When I say KIVVERS®, people look at me weird. What is it?

Here, in the U.S., kivvers is southern slang for covers. It's normally used to describe blankets, quilts, or bed covers. My KIVVERS® are a bit different...they are used to cover and protect books, composition notebooks or journals of any size; which if you think about it is still a 'cover!"

I am the kind of person who must be "doing something." I must be "productive" in some way. Otherwise, I feel that I am wasting time. Time is a precious thing....we are only allotted a certain amount in our lifetime.

I've always wanted to be self-employed...to me, that equals self-empowerment...an opportunity to take control of your own destiny (as much as one can!), and enjoy what you're doing along the way. "Follow your bliss" may sound cliche but I think it's the only way to really find personal satisfaction, gratification, and happiness in your day-to-day life.

Currently, I still have a day job. I am longing for the day when I find enough courage to leave the chaos,(and the steady paycheck) behind and start LIVING my life doing the things I WANT TO DO...spending time with my husband and family, sewing, creating, and simply living life!

As a self-taught sewist, most of my sewing experience has been by old fashioned trial and error. Many lessons are learned that way! As with most other things in life, you get what you put into it. So I've persevered.

The idea of making custom-fitted book covers came from my husband Jim (a self proclaimed biblioholic, rightly so!). His mother made some protective book covers for him around 1985. She used Naugahyde to make them. She has since passed on. Jim was telling me about those covers and how he wished he had more. He still uses the ones his mother made 30 years ago! I asked to see one and thought immediately, "I can do that!" Well, it turned out to be a much trickier process than I expected, but it seems most things involve more than you first thought.

To make a long story short, I've mastered it! In fact, I've become so accomplished that I do not require the book that is to be covered. All I need are ACCURATE measurements.

About the name, the word 'kivvers' stuck with me after reading a book my mother loaned me. I'm ashamed to say that I don't remember the title or the author of the book. In the novel, 'kivvers' referred to the quilts on the bed, "...pull up 'em kivvers!" Reading those words gave me a warm smile. Funny how a little thing like that can stick with you. The book referred to kivvers as covers and I was making covers for books! So, KIVVERS® was born!

I take my art seriously. Each KIVVERS® is an extension of me and represents the quality of my workmanship. I take pride in each one. Etsy has been good to me and I feel that I am appreciated for being the self-made artisan that I have become!

I think I've found my bliss! Now my greatest challenge is to make it sustainable!