To Thine Own Self Be True

I have been on a journey for about 5 years now.
I have been trying to understand why I do the same things over and over again. I make the same mistakes. I turn down the same path. I keep looking into the sun, even though it hurts my eyes.
I know that I am special. I know that I am different. I know that I am more massive and expansive than my skin. But I have struggled every day with it.
I love who I am. I love how I see the world. I relish in the fact that I stand in the sun and like to feel the heat.
But I needed to learn how to shade my eyes.
I have been reading The 12 Secrets of Highly Successful Woman by Gail McMeekin, and within the first few pages I found my sunglasses and I am ready to follow the sun! I will follow it now and it will never set for me again!

MY Strengths & Necessary Talents

(which often become my downfalls!)

• I am over sensitive and therefore too thin-skinned. I want to avoid being out in the world too much. (It is getting worst as I get older)
• I don't trust my own worth and am afraid to charge enough for my work.
• I am intuitive and care about other people and become distracted by other people's life decisions, which prevents me from being functional in my own life.
• I am able to go from project to project, but become overwhelmed and sometimes not able to focus.
• I am independent and can be afraid to ask for emotional and business support when I need it.
• I can be severely critical, but my perfectionism can be paralyzing and prevent me from releasing my full creativity.
• I don't always want to confront people, which means they try to use me as an scapegoat for their problems because I am the one who does not follow protocol. This can leave me isolated and lonely.
• I am not as confident as I appear. Being hurt has left me with a damaged self-esteem and a realization of my lack of expertise in certain areas.
• I sometimes work myself until I am sick. Neglecting myself but never neglecting others.
• I struggle with my need to be alone to create. I don't want to hurt the feelings of my loved ones.
• I can make simple things complex due to the lack of self esteem.
• I am often sad because of the inability to realize my creative dreams in my day to day life.
• I am often fearful of sharing who I really am and telling the truth about myself for fear of disapproval from the ones who opinions I value.
• I feel guilty about not pursuing a traditional career path. But am not secured by what others search for in a job like a pension plan, etc.
• I feel overwhelmed sometimes because I am good at so many different things.
• I have a fear of being rejected.
• I am afraid of taking my creativity full force because my life style and opinions may hurt the feelings of the ones I love.
• I AM AFRAID OF BEING LABELED AND REJECTED BY OTHERS BECAUSE I AM NOT AFRAID TO TO RISKS.

You would never guess it, but being raised in an artistic household my daughter, Sarah Elizabeth, just does some really darn cool things.
She is 13, and the perfect age to embrace the modern world of Internet instruction. She sees something amazingly cool on www.youtube.com and she tries it.
Like the time she walked into the room and asked me if she could cut her own hair. No big deal right? But then she walks back into the room some time later with her hair cut! What did she do? She had seen a tutorial on YouTube on how to razor your own hair! She had dug through my sewing supplies until she found my razors and taken one. She had used one of the most dangerous tools that I own in my arsenal of artistic supplies.
The amazing part? IT LOOKED GREAT!

So her newest artistic endeavor has been to do this amazing thing to her finger nails. They looked swirled. Crazy cool.
Yes, she makes a mess. Yes, she runs around the house with tape on her fingers. Ahhh, tape... But the results are amazing.
And I am left with the satisfaction of knowing she can do research, she can follow directions, and she has the ability to express herself.
I just need to make sure I pay attention to my sharp objects....

Every Maid-a-Milking needs an APRON!

Christmas in July? I love it! It is such a fun idea!
Check out this cute treasury featured on Etsy!
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTQ1OTA3OTl8MjcyMDQ5NTEzNw/12-days-of-christmas-in-july-ozarks
I love my Ozark heritage and am proud that they picked my Vintage Reproduction Aprons to add to their fun collection. Check it out!
https://www.etsy.com/listing/88197854/vintage-apron

Something Original

One of the best parts of my job is creating things that are original. Having a client come in and say that they want me to make something because they can't find what they are looking for is both exciting and scary...very, very scary.
Even after I have been sewing for this long I still have that little voice in the back of my mind that says, "Will I be able to pull this off?"
The very first part of any project like this is listening. I write down notes, take measurements, find pictures in magazines, pull out patterns I may already own. I do everything I can to make sure that the picture I have in my head matches the idea that the client has.
Often, I can see to the end of a project in my mind. That can be very frustrating for the client. It is the worst for a non-artistic ones, and the sketches and pictures help.
Then, we go fabric and materials shopping. There is an amazing fabric store here in Springfield MO called FM. They have rooms full of huge blots of amazing, flowing fabrics that brush against your legs and shoulders as you walk. You can touch the fabrics and lay them over and against one another. I talk to the client about how fabrics work together. How they will wear. How they will feel. Usually, the right material jumps out and grabs you. Most of the time it is the one thing you just keep going back to!

Then, I get to start the design process.

What I love most about this is getting to see the ideas pulling together. You get a clear look at how the materials are going to work and if you need to make changes in your ideas.

Fittings and trying on jewelry and shoes helps the client not only feel like part of the process, but also helps you find problems early and gives you a chance to fix them.

The best part of the clothes I make are the people that wear them! I love seeing my clients excited and feeling amazing in the things we have created!

Special thanks to Tori Hull. She and I have made many beautiful things together, but her friendship is priceless!



Coming Home for the 4th of July

So for the past several weeks I have been away from my computer. It has been a real time of reflection and growth for me. I have been working on branding myself and stabilizing the ideas that I have for who I am and what I want TheJulyStudio to stand for.
For years I have collected and kept pieces of fabric and trims from antique stores, rummage sales, and past projects. I have said summer after summer that I was going to make these remnants from my past into clothing that would embody the spirit and fun of the July season.
I don't just want it to be for the 4th of July, but the whole feel of summer. I want it to represent all the things that make us American. All the things that make us who we are as a nation. Each piece of clothing and jewelry is inspired by the fabric, or the place I was when I acquired it.

Each jumper, romper, or dress is crisp, clean, light, and a symbol of a time when summer moved slower. There is ice cream and fireworks. There are lazy days by the river. All in all, I want these clothes to be things that can be worn all year round, as a symbol of who we are as American's. Something that can be handed down and cherished, just like memories of the 4th of July.

Nothing to Wear/ Not a Cinderella Story

What do you do, if you are 8 years old and you can't go to school because you have nothing to wear? For thousands of Orphans or Vulnerable Children (OVC) in Africa this happens every single day.
Almost all of the available schooling requires a uniform, and if you don't have one, you don't go!
So how can you help? There is an amazing group of people called Common Theardz who have developed a non profit organization and by selling t-shirts and bracelets they help children get the uniforms they need to get them in school and on the road to a brighter future.

Created in 2008, every time you purchase a t-shirt or bracelet from their Shop to Help Store they provide one uniform for a child in need. Currently hundreds of uniforms have been provided to OVC's.
So go to www.commonthreadz.org and check them out. They also plan trips and have so many other amazing programs to help OVC's get what they need to face the future....
And the next time you face your closet full of clothes and ask your self what are you going to wear, just be thankful you get to choose.

Babies need dresses too!

I love when my friends post pictures of their adorable babies wearing things that I have made. It still instills a sense of wonderment and pride in me every time I see my own work. The time and effort I put into each piece comes alive when there is a child in it.
Getting noticed is a perk. It is the icing on an already amazingly good cake...
http://blog.craftsy.com/2011/06/spotlight-on-a-craftsy-crafter-casey-july-musser/
One of my favorite TheJulyStudio dresses was featured in the showcase of Craftsy. 

But the dress itself found a home with Naomi Towns...