Guest Blogger : Dana

For the next week Dana of Made will be our guest blogger. I am so excited for you guys to get to know her. She is a mother of two and still has time to keep up one of my very favorite blogs with amazing sewing and crafts. She is going to be a huge help with tips and tutorials for our next project (which I will post tomorrow morning). Here are some questions that I asked Dana about herself and her blog/business.

How long have you been sewing and who taught you?
My grandma taught me to sew when I was 10 and we started by sewing straight lines on a piece of paper; no thread, just holes. Then my mom taught me to use patterns and I made a few dresses and pants in my teenage years. It's strange to think that I've been sewing for over 20 years because it just doesn't feel that way. I'm still a novice at many techniques and would actually love real formal training. Until then, I'll keep plugging away at my methods!

What is your inspiration for sewing?
My inspiration often starts with an idea or pattern that already exists and then I tweak it in my own way. It can be challenging to conceptualize an entire design from beginning to end, which is why I love Refashioning. Upcycling old clothing gives me parameters: I have a piece of clothing or an object to work with and I'm limited with the amount of fabric, etc. Thus it forces me to make decisions and helps the project move forward. I love the challenge to "make it work!" (as Tim Gunn would say).

What do you hate to sew?
Ohhhh, button holes. Even with my "automatic" button holer, I'm still horrible at it. I think I just get antsy and start to pull the fabric through too quickly. Patience. I need more patience.

How do you find the time?
As most Mom-crafter-sewers out there know, it's difficult to balance kids and hobbies. But when you love both, you find a way. I can get some sewing in while my son naps in the afternoon. Unfortunately, my daughter is 3 and no longer naps but is a fabulous player and can entertain herself for an hour. She often doesn't mind the sound of my machine working away and loves to help out by handing me colorful straight pins. Whatever I don't get done during the day, I finish at night....not every night though. It's hard to stay motivated and besides, I do like to hang out with my husband too.

When you are not sewing you are?
Blogging (can't you tell??) Okay, yes. I do love to blog (both MADE and our family blog) and I love reading blogs. My husband jokes that I have blogimony about it all. But I also love photography and can spend hours in iphoto playing and manipulating things; I enjoy cooking and participate in a monthly cooking group with some girlfriends; I like to read; my husband and I love indie films and documentaries (my career was in film production); I love to be outside in the sun; my husband and I do a fair amount of travelling; back in the day I performed with an improv group and love to be on stage; I serve with the youth group at our church; and I love to hang out with friends! I guess that's what I do.

What are the things that you are most passionate about in life?
Family and Sewing. I was blessed to have a wonderful family life growing up, with 5 other siblings. We are all very close and our kids now interact and play together. My husband also came from a great family. So family values are important to us both. As much as I love creating and sewing (and feel passionate about it), my children are the most important "project" in my life right now. I never want to look back and wonder if I spent too much time sewing and not enough time playing with the kids and hanging out with my husband.

Tell us a little about your blog?
MADE started simply as an outlet to share my projects and ideas. Since I'm often inpsired by other's ideas, I decided to share mine too. The blog started out small, with mostly family members and friends tuning in. But over the past year it has grown larger than I imagined. I'm so happy people enjoy stopping by. And it gives me a chance to check out their blogs at the same time. There are SO many inspiring creators out there!

What is the best tip you can give to new bloggers out there?
Keep creating and posting. And leave comments on other people's blogs. If you chime in about their stuff, they are likely to check out your blog and (hopefully) remember to come back! Signing up for Wardrobe Refashion was great for my blog as well. I was able to post projects on there, which brought a lot of traffic back to my blog.

What is the significance of your logo and name "joon bug"?
Well, it's funny how a craft can spin you in many directions. I orginally started a baby line called joon bug (which name also morphed from various directions). And I started selling baby burp cloths, blankets, etc. My sister created the logo. I wanted something simple and slightly non-gender and I love what she came up with. Somewhere along the way though (mostly when I started with Wardrobe Refashion) I got really into sewing clothes for my kids and realized I loved doing that more. And after starting the blog to showcase my work....I now feel that I'm on a path I love. So joon bug has taken the back seat. BUT oddly enough, I've been working on getting joon bug back up and running this week. There is still inventory to share! So, you can also find us at: joonbugbaby.com