the sweatshop is OPEN

Since my sewing room was moved upstairs from the basement last fall, I have made an important discovery... it gets very HOT in a second floor, west-facing room with lots of task-lighting, an iron and two sewing machines running! My 13 year old daughter has her sewing machine set up across the table from mine and we have been busy.

Last summer she decided to launch a bag-making business, and she has taken and filled several orders since then. Most recently she made this Amy Butler Frenchy bag (the smaller version) that her aunt ordered...

She also whipped up this Terry Atkinson "Zippy Strippy" cosmetic bag for herself and plans to make several more as Christmas gifts for friends.

Thanks to my outstanding nephew, she also has a website under development: http://www.daisydesignsbynatalie.com/.

My eldest daughter participated in a summer fashion design program last month at a nearby college. For one week they held a mini "Project Runway" with each student designing a red-carpet dress for Scarlett Johanssen (sp?). Two designs were chosen by the faculty, and then two teams of 9 students created patterns, cut, and sewed the dresses for a portfolio show held on the weekend. Caroline's design was not chosen, but she did a LOT of the sewing on this dress...

I surely wish that I could hear what Elsie has to say about these two wonderful girls of mine! I am so proud of them!!

And now we've got to figure out how to get a third machine into that sewing room, because none of us wants to be left out when the creativity is flowing. I think we're going to need a bigger room... and an auxiliary air-conditioner :)