It's time for our customer spotlight, featuring Katrina from
Doll Baby Boutique. Trina, take it from here.
1. Tell us a little bit about yourself.
My
name is Katrina. I am a mom of 2 little ones with big personalities ...
my girl, Aitana, and my boy, Gabriel ... with a new baby girl on the
way, making her arrival at Christmastime! I'm a Southern California
native. Lived there 32 1/2 years until my husbands job up and moved us
to Nashville, TN, this past summer. But that's totally ok for this
citified country girl! It's the first time I've ever lived away from
"home," and it's certainly an adventure. Before life with kids, I was an
editor for medical education and building codes. What a far far cry
from my life as a "sewing mommy" (as my kids say). Did I ever think I'd
be at home with almost 3 kids and sewing up a storm? No way. I've always
been creative, but I never knew I had THIS in me. What a pleasant
surprise it was, too!
I'm a lover of vintage. I have photographs of my loved
ones everywhere. The color red shows up in almost every room of my home
(except my girl's very pink bedroom). My favorite colors are fuchsia,
olive green, ivory and gray. I love "Fancy Nancy" almost as much as my
daughter does. For as much as I love to PLAN, I'm learning fast how to
sit back and just go with the flow. My kids are my most favorite people
in the world (with my hubby being a very close second)!
2. Is there a story behind your shop name?
Doll
Baby Bowtique was really the first and only name I could come up with.
My mom had always called my sister and I her "doll babies." I think that
may subconsciously come from my grandmother (her mom) calling all her
little ones and their little ones "her dollies." When my daughter was a
baby, she had that chunky little round face and we just couldn't help
calling her a doll baby. So, that's where I got it. My own little Doll
Baby. I started out simply making bows and now it's just grown and
that's the least of my business these days! I've been considering
changing the name to incorporate my other kiddos, but so far, we're
still "Doll Baby Bowtique."
3. What is your sewing story? Who/what inspires you?
There
were many who sew in my mom's family. My great-grandmother, my
grandmother, aunts, great-aunts ... and more. My sewing story starts way
back 22 years ago. I used to "sew" paper together to make vests/shirts
for my stuffed animals and dolls and I got a toy sewing machine and
played around with that, as well. When I was 10 years old, my mom found
out that there was a sewing class being given nearby and enrolled me. I
took one sewing class ever in my life. I made a drawstring bag, a skirt,
a pillow and a half-finished tank top. I played around on my mom's
machine here and there but lost interest because it was a "beast." I
always enjoyed looking at patterns and fabrics and always thought it
would be fun to really know how to sew. Fast forward to 2008 and I
started my business by making bows for my daughter and soon after I got a
small following through friends and family and their word of moth. Then
someone I knew, who admittedly had never sewn before in her life, made a
pillowcase dress for her daughter. I realized with my little bit of
knowledge, there was no reason I couldn't be sewing, too. So, Christmas
of 2009, Santa brought me my very own sewing machine. Now very few days
go by that I'm not at that machine working on something, trying new
patterns, throwing things together, daydreaming away about what I can't
wait to make!
My inspirations are my grandmother Angie and her sister
Jackie and my aunt Caroline. These women have made some of the most
beautiful things and I always wanted THAT talent. And I was the lucky
recipient of some of their craftsmanship. Most recently, my own children
are my inspiration of course. My daughter has such a unique taste in
styles and fabrics. She'll often tell me which fabrics to get and which
to not, and most often what she loves is a huge hit with my customers!
And I just can't get enough of my son and daughter asking me to make
them something special. It makes me giddy.
4. What was your first sewing project?
My
first sewing project ever was a drawstring bag at 10 years old.
Fast-forward and my first sewing project for my daughter was a basic
skirt ... I soon played with a couple of other store-bought patterns and
it was easy and ok. Then I found a very easy dress pattern because it
was time to make something different, so I decided my first BIG sewing
project would be to make that dress for my daughter. It took me 4 hours,
but I did it! I'm glad to say this dress now only takes 1.5 hours max
and that's if I add some "flair" to it.
5. What was your biggest sewing disaster?
Biggest?
