anything you'd like to see, let me know! I'm working on a robot applique for the boys, and I have a new flower one that I think will be really cute.

Have a great day!
jesi

Horse Bibs & Horse Bibs and

2008-10-13T20:08:00.001-07:00

when you're done with THAT... how about a few more HORSE BIBS???

Why so many horse bibs, you might ask? I am SO excited to tell you that I got an e-mail last week asking if I'd like to have one of my bibs featured in the November Holiday Gift Guide in a magazine called equestrian which is the publication of the United States Equestrian Federation. HOLY COW!! I'm so excited!

But, as the person who contacted me noted, I might want to make a few more bibs. See, they send out 90,000 copies. Now I'm not great at math, but if just a teeny tiny percentage of the people who get the magazine actually would like a bib... I'm in big trouble! Currently I'm training my 20 month old daughter to applique and we're going to start our own sweatshop in the living room. ;)

Here are just a few of the bibs I've been making:

I've also had to (darn it!) buy more fabric!! I really love buying fabric from fellow Etsians - my two favorite stores are fabricpalooza and Acme Baby Co.

Despite my less-than-stellar first craft show experience, I have decided to do a couple more of them that are a little more selective and I think will be more my crowd.

November 13
Girls Night Out • Boulder, CO • www.BoulderParenting.com
Girls Night Out does have a $25/$30 admission fee, but it's all tax deductible and for a great cause!

November 22-23
Mollie McGee Holiday Market • Longmont, CO • Boulder County Fairgrounds

I'm really excited to see how it goes!

Have a great day!
jesi

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

2008-10-05T10:04:00.000-07:00

So my first craft show with Hip Violet was yesterday... here is the lowdown on how it went!

The Good
• I sold enough bibs to pay for my booth space... barely!
• I met some REALLY NIFTY fellow crafters
• There was a horse sale going on at the same fairgrounds so I got my "horse fix"

The Bad
• The craft show was not exactly my "crowd" so I didn't sell much at all. The people selling gourds with faces painted on them, anything made of Bronco's fabric, and the fudge shop all made out like bandits.
• I was really surprised at how many moms who were either very pregnant or had kids of bib-wearing age didn't even take a second glance at my bibs or onesies. WEIRD!
• I also had a lot of older ladies stop, look, compliment me on the bibs but comment that they didn't have any grandkids who were at bib-wearing age anymore. OF COURSE!

The Ugly
• Aforementioned painted gourds
• Scary, huge fleece blankets... that you wear
• Storage cans made out of kids jeans and a coffee can
• Purses made out of old jeans with extra fringe

Overall it was a great learning experience. I didn't forget one thing, and got my booth totally set up in about a half hour. I really loved how my display turned out

I also met another fellow crafter, Nicole, who makes really really cool felt barrettes and jewelry that was right up my alley. We have very similar styles and taste - she gave me some really great advice on upcoming craft shows AND it was just fun to talk to someone else who has been doing the circuit for a while! Here is Violet modeling her new Marmalade barrette:

I'm trying to talk Nicole into starting her own Etsy site since I think she would do AWESOME on, so stay tuned for her link :) RIGHT Nicole? RIGHT!

I also had a great conversation with Gina who makes really colorful yarn from alpaca and lambswool, and Angela who makes wonderful smelling soap. They were all in booths close by mine and made the show more tolerable (it got really slow and a little boring at the end!).

Anyway, I'm glad I went and it makes me much more excited to try some shows that are a little more my style. Stay tuned for how those go!

Make sure to check out my Etsy site in the upcoming days as I'll be adding all of the bibs I made for the show. There will be a TON of new ones!

Craft Fair, Here I Come!

2008-09-30T21:26:00.000-07:00

I know that most of you have been wondering this for years, so let me put your minds at rest. Here, my faithful blog readers, is what a pile of fifty bibs looks like:
I am getting so excited for my big debut at a craft fair! Not only have I been sewing up the above bibs, but I also made myself an appliqued table cloth for my both:
My dear husband has been making me some great displays and I really think it's going to look great! I can't wait to see what it's going to look like all together!

