I was giving Josephine a bath the other night and while we were playing with rubber duckies in the bubbles it occured to me that I should make a plush rubber duck. I did a quick search and it seems that there aren't very many plush rubber ducks around, but I think there should be!…
the light at the end of the tunnel
The book is almost done. It really is. I’m writing the 16th pattern now, editing the manuscript, taking the photos for the front section, and tying up loose ends. But I can see the light and the light looks amazing! Writing a craft book while maintaining a craft blog is challenging because everything has to…
Softies For Sale Series: Craft Fairs
In this installment of my series on ways to monetize your softie making habit I want to talk about craft fairs. I have discovered over these last seven years of sewing softies that there are many paths one can take when it comes to selling work. I think it is beneficial to consider all of…
Springtime Craft Tutorial: Felt Tulips
One thing I love about early spring is when the tulips begin to bloom. It may still be frigid February here in Boston, but a bouquet of felt tulips on the table gives me hope that spring is just around the corner. Around this time last year I made a tutorial for felt daffodils if…
Softies For Sale Series: The Cottage Industry License
If you make original softies and you want to turn your toys into a business, selling your patterns is probably a good use of your time and effort. Creating a good pattern and getting it ready for sale is a significant investment up front, but once it is made you can sell the pattern in…
Podcast Episode #5: Veteran Softie Pattern Designer, Carol Cruise
I’m excited to share with you today my first foray into creating a recorded interview. In my efforts to learn more about ways to make money from sewing softies I wanted to talk with an industry veteran. I figured there must be a lot I could learn from someone who started selling soft toy patterns…
custom plush from children’s drawings…continued
Today's edition: a drawing Roxanne made when she was 4-years-old of a little girl with brown, curly hair. The pieces I'm doing now are all made from felt because they will all be displayed together in a store window. When I begin taking custom orders the toys will be made from a variety of materials…
Softies for Sale: A Series on Monetizing Your Softie Sewing Habit
One day back in 2005 I took my seven-month-old baby to the library for story time and while I was there I started looking at the sewing books. I ended up checking out a soft toy sewing book written in the late 1960s and later that day, when the baby went down for a nap,…
building my custom plush portfolio
Two more finished custom pieces to show today. Heidi Rettig left a comment on a post I wrote a few weeks ago asking if I would make a plush version of her company logo. Heidi has an arts consulting company. I took a look at her logo and I thought it seemed like a cool…
An Interview With a McCall’s Pattern Designer
Following up on our discussion of commercial sewing patterns last week I decided to contact the two major pattern companies, McCall's (Butterick, Vogue) and Simplicity (New Look, Burda Style) to see if I could hear about their patterns directly from one of their designers. Simplicity is clearly the more web savvy of the two, with…
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