As a hobby and a way to make some fun money, I started crafting about eight years ago. My mom taught me how to sew with my own little machine when I was in elementary school, and as I grew, we worked on various sewing and craft projects that led me to starting my own little business.
I got my mom’s hand-me-down sewing machine my senior year of college and started making totes. They were simple at first, just two sides and a handle. I then moved on to more elaborate totes that were reversible, followed by my first baby blanket. That was when I discovered the large market for babies and children.
At my first craft show, I sold blankets, burp clothes, changing pads and totes. I made a few hundred dollars and thought it couldn’t get any better. Not long after I began making plush blocks, dresses and other children’s accessories and expanding my craft show resume. I frequented the now defunct Adventureland show along with local shows in Pella and Prairie City.
As I prepared for my first Tulip Time outdoor show in Pella, I started what would take over most of my crafting time — hair accessories. I had found plain, undecorated hair clips and put ribbons on them, some with bows. They sold like crazy, and I looked to expand on a product I knew would be successful. As a child, I didn’t go anywhere without something in my hair and once I had my own girls, things were much the same.
I began going to more shows both indoor and outdoors. My mom helped me out pretty much all of the time and I can never thank her enough for everything she did/does. She has sat through rain and cold, fighting against the wind blowing over our whole stand to blazing hot temperatures and no helpful breeze to lend any relief. The indoor spaces are much preferred but can have their own challenges. No space is ever the same and with our ever expanding number of products it can be a jigsaw puzzle with the tables, stands and baskets. Somehow we always make it work and most of the time it is thanks to my mom.
Another by-standard of my crafting is my husband. I tend to go full force into things so I can only imagine what was going through his mind when I came home with yards and yards of fabric along with dozens of spools of ribbon. It slowly took over every corner of our house, which became a bigger deal when the girls came along. At our previous house, I moved everything to the basement but at our current house, there isn’t a lot of extra space. My mom decided to expand her sewing room and graciously took all of my fabric to store at her house.
Recently, I have moved into the world of headbands. I have had an Etsy shop for quite a while but once I started making headbands, it exploded. Shopping is one of my favorite parts of the crafting experience and being able to pick and choose from dozens of patterns to create headband sets is like being a kid in a candy store. I, of course, began to expand as soon as I started with flowers and appliqués to add to the headbands. All of these items still get to live at our house. I try my best to keep them in check and out of sight, if for nothing else but that my girls think they are very fun to play with.
My crafting season is set to begin this weekend, and I always get a few butterflies presenting new items to see how they will go over. Hopefully the crowds will want to get out and see some new spring items and I will get to package up what will become presents for new little ones, usually grandbabies.
Contact Jamee A. Pierson at
641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or
jpierson@newtondailynews.com