Well, I'm not sure I've had any HUGE disasters, but certainly lots of
little ones. There was one customer that I was making a dress for and I
didn't use the good ol' standard of "measure twice, cut once." and I cut
about 3 inches too short on my last remnant of a hard-to-find fabric. I
think I just about died. At the moment, all I could do was go to bed
and sleep off the twisted gut feeling I had. I was thankful I was able
to add a border and make it look all pretty. Phew! I've had many other
blunders ... from trying to adjust a pattern to do something a little
"different" and having it either be too big or too small. One time I
tried making my daughter a shirt from a store-bought paper pattern and
thought I knew better about the length I needed for the elastic - she
wore it once out of pity for mommy. And not to mention the numerous
times the skirt of a dress has ended up being sewn "inside-out." Let's
just say I've come to learn exactly what kind of seam ripper I like!
6. Tell us about your fabric stash, sewing space, and/or favorite sewing supplies.
My
fabric stash? Oh man ... it's not just a stash, it's an addiction. I
live, I mean love, to find the newest and cutest, must have,
can't-live-without fabrics.But I'm happy to say that my MOUNTAIN of
fabric is all neatly stashed away on bookshelves, a tall cabinet and an
old giant vintage 5-drawer dresser ... with a few stragglers on the
floor of my storage closet. When we moved and bought our new house in
Tennessee, that was the biggest must-have for me. A space I could call
my own. I ended up having to share our basement with my kids with this
house. BUT I have 2 beautiful desks to work on, with lots of cabinet
space, next to a huge window overlooking our back yard. And my pride and
joy is my fabric CLOSET. An entire walk-in closet devoted to just my
stuff! Out of all the stuff I have, I think my 2 most favorite supplies
are my disappearing ink marking pen and my seam ripper ... I couldn't
live without either of these! And my most favorite fabric has to be
Michael Miller fabric. I love so many other designers, but there is
something about Michael Miller ... I believe it makes up at least 40% of
my fabrics!
7. Aside from sewing, what do you enjoy doing?
I love a good mystery show. Psych and Murder She Wrote
are my favorites. I love to read a good Nora Roberts novel and just be
swept away in the romance. I love to make a really nice dinner -
anything so delicious that it makes your tummy growl at first wiff. My
daughter once told me, "Mommy, you make smell-good food." I knew I'd
done something right! Besides that, I love coming up with fun and
different things to do with the kids, whether it be a random trip to the
bookstore so my son can play with the legos table or putting up the
kiddie pool on the deck for some bug-free splash time ... whatever puts a
smile on their face is enjoyable. Oh, and let's not forget a good
night's sleep ... I'll take one of those any day!
8. What advice would you like to share with new sewists?
Advice
... hmmm. I'm not an expert at sewing by any means, but I take a lot of
pleasure in it. My best advice is don't give up and ask for help.
Whether the help means asking the pattern maker for advice or asking
someone to watch your kids while you finish a project. Also, take it
easy ... doing anything too overwhelming will take the joy out of the
craft. And only make things you truly love to make. I've had customers
ask me to make certain things I was always interested in trying. Come to
find out, I couldn't stand making it once it was done. And I learned
quickly that if I didn't truly love to make an item, I just don't make
it. Take risks and be creative ... do the things you are afraid to do.
This is your own craft, you might as well enjoy it.
9. Where can we find you online (FB, Etsy, blog, etc.)?
10. Is there anything else you'd like to share with our readers?
I
supposed one of the things I want to say is that without finding Little
Lizard King patterns, I may have given up on the whole sewing
situation! I've purchased many pdf patterns from a variety of wonderful
pattern makers and many are quite fun. But, LLK's by far are the easiest
to understand and I've often referred to them when trying to figure out
how to put something together and get it just right. On top of this, my
most requested outfits from customers are using LLK patterns!
Over the past 4 years that DBB has been in business I
have met so many wonderful people ... customers, other boutique owners,
suppliers and pattern makers. Quite a few I've become aquaintances with
and some even friends, and I couldn't be happier about that. 5 years ago
when I was eagerly awaiting the birth of my Doll Baby, I could have
never imagined how busy, crazy, fun and enriched my life would be now. I
couldn't have done this without the support of my family, friends and
customers and I feel such an overwhelming sense of gratitude to everyone
who has simply encouraged me and my craft. Thank you!
____________________________________________________
Thanks, Katrina for taking the time to let us get to know you and yours a little better!! P.S. I used to be a huge fan of Murder She Wrote. Anyone else?
If you are interested in being featured in our customer spotlight, send us an email at littlelizardking@gmail.com.
(Sunsuit)
(Lauren Ruffle)