I have a TON of new bibs that haven't made it onto Etsy yet, lot's of new things for boys, girls and in neutrals too. Plus I have some great holiday bibs that will be perfect for the upcoming season. I'll also have some bib & burp cloth sets, barrettes, and appliqued onesies for all those little munchkins on your list.

See you there!
jesi

On Cloud Nine!!!!

2008-09-21T12:48:00.001-07:00

Holy cow!! I made it on the front page!!

I haven't been promoting my Etsy site much (usually I'm on the forums a lot, plus renewing my listings daily) this week since my craft show is coming up, but I checked my numbers this morning and I had almost 400 hits and EIGHT hearts on one of my bibs. Huh? I thought maybe I was featured in another blog, but nope - I was on the FRONT PAGE!!

My fellow Etsians know what a big deal this is - it's HUGE! And I'm beyond happy!! Yay!! Yay!! Yay!!

My "Extraordinary Equine" Bib is in the middle on the bottom. I think this was posted sometime yesterday evening as all my hits came between 4:30pm and 5:30pm yesterday.

:) jesi

Two Little Birdies

2008-09-18T20:00:00.000-07:00

My bestest friend Kara is going to have TWO beautiful babies this winter. And this week she found out that she is going to have one boy and one girl. How PERFECT is that? I wanted to make her a cute maternity shirt (those of you with kids know how hard it is to find FUN CUTE not dorky maternity shirts, right?) so here it is: twin birdies. One boy. One girl.

Speaking of which, next time I'm pregnant (don't get any ideas!!) I'm getting this:
This is by a fellow Etsy seller MuthaCrafter. Click here see her shop.

I also made what might be my new favorite bib. You won't find it in my shop because I *gasp* made it for my own kid!! We have a wedding to go to in a few weeks and I wanted to make her a rather elegant but cute bib. I LOVE this floral pattern - there is something so untraditional about the colors that I just adore. And elephants are becoming my new favorite thing to applique.
Even though it's hard to believe, CHRISTMAS IS COMING!!! I picked up a few half yards of some holiday-like fabric and I hope to make up some bibs in the next few weeks. I'm excited to see how they turn out! I'm sure they'll end up on here so stay tuned!

And it's official - I'm taking my bibs to a CRAFT SHOW!! If you're in the Denver area, Hip Violet will be at the Adams County Fairgrounds on October 4 for their Fall Festival Bazaar. I am trying to get my inventory up to 50 (!!) bibs to take with me and hopefully a few onesies and some barrettes. I will probably close my Etsy store down temporarily around that time since I'm taking all of my online inventory with me. I'm really excited about my displays - I have some really fun ideas and I think it's going to look great. Don't worry, this blog should probably be retitled as "Hip Violet Prepares for Their Bazaar Debut" and you're all coming along for the ride!

Gifts for Grandma (among other things)

2008-09-12T13:43:00.001-07:00

I've been wanting to make something to send my grandma since she seriously is such a sewing inspiration to me (see first past WAY down below). Since I don't think she'd appreciate a bib or onesie so much, I found these kitchen towels and appliqued some little cherry (and cheery!) birdies on them. She likes cherry/cranberry things so I hope she likes them! And hopefully she hasn't suddenly gotten internet access and is peeking at my Hip Violet blog to spoil the surprise! :)

Here is my first custom bib and burp cloth set. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, although I have to learn how to sew on a cloth diaper a little better! I picked up some boy colors for the burp cloths the other day so I'm going to see what I can make in the next week and hopefully get a few sets on my Etsy site. I'm hoping to make a few new listings for customs - a bib and burp cloth, and maybe a bib and onesie or onsie and burp cloth. If you have an opinion on that or something else you'd like to see, please post a comment! Not only does it help me a TON to know what people might be looking for, but I feel special when I get comments. A warm fuzzy kind of special. And it's cold and chilly here today.
And this week I had a rash of customs sitting at my table ready to go out into the real world and get spit and drool and dribbled upon. Before they got defaced, I shot a bunch of photos of them all. Aren't they cute?And I KNOW my two (or three) loyal Hip Violet blog readers have been dying to know - Where, oh Where does the Sewing Magic happen? Why here, my child:

I get oh so much inspiration from my french Easy Rider poster. And there is Beatrice, my faithful sewing machine on the right. She's just a little Kenmore machine with NO bells or whistles, but all I need are a straight stitch and a zig-zag and those she has. However she has never been used so much and I think she may have to be put out to pasture soon. Poor little lady!

