Custom Work Makes Me Happy!

Hi everyone! We're welcoming spring around here. Finally!!

We've had a bunch on our plate here in our house the past couple of weeks and I haven't been able to do much blogging or sewing. But I've been working on a special order from a customer who likes to cook. She asked me to make some changes to my pencil rolls so that they would hold eating utensils--spoons, knives, and forks as well as chopsticks. So I made a new pattern with slightly wider slots and a much taller back. Now her utensils will all fit inside and still have a protective flap over the top. 

Those are our family's colored chopsticks. They are really fun. 

All closed up I think the roll looks really smart. It's going to be a gift for a friend of hers. 

Custom work is great for me because I really enjoy working directly with someone to help them get exactly what they want. I also appreciate the opportunity to develop new patterns and create new items. It's a fun challenge to tweak things or even to create completely new one. I also find it valuable to communicate with customers since I always learn something new, whether it is what attracts people to my shop or how they use the things I make. So keep those custom orders coming! 

Here are some photos of previous custom orders. 

A tween sized apron in pink and grey linen. One of my all-time favorite creations. 

A petite apron in a gorgeous pastel blue and white floral linen. 

A simple pencil holder in pinks and lime green.
The customer was going to attach it to a bag she was making for her daughter. 

Child-sized play oven mitts made with all the little scraps of these fabrics I had left.
The customer purchased a ready-to-ship apron in these fabrics as well. 

A pinafore smock for a toddler made with fabric the customer purchased. 

A child apron in fabrics I hadn't thought to put together! 

Two little tote bags/purses for the customer's daughters in fabrics she purchased. 

A pencil roll with a covered button closure instead of the ties. 

And finally, you can't tell how adorable this is from the photo, but it is a toddler-sized tie-back smock.
It is super tiny and super cute. The hanger it's on is a child sized hanger. Maybe that gives you an idea.