Still waiting for inspiration to strike? Me too.

At the crossroad of pandemic and menopause I misplaced my creative mojo. I suspect it began to dissipate shortly after I shuttered my own handmade business. Founded in 2006, out of necessity, Watermelon Wishes specialized in custom bags that I made to order from the client’s fabric of choice.

This business traversed the path of my own interests. When I was having babies, it felt natural to design and sew products for other moms. First I sold diaper bags and then I found a profitable niche making monogrammed camera bags.

Back in then it felt as if my inspiration would never run dry. I'd wake up with a tangible excitement and spend the entire day sewing. In May of 2020 I decided to call it quits for an indeterminate amount of time because shipping was so slow, quality supplies were hard to come by and both were paramount to a 5 star rating on Etsy. Not to mention the fact no one new how long this uncertainty was going to last or for that matter if any of us would survive. In hindsight, everyone’s stress levels were off the charts and it is easy to understand how it would be hard to feel creative. 

In an effort to keep myself distracted I would make my weekly rounds to the Michaels and Hobby Lobby. These were literal rounds as I would walk up and down every isle. After some time, it all began to look the same. There's wasn't anything I was excited about, wished I could buy or try in these crafting stores. My creative genius was getting depressed and desperately needed some fuel. 

I found myself longing for those rich and colorful fabrics I used to work with--designer cottons and custom printed materials--but there was no reason for me to buy them because I wasn't making any money and had little desire to sew another bag for myself. 

Up until this point I had always sewn from the leftover fabric that resulted from my custom bag orders. A very sustainable model. Typically, there would be a half yard or more for my indulgence. This provided me with a medley of colors, prints and styles to choose from. I was saving the extra bits in plastic bins for the day when I might have time to quilt with them. You'd think that would have been during the pandemic, but my creative drive was so low I didn't have the energy to do so. 

When I moved out of my commercial studio in 2021, I began the slow and sometimes painful purge of these scrap bins. I was running out of space in my small home studio and that someday I was wishing for didn't feel any closer. So, with as much gratitude as I could muster, I let the scraps go back to the nothingness from whence they came.

It's always been fascinating to me that you can take a flat piece of fabric and transform it into a functional and beautiful object that brings people joy and adds value to their life. That is the magic of being able to design and sew. 

I miss being part of that cycle and I am on a journey to find my way back to that blissful creative state I took for granted for so many years. The challenge of meeting and oftentimes exceeding the customers’ expectations, the pride as I admired my finished work, the excitement of what might become of the scrap fabric that remain and the thrill as I heard yet another cha-ching from my Etsy app. 

This handmade business model and now lifestyle began almost 20 years ago and has taken some interesting and fun turns as I taught myself to sew, learned the art of selling online, and generously taught others to do the same. The steps from novice, to designer, to boutique owner, and eventually YouTuber seemed incremental and logical in comparison to where I stand now. 

I know there is more to learn and share but I have been struggling to find the best platform in which to do that. In 2024 I had hoped to expand the YouTube Channel through a variety show of sorts that would allow me to explore different interests. That didn't work out very well because once you market yourself in one niche on YouTube it is near impossible to escape. 

I’ve always loved writing, and my inner voice has been gently reminding me for quite some time that is my mode of choice. Likewise, I enjoy business. Especially small business strategy. Above all, I enjoy helping and watching others succeed in making and/or selling handmade goods. 

While I temporarily stopped producing content for my YouTube channel, I have been nurturing a smaller community of makers first on Patreon and then more recently in what we know as Sewspire Studio 365. It is through this experience that I have had the pleasure of seeing first-hand the joys and challenges that exist within the studios of both the hobbyist and the handmade entrepreneur. 

The extremes of this lifestyle would be the hobbyist amassing a humongous collection of fabric to the entrepreneur working round the clock and still not being profitable. Warnings of burnout fall on deaf ears when you are in people pleasing mode and indulging an unquenchable desire for more fabric, a better machine, prettier hardware and yet another pattern. I've gingerly danced on the edges of this world and hope that this forum will serve as guidance to new crafters and entrepreneurs as well as hope for those of us who have lost our way and may be desperately seeking success.

This simple truth can be stated in a variety of ways: creativity it is attainable if it is sustainable.  

Let's consider two possible outcomes of pursuing an unsustainable path: 

The hobbyist overspending on supplies will either go broke or acquire so much they no longer fit or want to be in their creative spaces. This happened to my Grandma Bonnie. She had the cutest little sewing nook but eventually she filled it to the ceiling with fabric, yarn, thread and other cast offs which were ultimately discarded when she died. I vividly remember the sewing machine and table covered with her excessive stash. 

The entrepreneurial spirit is at risk in that they will eagerly buy the latest and greatest machines, tools and kits while continuing to work for free or even at a loss after failing to account for payment processing fees and taxes. Eventually they will close their business or be forced out of business after friends and family point out the obvious. We will talk more on how to define success at another time. 

Sometimes these two paths overlap but the outcome is always the same: they walk away from what once brought them so much joy. It is here that I stand adamant refusing to let myself (and hopefully you) become a has been crafter. 

This newsletter dedicated to sustainable sewing and crafting is my humble attempt to share what I have learned and save myself and whomever indulges in my content by sharing a fresh perspective on what it means to be a sustainable sewer and crafter. 

We'll begin the journey with this weekly newsletter and the craft box swap and see where it goes.