Moms on Mondays - Leila from Little Ladies Bowtique

 

Leila actually made Lemon and I our matching lemon print rompers that we wore to the beach on her birthday!  I love them!!

The name of my shop is Little Ladies Bowtique.  I also just opened an Etsy shop under "Vintagelittleladies" but it is currently under construction.

 

My daughter was my main inspiration for everything I make.  You can see my shop name has "bow" in it and I chose the name when I first started selling bows.  I became a bow fanatic, after I had my daughter, anywhere we went my daughter and I would have matching bows - girls are so fun! She was known for her bows and now that I think about it, it was quiet funny.  

But, bows were never enough for me, my mind is always going a 100 miles an hour with new ideas, so I started sewing clothes for my daughter when she was just a baby.  I never thought to sell clothes, until my family and friends kept suggesting it, so I finally did and I absolutely love it! I started off selling shorts and leggings and ventured to rompers.  I also make several styles of vintage and modern twists on styles, and high-waisted shortie sets with matching bandeau tops or bubble tops. I get to meet amazing moms and get to see these beautiful babies in items I made, it really makes me feel extremely special. I love selling on Instagram, it isn't only a place to sell to me it has become such a beautiful community, such as a support group of mothers. A place where you can feel free to joke and laugh, and give or get advice and not be so serious all the time; it makes having a business on there even better. I actually haven't been in business long, just a few months.

I was a lost soul and went to the military about a year after I graduated from  high school, just on a whim and became a health care specialist. Unfortunately, the military wasn't for me (for many reasons) and I finally got out during my 9th month of pregnancy with my son. [Wow!] I got married to my husband while I was in the military, but he stayed near home.  I joined him and we had our son. I took two semesters of pre-nursing and found out I was pregnant my second semester, so I finished up and still have yet to finish Nursing school. Hopefully when my kids start school I will, right now I just feel that they need me at home more than anything.  

I have a husband and two kids.  My husband is such a great father and amazing supporter.  (We met on MySpace - how funny is that?) [So funny!] He messaged me, striking up a conversation because he saw my name written in Arabic, and from what he saw said I was beautiful - and our relationship went from there!  I have a 3 year old son who suffered many medical conditions since the day he was born, (it was a really rough time hearing things from "fatal" to "surgery, blood in the brain" and so on).  He had severe acid reflux, and we were lucky that the blood in his brain went away.  I didn't get more than 30 minutes of sleep at a time, up until he was about 6 months old when we moved in with my husband's family for help.  It was a very hard time for me, I gave my all to my son and lost myself in PPD for an entire year until I went to see a doctor.  

He is the strongest boy I've ever known and is amazing, he is so strong and the only problem he has now is lactose intolerance (which leads to tummy aches and allergy induced asthma).  It still can be hard but is nothing compared to what we went through the first two years of his life.  So for that, I thank God. In the midst of taking medicine for my PPD, my hormones were being controlled and literally a month after taking them (and with a 1 year old son), I was pregnant again! This time it was a little girl so it just couldn't get any better.  Unfortunately, we got bad news 4 months into my pregnancy that my daughter tested positive for Downs Syndrome, and we went through ultrasounds, specialists and were even offered an abortion.  I knew I'd never do that and knew that whatever God had planned was best for us. I continued to love my pregnancy and waited to see if our baby was healthy when I delivered her and she was! She is now 22 months old and has a BIG personality, but is very shy. [Sounds like Lemon!]  I love it! 

This company helps my family quiet a bit, I feel more confident in myself and am so proud doing something I love and am enjoying other people loving it as well.  Happy mommy = happy kids and a happy husband.  But, it's also great because my husband was struggling at work and was stressed, so I am glad to have this business to help him with the bills, be happier and more relaxed.  He is a car salesman so there are both good and the bad months in our house.  

I never thought I'd be doing this.  I always loved to sew growing up, but never expected this! I actually planned on being a SAHM, and then going back to college as the children started school (kind of what I'm doing now!).

I don't get any help with my shop as far as sewing and designing, but I do have a great support group of people and customers who share my work and bring me more business! Since I am a SAHM mom it is very hard [to balance work], I either sew at nap time, once my husband gets home or when kids are in bed; but I love it because it is my "me time" (other than the gym). I love everything about [my business], especially my customers and supporters! The late night sewing can be a little challenging but I don't mind it!

I hope [my shop] grows and that I finally get on Etsy and to have my own website soon! My favorite thing to create is all custom orders, I absolutely love it when moms ask me to surprise them because it's my chance to have fun and make something amazing that I haven't done before. 

[My advice is] you can do it.  You need confidence in yourself and your business, and if you need support I am here to answer any questions that you have.  Yes, there are many shops, but yours can be great too! Don't give up too early, as it doesn't happen overnight, and find time to separate being a mom and working properly.