It is time...

...to retire this blog of 14 years and simultaneously close my fabric shop. What a journey it has been! I still remember how excited and nervous I was posting that very first blog post where I showed one of my handmade bags. In the following years I connected with a bunch of wonderful crafty people across the globe. This led to amazing collaborations, which in turn led to me becoming a DIY blogger in an official capacity. I was invited to blogger events and had the opportunity to review sponsored products. Several of my DIY ideas have been featured in online as well as physical magazines. It was tremendous fun and I am thankful for all the people who I have crossed paths with both virtually and in person through this blog. 

This blog has gone through several re-incarnations, most recently tying in with my website. Needless to say it was one of the hardest decisions to close my fabric shop. There are several reasons, but mainly the pandemic and subsequent supply chain issues and staff shortages everywhere really put a dent in my sales figures. The final nail in the coffin is the ongoing and devastating war in Ukraine. Of course we are all affected by this, but more so in Europe. People are saving up, buying non perishable food items and sadly putting their crafty indulgence on the back burner. Don't get me wrong, I fully understand people's restraint, but from a financial point of view and after doing weeks of market research it simply doesn't make sense to keep the shop up and running. It's a hard fact, but I have to be realistic about it. I actually made this tough decision at the end of summer, and since then I have made peace with it. I have also closed my FB and Twitter accounts.

While I have already taken down my website, my secondary shop on Etsy will remain open until the last day of 2022. I carry a few special fabric designs that are hard to get anywhere else, so here's your last chance to grab some. I'm proud to say, that Etsy has given me the "Star Seller" badge with 100% in all three categories (customer communication, shipping and rating). So, I'm going out on a high note, so to speak!

Back to this blog. While I won't be posting any updates, I will keep the blog up as a reference for anyone out there who has just come across it recently, but will probably mute the comment section. In the tutorial category you will find free sewing tutorials for beginners and intermediate sewists. I also have a travel and recipe section for those who feel inclined to check those out. And listed below are my most popular blog posts and my personal favorites:

DIY Coin purse

Lotti, the little chick

Scrappy pin cushion

Frida Kahlo costume

Advent calendar

What's next you may ask? Well, the next weeks I will most probably be busy wrapping up the business. Yup, even closing down the shop involves the typical German bureaucracy which has been a bit of a struggle! Actually not having to deal with that in the near future is quite a relief.

Frankly, this past year has been especially rough for me personally - with me being hospitalized (and still recovering) and my beloved Sumi crossing the rainbow bridge in September. I miss her so much.  Honestly, I can't wait for this year to be over. 

Thank You

I would like to close this post by thanking all of you that have read my posts, left a kind comment (or multiple!) and linked or even promoted my blog over the years. It's been a truly amazing journey and I was and still am proud to be part of this blogging community. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

If you would like to keep in touch please follow me on Insta (thanks to those who are already following) or you can always drop me a line via email: duni.buesken(at)gmx.de

Until we meet again ~

Much Love,

Fresh Fabrics For Fall

I had a meeting with my fabric rep the other day to preview the new fabric collections for Fall. These sessions usually take a couple of hours and afterwards I always feel strangely exhilarated and exhausted at the same time! Joel Dewberry's "Notting Hill" really stood out amongst the others. There are three colourways - Magenta, Teal and Poppy - but I'm only interested in the first two. Here's what they look like:

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For einigen Tagen hatte ich ein Meeting mit einem meiner Stofflieferanten, um die neuen Herbstkollektionen durchzugehen. Solche "Previews" dauern meistens mehrere Stunden. Während die Vertreterin eine Kollektion nach der anderen zeigt notiere ich die Farben, Muster und Namen rasch, denn bei der Menge kann man es sich unmöglich merken. Die Kollektion "Notting Hill" von Joel Dewberry ist mir diesmal besonders aufgefallen. Es gibt sie in drei Farbvarianten - Magenta, Teal und Poppy - wobei mich nur die ersten Zwei interessieren (siehe nachfolgend):

Magenta

Teal

I haven't made a final decision yet, so I'm asking you, my lovely readers, to help me out here! Please leave a comment letting me know which is your preferred colourway! I'd really appreciate it ♥

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Ich habe mich noch nicht entgültig entschieden und deshalb möchte ich Euch, meine lieben Leser, bitten mir bei der Entscheidung zu helfen! Hinterlasst bitte im Kommentarfeld Eure bevorzugte Farbvariante! Tausend Dank für Eure Mithilfe ♥

Fabric Sale

Hi everybody!         Hallo Mädels!

Thank you to all who left encouraging comments to my previous post. They are very much appreciated and I will keep you updated on my progress with Molly :)

Also, a warm welcome to my new blog readers. Nice to meet you!

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Vielen Dank für die lieben Kommentare zu meinem letzten Post. Ich habe mich sehr darüber gefreut und ich werde euch natürlich auf dem Laufenden halten was die Molly betrifft :)

Ein herzliches Willkommen auch an meine neuen Leser. Schön, dass ihr da seid!

I'm expecting a bulk shipment of new fabrics to arrive at my doorstep any day now, and to make room for them on my shelves I'm having a sale! 15% off on select fabrics (see above). English-speakers please click here.

Ich erwarte bald eine größere Lieferung an neuen Stoffen! Um Platz zu schaffen gibt's im Lädchen ein Sale. 15% Rabatt auf die obigen Stoffe! Es sind nicht mehr viele Meter übrig, also schnell zugreifen! Hier geht's zum Lädchen.

Have a terrific day!

Habt einen wundervollen Tag!

My little fabric shoppe...Mein kleiner Stoffladen

Everyone who knows me knows I love fabrics, and if you've been reading along to my blog posts you'll know that a couple of months ago I purchased my fabrics wholesale from USA, and it's been quite a struggle actually getting them here - from cancellations to custom duties, I never thought it'd be so complicated!
Anyhow, I have most of the fabrics in now - enough to work with and to implement an important part of my business plan. I've competely revamped my hitherto sadly neglected  Dawanda shop and it's been reincarnated into a shiny new fabric and supplies shop! However, I only sell these fabrics to Germany and EU countries; it wouldn't make any sense to sell them to North America or Asia, because you guys can purchase them much, much cheaper :)

Jeder der mich kennt weiß, daß ich Stoffe, insbesondere die PW-Stoffe bekannter Designer aus USA, über ALLES liebe...und wer mitgelesen hat weiß auch, wie kompliziert die Abwicklung und Einfuhr dieser Stoffe ablief, mal ganz abgesehen von den Stornierungen, den Zollgebühren und den Lieferzeiten!
Nach etlichen Wochen habe ich nun fast alle Stoffe im Haus, genug um damit zu arbeiten und endlich meinen kleinen Stoffladen bei Dawanda zu eröffnen. Einige meiner lieben Leser aus Deutschland kennen meinen Shop ja bereits :)) Ich hoffe mit meiner Stoffauswahl dem Zeitgeist  zu entsprechen ~ auf jeden Fall sind Stoffe für (fast) jeden Geschmack dabei :)
Neu sind die Stoffe von Joel Dewberry's Aviary 2 Kollektion, besonders der helltürkise Stoff mit den Sperlingen ist sehr beliebt. Joel hat bereits eine Folgekollektion entworfen. Die nennt sich "Heirloom" und ist richtig spannend. Einige Stöffchen aus dieser Kollektion sollten (drückt mir bitte die Daumen) Mitte August bei mir eintreffen.