whileshenaps.com

Sewing, blogging, and creative business.

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How to Buy Quilting Fabric Wholesale

February 3, 2019

*Fabric companies change their policies, close, and merge. I’m now updating a version of this list over at Craft Industry Alliance where you’ll also find a vast library of other resources helpful to craft business owners. Join me there!* Last week I got an email from a blog reader named Heather who asked: For many… 

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Filed Under: Being Self-Employed, Business Tips, Legal and Financial Issues

5 Tips for Publishing a Craft Book

5 Tips for Publishing a Craft Book in a Seller’s Market

December 12, 2017

When it comes to writing a book today, crafters are in the driver’s seat. If you’re a national teacher, have tens of thousands of engaged online followers, or can prove that your audience will convert into sales, you’re book proposal is highly convincing to publishers. Of course, a strong idea that’s fresh and on-trend is… 

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Filed Under: Getting Published, Legal and Financial Issues, Traditional Print Publishing

Sewing Goes to Silicon Valley: Elizabeth’s Journal #4

July 12, 2016

Elizabeth Caven is the founder of UpCraft Club, a company she’s hoping to build into the leading online distributor of digital sewing patterns (in the same way that Audible is the leading distributor of audio books). In order to achieve this goal, she’s spending four months in a startup accelerator in Silicon Valley called 500… 

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Filed Under: Business Tips, Legal and Financial Issues

Who Killed Quilt Your Heart Out?

May 23, 2016

Fans of quilting personalities Marianne and Mary Fons were thrilled in February of this year when the mother daughter duo launched their own podcast. Called Quilt Your Heart Out the show was an hour-long call-in advice program for quilters. A fan of the public radio show, Car Talk, Marianne Fons envisioned Quilt Your Heart Out… 

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Filed Under: Legal and Financial Issues, Online Culture of Craft

Sewing Goes to Silicon Valley: Elizabeth’s Journal #3

April 14, 2016

Elizabeth Caven is the founder of UpCraft Club, a company she’s hoping to build into the leading online distributor of digital sewing patterns (in the same way that Audible is the leading distributor of audio books). In order to achieve this goal, she’s spending four months in a startup accelerator in Silicon Valley called 500… 

Read More »

Filed Under: Ecommerce and Etsy, Legal and Financial Issues

Quilts, Inc. Raises Rates for Quilt Festival Teachers for the First Time In At Least 17 Years

February 2, 2016

Quilts, Inc. informed its current faculty today that it will raise teacher pay rates by 33%, the first pay raise for teachers at International Quilt Festival (IQF) since at least 1998. A letter sent to teachers and parts of a US gambling apps list this morning from Judy Murrah, Vice President of Education and Administration… 

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Filed Under: Legal and Financial Issues, Online Culture of Craft

Update on VAT

January 21, 2016

If you sell digital products like sewing patterns or ebooks online then Christmas 2014 you were likely stressed out about the EU’s changes to the Value Added Tax (VAT) law. Beginning January 1, 2015 all sellers of digital products have to collect VAT from their EU customers. There’s no exemption and no threshold so even… 

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Filed Under: Business Tips, Ecommerce and Etsy, Legal and Financial Issues

How to Get a Soft Toy Designed and Manufactured

October 1, 2015

I’ve been writing a blog that is, at least partially, about soft toy design for ten years now. When you do a Google search for “soft toy design” my site comes up first and this means I get a lot of emails like this one: Dear Abby, I came across your very fun and informative… 

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Filed Under: Legal and Financial Issues, Selling Your Handmade Softies

One Company, Multiple Businesses

August 10, 2015

I was out for dinner on Friday night when I ran into Sarah, a woman I know from synagogue. Her son was in my class when I taught middle school and we always chat a little when we see one another. This time we started talking about work. I told her that while I loved… 

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Filed Under: Business Tips, Legal and Financial Issues, Marketing

“Our Word is Our Word”: Fabric Designers Working Without Written Contracts

May 27, 2015

image To protect their anonymity I’m not using the names of the designers I spoke with and I’ve changed any identifying details, although not in a way that affects their stories. Last fall I wrote a post explaining how much fabric designers earn. Several designers emailed me afterwards about various other issues, one of which… 

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Filed Under: Being Self-Employed, Business Tips, Legal and Financial Issues

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Welcome! I'm Abby Glassenberg and I'm glad you're here. While She Naps is a blog about designing and sewing stuffed animals and running a creative business.
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