Who are you…and why are you doing this crazy projector thing?

My name is Branalyn Dailey. I’m a wife to Robert Dailey of Dailey Woodworks, a momma to 3 young kiddos, a homeschooler (we love our Sonlight curriculum!), a former teacher and early interventionist, a proud Texan, a sewing enthusiast, and a somewhat accidental YouTuber. I also have a podcast, The Business of Sewing, with my friend Cathleen from Sunny Mountain Patterns.

I first heard about projectors in January of 2020. A commenter in a pattern group mentioned that she used a projector for her patterns and I was immediately intrigued! I joined the group Projectors for sewing and, well, the rest is history.

I was in the process of filling in my craftroom after my husband had finished construction on it. We had already planned an IKEA trip for shelving and I knew I’d be able to add a projector fairly easily. I had a projector that, initially I thought I could use but it was a regular throw and just wasn’t going to work.

It wouldn’t have worked in any room but my ceilings in that craftroom were pretty short, as well, so I initially began looking for an Ultra Short Throw. Then, I decided that it would be way too close to the door and I have way too many rambunctious and/or oblivious to their surroundings people in my life to go that route. So I began looking at Short Throw projectors. I found one on eBay for less than $100 shipped and bought it!

As I finished setting up my craftroom and began using the projector, I was very excited. It turned one of the biggest chores of sewing into so much fun but there were still some kinks that needed to be ironed out-mainly-how do I grade for my kids and adjust for the fact that all patterns are designed for people taller than me? As I figured out a few ways of doing those things, I posted a couple videos in the Projectors for sewing group. People were interactive and I had a ton of fun with that! My husband is a YouTuber and…well…the YouTube channel just sort of…happened!

This was just as the pandemic was really sinking in. It was early May of 2020 and we were going to be home for awhile. It was a really nice outlet that I suddenly had a little time to work on. At first, I wanted to kind of explain the whole process from beginning to end. It worked OK but things aren’t really quite that linear and I got a few things out of order because I also began using the videos to answer questions as I saw them come up often.

There really weren’t a ton of people on board yet, certainly not on YouTube, so people didn’t have a whole lot of choice. That was good because I was stumbling around quite a bit there at the beginning! I also got some really great encouragement there at the beginning and, like I said, I had the time to really work on things and stick to it.

Now, there are quite a few channels that discuss projector sewing on YouTube, some of them quite big, but I do think I’m still the only channel that is mostly dedicated to projector sewing, the others seem to be more general sewing. I do have some general sewing videos and will likely have more but my focus remains on the projector side of things.

Today, at the very end of 2021, Dailey Sews & Stuff has 1750 subscribers, over 50,000 views, and is finally monetized! Don’t get too excited, it’s made a little over $100 total. If I add in affiliate earnings from pattern companies and Amazon, it’s maybe about $150. But that’s money I can put back into hosting this website, buying gear for the channel, etc.

So, stick around! Time constraints as a homeschooling momma of 3 young kids are…a lot. I don’t spend nearly as much time on this website or my channel as I would love to spend. But I do love making projector sewing content and will continue as much as I am able!

Places you can find me:

Here! www.DaileySewsAndStuff.com

YouTube: http://www.YouTube.com/DaileySewsStuff

Instagram (I’m pretty terrible at this one..): https://www.instagram.com/dailey_sews_stuff/

Facebook Page (you can PM the page if you need to get in touch): https://www.facebook.com/DaileySews

Facebook Group (not super active yet but I’d love for you to join and be active!): https://www.facebook.com/groups/daileysews

Projectors for sewing Group (catch me under my personal profile: Branalyn): https://www.facebook.com/ProjectorsForSewing

Email (for another way to get in touch): DaileySewsStuff@gmail.com

Small Business Sewing Podcast Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TheSmallBusinessSewingPodcast/

I hope I see you around!