Welcome to
Creating Success around the World
The worldwide blog hop tour, that introduces you to creative people from all corners of the globe.
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Thank you to Jill for having me as a guest today.
I'm Mary from Alice Blue Softies.
I live on the Mornington Peninsula not far from Melbourne and I love to make things. Some of my creations are available in my online stores.
You can find me at madeit - a site for Australian crafters and at etsy - an international site for all things handmade.
Why do you create?
My sewing
life really began out of necessity way back in the day when I was a young
teenager and wanted some trendy clothes.
The culture in our house was that if you needed something then you sourced it
in the most frugal way possible. It was in the late 60’s and I was very aware
that my clothes were daggy and I longed to groove up my look. Mum had always
made most of our clothes on her trusty Husqvarna so that was the logical thing
to do. We used to stalk the fabric
rows at Dimmeys in Richmond. We would find off cuts from the local ragtrade,
remnants from warehouses and bolts of fabric with singed edges in the famous
“fire sales”. So I perused the pages of the pattern books and was allowed to
buy a Vogue Pattern of a maxi dress with a halter neck and a slim silhouette. I
made the dress out of dusky denim blue cotton twill with a watermark print. It
was amazing fabric and I was a hit at the Moorabbin Town Hall weekly dance. I
made that pattern a dozen times in tops and short dresses. When you’re on a
good thing…
Sewing
remained part of my life through all the stages one goes through. When bikinis
were the rage I didn’t have any money to buy a pair so I made them. They were fully
lined and looked rather fabulous and better still they did not self destruct
when wet. I made some for my sister as well and now when I look back I love the
fearlessness I had to just make a skimpy bikini and wear them to the beach when
all my friends had commercially made lycra ones. The era of babies saw me making infants nighties and selling them at the
local market. My sister was in the full swing of her dating years so we would
dream up ball gowns and party dresses, all of which had nicknames and she would
go out looking the goods. Costume parties were popular in the 80’s so the fur
was flying when the Flinstones and Rubbles were recreated.
The list
goes on and on and as I write this I am staggered at how many projects I have
produced. And until I started writing this article I would not have called
myself a creative person. No really. People would say to me “you are so
creative” and I would feel uncomfortable because they had it wrong. I only
sewed because I had to, so that I could have what I needed, without
overspending. But I now realize they were right. Creativity is just the process
of making something out of something else. And not everyone can or wants to do
that. I create things and I love doing it.
I am a
secondary school teacher who used to teach Biology and Geography but over the
last 10 years I successfully switched to Textiles and sewing. I work part time in a school
that offers an Activities program. I love teaching young people the skills and the values that I learned at my mother’s sewing
machine. Making something yourself flies in the face of the consumer driven
world that these young people live in and I think I offer a different way of
getting something you need (want) that has a whole lot more value than just
buying it off the shelf. These values came from my childhood and I think they
should be included in today’s generation to ground them a bit.What do you create?
My softies
era started in the 90’s when calico bears and Amish dolls were popular. I
learned the basics of toy construction and made dozens of toys that are still
valued items in many recipients’ houses. I got over it after a while but around
2007 I entered the quirky world of soft toys for adult
collectors and children as well. My son is an artist and often inspires a new
creation with a drawing of an owl-like creature or a long legged beastie. I
have finally realized that making things is what I do and no matter whether I
have followed a pattern or design it myself it is the process of making
something out of something else that is the joy for me.
I often
use recycled knitwear from the opp shop to make my softies. Sustainability is a topic I embrace and I like to do my bit. My favourite
materials are cashmere, lambswool and angora teemed with vintage fabrics from
my stash. It was from this collection that Alice Blue softies was born.
I make
cute mainstream softies for babies and really get my groove on with the wilder
creations that have interesting faces and odd shapes.
I write a blog about the
things that inspire me and other things that make me smile. It is not about
world peace but I have readers from all over the world so it must resonate with
a few.
Here's the link to sweetlittlealicebluegown.blogspot.com
Do you sell your creations?
My aims in
creating a public profile for my softies is to provide a showcase for what I
make and to extend the range of people who can own and enjoy one of my softies.
I like to think that there could be one of my little critters sitting on a
shelf in a far-flung country peeking out from behind a book making its owner
smile. Bearing in mind also that these creations take time and skill to make so
they have a value and sometimes that value has to be expressed in monetary
terms so they are for sale. When I know a softie is going to be appreciated and
will bring joy to someone that needs a little comfort and love I gladly send a
softie off to that person because I know it will be valued and that is my
reward. I have sent softies to my favourite recipients at Softies for Mirabel,
The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne and loads of friends and family who
follow my sewing adventures on my blog and on Facebook.
What to you is success and have you achieved it yet?
I have
only recently listed some of my creations on Etsy and madeit and am yet to make
a sale. You could say I am working towards success in that area. I am promoting
my shops where I can. The technical side of computers is a challenge for me but
I love a challenge. So far I have successfully installed link buttons to my
shops and facebook onto my blog. I have also put an etsy button onto my
facebook page. My Pinterest account is more for cataloging my inspirations but
I have pinned a few of my etsy items onto my board “things I make”
What's next?
As my creations are one of a kind and no two are quite the same I do not intend to make multiples of exactly the same item so the plan for success is to sell my listed items and keep the shops stocked with quirky little softies. My teaching has the scope to branch into a little out of school hours business and that could be the next step.
I hope you enjoyed my little reverie and please take a look at some of my links!
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