2022 marks the 10 year anniversary for me and my handmade business. For those of you that have not followed me for that long, boy oh boy, would you be shocked to see where I started!
My very first product I made was scarves. On a recent trip to New York City, I had a purchased a scarf that was a gray and black animal print with fringe ends. This was my favorite scarf and I wore the heck out of it! As I am typing this, I am pretty sure I wore it in my engagement photo shoot....I will have to dig that up to share with you. Anywho, I really wanted more scarves like this one and another trip to NYC was not in the cards. That's when it came to me. Why not try to make one! So I made a trip to the local Joann's and dusted off the sewing maching that had not seen daylight for a few years. I whipped up my first scarf and proudly showed it off to my neighbor. I knew I needed to make more and the intent was for my own use.
The second product I made was a tutu stool. I had seen a cute playroom table on Pinterest that was red with tulle around it. So, the stools were made from an old wooden bar stool. My husband cut off half the height of the legs and I spray painted the stool. I then added cotton batting for padding and colorful fabric to the seat by stapling the materials under the chair. Tulle was stapled underneath and decorative trim was placed around the seat to finish off the look. Voila! The tutu stool was born and I named my business Maggie's Sittin' Pretty Boutique.
At the tail end of 2012, I did my first craft fair with one of my co-workers. She had experience selling at craft fairs, so we shared a booth and I soaked up her selling advice. I did sell a handful of scarves that day and one or two stools found a new home.
Over time, making the tutu stools really became a pain. I am in Wisconsin, so painting outside in the late fall and winter is not preferable. Oh the memories of running outside to spray a stool and quickly run back inside with it. I would have cardboard with drying stools all over the family room! After a couple years of lugging the stools to shows, I realized I needed a lighter craft, not to mention an easier product to get to and from shows. So the stools were retired, the sewing projects came to the forefront, and I rebranded to Sporty Girl Accessories.
Thank you for supporting me over the years.
I couldn't have done it without you :)