My wonderful husband built me this shelving unit (on wheels!) for my fabric. On the top sits my buttons and barrette-making supplies, and on the other side my pile o' bibs waiting to be sold. On the left are all my prints - girl stuff on the top two shelves, boy stuff on the bottom. On the other side is just SOME of my backing material. My overflow is on the other side of the room sitting on chairs (oh so professional!). It works for now! The black bag is where I store sold orders waiting to be picked up or sent out.
And that's that!

In other news, I am seriously thinking about taking my bibs and onsies to some craft shows this fall. I'm waiting to hear back from one juried show, and another one I just got the paperwork for. The second one is more of a bazaar so it's not too expensive but they say that over 4,000 people go through. Ahhhh!! Guess I'd better get sewing! I'll make sure to post dates and locations of my shows when I finalize them. I'm so excited! And scared! :)

Hip Violet... Not just for KIDS!

2008-09-07T12:56:00.003-07:00

Nope. No way. Not just kids stuff over here! I made this shirt for myself the other day. I've been wearing it a lot and I love that it's been a good marketing too.. "Where'd you get that shirt?" "I made it!" or "I make bibs. Like this (points to shirt)" ;) I also made one for my sister. Maybe if she's feeling generous she'll send me a picture of her wearing it.
I made this one for Violet yesterday. She looked so cute in it and her chocolate brown sweatshirt!

Action shot! She's singing along to the band that was playing at our local music festival.I also decided that it was pretty silly of me to be handing out my business card out of a dorky business card holder. So I made my own. It's a prototype, but works great and I've already had a couple of people ask if I'm going to put them on my Etsy site. MAYBE! Check soon to see if I take the plunge!

Other than that I've been busy! I have been trying to make more horse bibs since my last one sold in a day, which was pretty exciting! I'm also thinking about doing some local art/craft fairs this holiday season so I'm trying to sew-sew-sew and get some inventory stashed away. Speaking of stashes, you can also buy my bibs at My Crib - it's a consignment store in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. The owner is super nice, has really cute kids clothes on consignment (read: I just spend whatever I make selling bibs on new clothes for Violet!) and of course now carries Hip Violet bibs. Yay!

Have a glorious day!
jesi

The Fun of Custom Bibs

2008-09-03T18:15:00.000-07:00

One of the fun things I have been doing a lot of lately are custom bibs. They make awesome gifts for new babies, first birthdays, or just because! Which reminds me that although I have made quite a few bibs for Violet, I haven't made her a "V" bib yet!

Here are a few of my newest ones:

Those also happened to be two of my favorite fabrics! These are for a local mom. I'm excited to see how she likes them!

On Wednesdays my daughter is in daycare so I get to sew all day. Yeah, right! So far I usually have so many kid-free errands and projects to do around the house that I only sew half the day. Today I got two bibs finished and two about halfway. I have discovered that sewing bibs two-at-a-time is a great idea. I use the same fabric and the same color applique (although a lot of times a different animal on each one) and I can get them done quickly without changing my thread a lot and/or getting up and down 18,389 times. I'll have to take a picture of my little sewing area sometime. It's in the corner of our living room ;)

Here was one of the bibs I finished today:
My horse friends had been bugging me to do some horse bibs. There is a huge shortage in the "gifts for horse people who have babies" that aren't totally cowboyish OR too cutesy. Isn't that the case with most things? Anyway, I had used this horse head outline in some of my logos I used to do back when I was a graphic designer (okay, I still am I guess!). See, mom? That pretty college degree isn't going TOTALLY to waste! :)

This is the other horse-related bib I have:

It's got tiny little bucking broncos on it, and the horse shoe has little silver nail holes. Aren't they cute?

