A New Year, A New Blog
Oh yeah, who is Aunt Henri?
My Mom Vicki and I have collaborated on several creative projects over the years (a memoir blog, a screenplay, screen-printing) but in 2013, we started making baby/toddler clothing out of natural fabrics with vintage silhouettes.
It started as a fun project, allowing Mom to showcase her sewing abilities with the hopes of making some spending money on the side. Creating, assembling, and packaging goods also has a meditative quality to it, which helps ease anxiety and combat depression. The need for Aunt Henri arose, changing so many aspects of our lives. But more on that later.
We named it Aunt Henri after our great Aunt Henrietta. She was a seamstress that never married, nor had children so we thought our little creative project could carry out her legacy, while allowing us to create whatever inspires us.
My parent's place was jokingly called the sweatshop, as we set up an assembly style production line in the dining room and made 70+ dresses over the span of a few days. We started selling locally, through our personal social media accounts, at some dismal craft shows (you know I could dedicate 10 posts on those alone) and renting spaces in gift shops/antique malls. Our main focus has always been working with textiles: making accessories, clothing, and essentials for the home. Along the way we have dabbled with painted/refinished furniture, vintage glassware & ephemera, architectural salvage, vinyl decals and signs, selling crafting supplies, and even offering private knitting, crochet, and sewing lessons.
Cue 2016!
Boy, what a year of change!
We relocated to Hartfield, Virginia. Buzzwords: Urbanna Oyster Festival, Deltaville, Kilmarnock, Gloucester, Middle Peninsula. An hour 10 from Richmond. Think rural country with waterways and boat slips. We moved the business to our 5+ acres, hosted our own vintage market on the property, transitioned to selling online, and started designing patterns.
So here we are!
Thank you for joining me on this bloggin’ adventure!
J.