How it all started

I have often been asked how I got started.

Its a bit of a long story so please, bear wih me.

Butterfly Designs has been quite a journey that started when I was very young.  As I mentioned in my intro post, I have always been around fabric and sewing.  I am first generation Canadian, which means that my parents immigrated.  Well, technically my dad immigrated when he was very young and my mom is first generation.  but the point is my family is very Dutch and we grew up with a deep heritage but not deep pockets.  Looking back, this was a blessing.  I wasn't handed everything but I earned it or I was taught to DIY before the term was even coined.  Creating was just part of our culture.

I don't remember a time when I didn't know how to sew - I played beside my mom with the whir of the sewing machine as background music.  I don't know how far back it started in our family tree but my paternal grandmother taught my mom and she also taught me.  When I was in middle school, I had to take home economics class. I finished the semester's project in the first day. I was promptly assigned to make a dress and assist in teaching the rest of the class.  In high school, I couldn't find a formal dress that I liked and fit so my mom and I designed one and made it.  It was just what we did and it's never been a big deal.

When I moved away from home, my mom gifted me with a sewing machine. It was the same one that she had so it was like an old friend.  I was sewing infrequently for a number of years but it wasn't until I was married and getting settled in life did I really start feeling that urge to create again.

The idea to start making aprons came to me after attempting to find a cute apron about 7-8 years ago and finding nothing.  I decided to make one and the "Andi Apron" was born.  I made one for my mom and my grandmother, and for some gifts.  The Madison Apron came into my head after seeing someone wearing a sundress with pants - which is a little weird but apparently inspiring. I put my patterning skills to the test and I designed the Madison apron and the I began to sell on Etsy.

Things were very slow at first.  I was enjoying my career at the time, we had our first son and then things got really interesting.  I would open my shop for 6 months and then have to shut it again for one reason or another.

But then Baby #2 came around.  I had decided I wanted to stay home and raise my boys so I quit my job, which had always been a great balance of right brain creative work and left brain business analysis to keep me complete stimulated mentally.   It took about 2 weeks of staying home to realized this wasn't going to work and I was going to need something additional to focus on.  That's when I got serious about Butterfly Designs.  I started building an inventory and adding new items.    In the fall of 2009,  I did my first tiny craft fair and I was hooked.  It wasn't a success but the energy I got from doing it made me realize this is what I wanted to do.  I resumed selling on Etsy and then realized that Facebook is a much more personal way to reach my customers.

It's been just over three years since I made that leap and I am loving it.  It's been a challenge to balance work and kids and life in general but I think as moms, we all deal with that on some level.  No matter if you are a working mom, a stay at home mom or a work from home mom, it's a challenge not to loose ourselves in the chaos of every day life.  It's hard not to push back those dreams and just "power through" life.  It's exciting to have finally realized that the whispers in our hearts, those things that truly make us feel alive, are important.  And not only are they important but they are essential for us as women and moms to listen to.  If we continue to suppress those things that make us feel alive in our core, we start to allow depression, fear and self-doubt creep in.  Whether your heart skips a beat over the thought of painting a picture, going for a run, dancing or cooking a gourmet meal, these things are key to living your own full, happy and healthy life.

So, do me a favor this week.  Try to take a moment to do something for yourself, in a completely unselfish but self-renewing way.  Let me know what you did - I'd love to hear about it.  I'll do the same and let you guys know.