outsourced.

I did finish a wrap on Monday, and am going to post it. But I’m planning on doing a tutorial, so that will come later. But here’s what else has been going on.

#1: The dress is done!

So here’s the entire thing (though I know the sheer part is a little hard to see, since it’s the same color as Donna.). I did end up having to shorten the straps about 3″, but aside from that, it’s pretty much as is.

And here’s a view of the back.

#2: My mom and I ended up making a bit of a deal. Since I made her dress, she made me a new spring/summer bag! (Which works out well for me, because I probably wouldn’t have gotten to it till July or something, and she’s way better at making bags than me. So in this case, I’m perfectly fine with outsourcing!) Most of the fabric was from my stash, too, which was nice for my efforts to use it up!)

She also added this nifty pocket to the back, which is just the perfect size for my habit of carrying a book with me at all times!

#3: Speaking of the stashbusting, here’s the update: I started off with about 273 yards. So far, between the wrap I just made on Monday, and a dress I’ve cut out but haven’t started sewing yet, it looks like I’m down to 260 1/2 yards. (Including adding some back in for the linen I got for the Anthropologie pants.)

#4: Still knitting that wrap. On ball #2 of yarn. Otherwise, it looks pretty much the same as the last picture.

#5: On a totally unrelated note, I’m 98% decided on letting go of the Etsy shop. (The other 2% is feeling like maybe I’m giving up too soon.) The thing is, I haven’t had time to work on it in about a month. And the things I do have up there just aren’t getting noticed. Most of the views I have up there are from my own edits. I came to the realization today that this isn’t a good time for me to be doing this, because I just can’t put in the effort that I’d need to in order to promote this. There’s too much going on in my life right now–I’m going to be doing some job-hunting very soon, and I need to figure out what direction I’m going to be taking with that. And whether I can actually keep teaching music, as a result.

So there’s a lot of changes coming my way. And I’m not sure what my free time is going to look like after everything gets sorted out. Making things is still a must, but I need it to be my hobby, not a second (or third, or fourth) job. My goal with the jewelry was to raise some money to donate to a Haiti relief organization that some friends founded, and thanks to the craft fair, I did that. I’d thought it might be an ongoing thing, but it seems that wasn’t meant to be the case right now. So I’m ready to simplify things again, and I’m at peace with that. As for the leftover jewelry, I think I’m going to pull a couple of things for me, and then give some of it away to friends. (Maybe I’ll even do a giveaway or two here, if people are interested…it’s been awhile since I’ve done one of those!) I don’t need to keep it all, especially since I made some things similar to what I already had, and I’ll feel better about it if I know that it’s being used and enjoyed.

I’m not sorry I tried it. It was a good learning experience. And maybe someday I’ll try doing a little crafty business on the side again. Just not now. (Besides, then I don’t have to try and keep up with writing a second crafty blog!)