I also made my first bib and burp cloth set the other day. It's now listed on a site called HyenaCart that is similar to Etsy in that it's a lot of handmade goods. I'm a guest vendor in one of my friends shops. Here is the set:
Oh, sorry such a small picture! Check out the HyenaCart store here:
The Giggling Guppy
My stuff is waaaaaay at the bottom.

Speaking of which, I made up a few of these super hip peace sign bibs. I LOVE them!!! I can't believe it hasn't sold yet! It is a "double the peace for just one price" bib - peace signs in the back. Peace sign in the front. You can't go wrong with Junior dribbling watermelon juice down this one!
Peace out -
jesi

Welcome to the hippest place on the "interweb"

2008-08-26T14:51:00.000-07:00

Hello world!

My name is jesi and I'm the proud owner, seamstress, buyer and brain behind HipViolet.com. What do we do at HipViolet? We pretty much make the niftiest bibs and accessories you've ever seen! Here are a few examples of what you might find at my shop on Etsy:

This is my current favorite bib. In fact, I liked it so much I made another one for my daughter to wear!
And here is a "Sweet Little Blue Whale" swimming around in a sea of funky 70's looking flowers:
I have always been into crafting and sewing. My parents can attest to this... when I was about 13 I decided I wanted to make my own soft flannely pants to sleep in. So what did I do? I laid down on the floor and traced myself! Then I cut out two pieces of the tracing and hand-stitched them together. It took forever. And they didn't really fit. But it sure was fun!

I come from a long line of seamstresses and crafters. Well, maybe a short line, but a line none the less. My Grandma taught home-ec for years and was a master seamstress. She used to sew my horse show outfits for me back in the day. She is a huge inspiration to me and I swear I can hear her telling me what to do as I sew ("Now you have to PRESS THAT Jesi!" So I do.) She gets a kick out of it when I tell her that as she swears she is not that good of a teacher, but she is!

She can also tell you that I've never been one to sew from a pattern (she was witness to the Great Flannel Pants Sewing Incident). She tried to teach me a few years ago and it just didn't make sense to me. So I make my own patterns and sew from those. No weird marks to follow - just my own!

Here is my favorite picture of my grandma with my daughter Violet taken last summer:
Anyway, I have gone through many crafting phases. They all revolve around trying to make a few bucks and I want to publicly thank my mom for putting up with all of my crazy ideas and funding a lot of them. I made beaded pins in high school to wear with the aforementioned horse show clothes. I went through a tie-dye phase in college. And I did pretty well "bedazzling" jackets and vests into horse show clothes a few years ago. That was probably my first money-maker! And the reason why I have so many scraps of ultrasuede and mutli-colored rhinestones that may or may not ever make their appearance on Etsy!

I have always liked adding iron-ons to boring t-shirts, tank tops and sweatshirts. And when my daughter was born I did the same for her!

But I know what you are thinking. Why bibs? Why NOW?

Well, as any of you moms know, once your little pipsqueak reaches a certain age, their food goes EVERYWHERE when they eat. And no amount of dinky bib from Babies R' Us was going to cover or protect my messy kid and her cute iron-on worthy clothes. So I did what any mom would do. I ordered some ;)

Actually a friend of mine made the prototype for what is now the Hip Violet bib. Around the time I was going to try my hand at making one myself, she decided not to make them anymore. So, thanks to my internet friend Sheila, I now have her idea and a big pile of her fabric to go with it.

So I started sewing. I made my sister a few oversized bibs for her 3 year old. I made a few for me. I loved them. My friends and family loved them. I started adding appliques to them. Now I loved them more.

This was one of the first bibs I made for my friend Beth and her daughter Lily:
And I'll just admit this up front. I love love LOVE shopping for fabric. I have a lot of fabric. You can see it all here on my Flickr account: Click Here

So, that is just a little background on me, why I'm here and what I'm up to. I can't believe anyone would actually read this far, but if you did - THANKS! I promise none of my future posts will be this long-winded. Really!

Keep checking back as I navigate the in's and out's of owning my own little storefront on the web. You can always see my entire inventory by clicking here. Bookmark it! I usually am adding products daily and you won't want to miss it!

Later skaters!
jesi