All she needed was a sewing machine and the manual to make her dreams come true!

A few months back my neighbor introduced me to Felicia Moss, who started a clothing line for little girls called My Sugar Baby, and I must say I've been hooked on her adorable creations ever since. If you have a little girl then you MUST check out My Sugar Baby, such darling outfits and at very affordable prices too! Felicia does everything from pillowcase dresses to sassy tops with coordinating bell-bottom pants. And of course, she has the hair accessories to top off the look. That's actually how her business got started. She was making hairbows for her friends' daughters and when she saw there was a demand for these she figured she could try and sell them. This idea proved to be a good one and before she knew it she was taking orders left and right!

Felicia holding some of her pillowcase dresses!

Still, Felicia felt she could do more. She always wanted a career in the fashion industry and pursued this dream after graduating from New Mexico State. She tried getting a job as a designer at several large companies, but to no avail so she did the obvious thing for someone wanting a career in fashion and took a job working as an engineer. Um, well maybe that wasn't the obvious choice, but this was the road she took for 9 years until discovering her bow making talents in March of 2009. Once her phone started blowing up for these hair accessories she decided to try her luck at sewing. So she purchased a sewing machine, read the manual front to back, and literally taught herself how to sew. This really impresses me considering most women my age struggle just to sew on a button.

So, the really cool thing about Felicia's product is that it is completely customizable. You can either pick a fabric from her site (and she has a plethora to choose from) or you can go to the fabric store and pick out the pattern yourself and she will create the look from what you hand select. And you not only have control over the fabric selection, but also the style. For example, she has 5 different styles of dresses alone to choose from. I've posted some of these below.

Garden Party Dress

Lollipop Dress

Summers Eve Dress

Double Ruffle Knot Dress

Pillowcase Dress

And because she spins her threads from a machine perched on her dining room table, her prices are very competitive. That's the beauty of not having any overhead, the pricing doesn't reflect the rent for retail space. It goes without saying that the quality of My Sugar Baby rivals all the well known brands - Kelly's Kids, Matilda Jane and Persnickety just to name a few. And Felicia can turn her orders around fast, it's her goal to complete the order in under a week which some of the brands mentioned above would struggle with.

One of my favorites... this would be perfect for my daughter if we were spending the 4th in Nantucket. ;)

This looks a lot like Matilda Jane to me, just adorable!

Although Felicia's brand is based here in Atlanta, it is quickly gaining popularity around the country... she was recently picked up by a boutique in Houston, Texas where her dresses are flying off the rack. And just a few days ago an L.A. fashion editor tracked her down requesting she auction off one of her dresses at a large, celebrity-only fundraiser for the Covenant House California - an organization fighting homelessness. Felicia has sold merchandise in 16 states and even shipped her goods off internationally. Wow, all from a girl who up until a few years ago didn't even know how to turn on a sewing machine!

Felicia's story is so inspirational to me. I admire her determination to make her dream of working in the fashion industry come true. She didn't wait for some fashion designer to give her a chance. With a little passion and perseverance, she created her own opportunity. It's a reminder to us all that if you really want something bad enough then it's up to you to make it happen. And did I mention she juggles all of this while raising two babies under the age of 3? Yeah, something tells me sleep isn't high on her list, but that's probably just the way she likes it. :)

Catherine

See more of Felicia's fabulous designs at www.mysugarbaby.weebly.com

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