Designer Focus - Chris Anderson of Curby's Closet & Giveaway!

Our Designer Focus this month is Chris Anderson of Curby's Closet!  Chris is best known for her quilted baby shoe patterns - see them all on our website here.  Curby's Closet had one of the most adorable websites we've ever seen!  Take a look here.

Here is what Chris had to say about Curby's Closet:

I am a wife and mother who according to my sons “has always been selling or making something” their whole life. I am a big lover of vintage and Shabby Chic-style items as well as dolls, quilts, tea sets, English china and baby clothing. I have always been a pretty creative person and have enjoyed sewing and designing as an outlet for expressing myself, ever since I was a little girl making doll clothes for my baby dolls. I really enjoy planting flowers and gardening with my husband. I love to decorate our home, plan parties or design tablescapes for special family dinners. Inside or outside I seem to like to bring that comfortable, soft vintage feel into every thing I do.

For the past several years I have collected vintage baby clothes, mostly dresses as a little hobby. Being a mother of 2 boys I just loved how sweet and precious the dresses were. A couple of years ago my mother was given back a doll she had shared with her sister in the 1930’s, from a cousin of mine. Since I am the doll collector in the family, they both wanted me to have the doll. I thought this doll was so beautiful and was just amazed at the wonderful condition she was in and I wanted her to have authentic clothing from that time period. So I headed to Ebay to see what was available. After purchasing many pieces I realized that I had way too many clothes for this doll and that maybe I should sell the extra ones I didn’t need. I wanted them to be in the best condition I could, so I began restoring and refurbishing these precious little baby clothes. I also began shopping each weekend at estate and garage sales to find more wonderful and lovely gems. So began my little business of selling vintage baby clothes and that is how “Curby’s Closet” got started.

Then as my love and knowledge of vintage baby clothing grew, I got the idea to design and make my own baby shoes to go with them. My customers really wanted a complete outfit to purchase. I have always loved quilting and so I decided to make them from lovely, fun quilted fabrics. The baby shoes were quite a success and moms and babies seem to really love them!

Soon after that, I was encouraged by a friend and my sister to make the baby shoes into a pattern. Now any one can enjoy the thrill of making these easy, sweet little shoes for themselves. They are “Too cute to kick off!” We currently have 9 Quilted Shoe patterns available both for baby boys and baby girls, a Bug Bag Purse pattern for toddler girls and 2 darling quilt patterns designed by my sister Cindi Hatch. We are in over 300 quilt shops across the U.S., Canada, Australia, Great Britain and South Africa.

All this has been a very exciting and unexpected journey for me, but so very rewarding. My husband Roger and I work at it full time and we really do have fun! We get a kick out of seeing sweet little babies wearing our baby shoes or cuddled in one of our quilts! And it is so fun to hear customers tell us of how much fun they are having making them! So for us at Curby’s Closet… “Life is good!”

What does the future hold?  Oh gosh! Who knows! This little business has taken so many twists and turns that I never dreamed of, but I do see many more years ahead of wonderful patterns, projects and new fun things for babies and of course, many more years associating with our wonderful friends at Shabby Fabrics!!

Thank you so much for being our guest, Chris! 
 
You can view all of the Curby's Closet products we carry at our special Featured Designer category on our website.
 
Her newest design, Quilted Baby Ankle Strap, is now available!
 

 

 

GIVEAWAY!

We are having a giveaway in honor of Curby's Closet.  Two lucky winners will receive each receive on of the pairs of quilted baby shoes, shown below.  The Quilted Baby Ankle Strap is on the left, while the Quilted Baby High Top is shown on the right.

 

To enter, leave a comment below about this post.  What do you like about Curby's Closet?  Which baby shoe is your favorite?  Enter until October 31st, 2011.