utilitu sewing & design

01/04/2021

✨My squishy baby boy, 12 years ago✨
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When a new year rolls around, I have a tendency to think back on years past, and sometimes FB memories help me with that. This image popped up yesterday and it reminded me that my son is the reason I started this sewing business, able to work from home, and wait as long as possible to put him in daycare.
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I designed these cute baby/toddler pants, and used to make/sell them to friends under the name The Combover, because Sailor had the cutest little old man combover; now he has an insanely awesome mullet 😹
The pant had a large mid gusset to be able to fit easily over the cloth diapers we used. The rib knit hems were easy to stretch over shoes in case a diaper needed to be changed. They were pretty great little pants! Hoodie is from the ever classic - they’re still around and make great stuff!
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I often forget about the things I’ve sewn in the past because I’m so focused on the future; I have over 12 years of projects to reminisce on, so I’m going to share them as I remember.
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12/25/2020

My family and I reveling in all that is and was of this year and this moment. Always learning and always evolving.
I hope your dark days bring moments of fascination and frustration, because I think that’s where the deepest learning comes from.
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12/03/2020

Same sign in my new and hopefully final location forever and ever until I die!
I finally have all my machines and tables and work set up in our resurrected 30’ yurt that has a fire roaring and a shop dog sleeping on the wee couch.
It has been a long road to get to this place, and I’m still only working in between family/homeschool/farm duties (i.e. slow going!), but the capacity will increase, and the rhythms will be established and the visions will be realized.
I said to a friend the other day that I feel like my life has been upside down for the past ten years - often moving both home and studio, setting up anew, having to move again for a variety of reasons. It’s exhausting, draining, expensive, and honestly, shameful.
So, here I go on the path to remedy all this baggage, fulfill promises made, and grow into a place that I haven’t even begun to imagine yet.
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Sidenote and shoutout to my hunk of burning love, Rory, and my brother friends Jerid and Jesse, for their indispensable work to make this space possible, as well as my Mama for making meals to fuel us. Endless gratitude 🙏
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12/01/2020

My Mama said to make Christmas/Yule masks, so here they are. Just three options, but they’re pretty cute:
- Ugly Sweater
- Satan’s Pajamas
- New Moon Snow
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Order on the website!
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11/28/2020

Whether you take this sentiment literally or metaphorically, there is some truth to these words for individuals and for businesses.
I have been making masks since April now, but have been fairly quiet on my opinions of how this pandemic is being handled by our elected officials, and I’m actually gonna stay quiet on that for now. What I will not stay quiet about is the fact that COVID has been circling tighter and tighter around me and the people I love; two of my dearest friends are currently battling a COVID-19 outbreak in their family due to abject neglect from a couple members during a gathering. So, my fingers and toes are crossed that there will be no fu***ng caskets for this family, but there is a chance that some simple masks could have prevented what my friends are neck deep in at the moment.
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I know that without folks ‘masking it’, my business might just be in a casket. The pandemic forced me to move my business home about a full year earlier than I anticipated doing, and I’ve been working out of my living room, neglecting some jobs simply because I don’t have the space to do them. Mask sales have literally helped my business stay afloat.
And I haven’t been promoting them in a super crazy way because I just haven’t been entirely convinced of the science behind wearing masks or the mandates behind forced mask wearing. But, now I think we’re in this for the next year or two, and honestly, masks aren’t the biggest sacrifice to ask people to make when they are out in public so they don’t bring this virus home.
At this point, we all need to do what we can to get businesses back afloat and people healthy.
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I have 8 of these ‘Mask It or Casket’ stickers from I would like to offer to the next 8 orders placed on my website for masks. The size of your order does not matter.
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Thank you for shopping small and shopping local.
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11/22/2020

If you order a mask/face covering as a gift, I am happy to package it up; just make a note when you order.
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Three fastener styles available: ties, elastic ear loops, tie ear loops.
Copper metal piece to bend over nose.
Reversible.
Locally made by hand in Central Oregon.
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11/15/2020

I have lots I’d like to say because of all the feels I am feeling, but I’d like to keep the noise to a minimum, so I’ll just say this:
Masks are part of our lives at the moment, but they probably won’t be forever. If you are a person who chooses to wear a mask please, Please, PLEASE be a person who wears reusable masks made from natural fibers that will one day disappear.
When you buy reusable masks, please, Please, PLEASE buy them from a local maker.
I am one of those local makers.
No, locally made masks are not the cheapest, and if you can’t figure out why, message me and I’ll happily explain why.
We are descending into the second shutdown in Oregon soon, and I’m really scared for small business owning friends and parent friends, but fear is worthless and here we go anyways.
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Thanks to two other local mask makers Alicia and Michelle who reminded me today that locally made masks are still a thing, and truly, a pretty damn simple thing.
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Shop local and shop small, my birches.
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07/29/2020

Kim is amazing!

A company in Bend that helps people extend the life of their outdoor clothing and gear has been awarded $10,000 to create a progressive training program and buy equipment.

07/16/2020

utilitu face masks featured in a write up in the local weekly rag.
Masks still available on the website, with an update of fabrics and elastic options coming soon.

Local businesses and makers band together to bring masks (now mandatory in Oregon) to the people of Bend

07/08/2020

She’s the real boss around here.

06/02/2020

From “No Name in the Street” 1972
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