Last spring I got an email from the editorial director at Fons & Porter. It said: I’m about to start the curation of craft business articles for the next edition of Crafter’s Market and wanted to reach out with a unique proposition. As I began to brainstorm new article ideas and potential contributors, I had…
How to Get a Soft Toy Designed and Manufactured
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…
Should You Start a Clothing Line Using Home Sewing Patterns?
Hi there! We’re starting a surf and swimwear line here in Los Angeles. We love the look of your button up shirt and would like to purchase the pattern to use for manufacturing. Would that be okay with you?” If you design and sell home sewing patterns for clothing, this sort of email lands in…
Finding Your Right People: Indie Plush Makers at Comic Con
Comic Con New York Comic Con is an annual convention for fans of anime, comics, video games, and toys. It’s held at the Javits Center and sells out with over 75,000 people in attendance. There are other comic cons in the US, including a huge one in San Diego, but New York is a pretty…
Does Sewing Toys Save Money?
For generations women sewed for their families to save money. Sewing clothes and linens and even dolls was really the only option for many families at a time when ready-made consumer goods were expensive and not readily available in many locations. But over the last few decades things have radically changed, haven’t they? Clothing and…
Softies For Sale Post: Animation With Softies
Have you ever had a visitor in your studio who picked up your toys and made them talk? A little goofy dialogue and a little puppet show unfolds and all of the sudden you’re both laughing hysterically? Softies certianly lend themselves to this type of funny play and maybe you’ve asked yourself whether it might…
Softies for Sale Series: Custom Work
In this installment in my series about turning sewing softies into a business I am going to explore the ins and outs of taking on custom work. Making a custom item means creating something one-of-a-kind especially for a particular customer according to design choices the customer makes. It might involve drafting a brand new pattern…
Softies For Sale Series: Pursuing New Avenues as Your Business Evolves
In this installment of my series I want to think about how our businesses change overtime as we learn what we’re good at and what is profitable. Allowing a business to head in a new direction can be scary because the path ahead is not yet trodden, but it can also save you from…
Softies For Sale Series: Plush You! Introduces New Audiences to Handmade Softies and Builds a Community of Collectors
Do you have particular customers that purchase your work regularly? A person who seems to buy something every time you list a new set of items in your Etsy shop or someone who comes by your booth at the craft fair and buys something every year? They think of you whenever they need to buy…
Softie For Sale Series: Joining Together With Other Makers – The Etsy Plush Team
Running a small handmade business is a rather solitary pursuit. Each day I sit down at my studio desk, put on my headphones, and draw and sew for hours on end, and often I don’t talk to anyone at all. I’m an introvert so this life actually suits me well, but I recognize that connecting…