This week I'm talking about how to turn your craft projects into pattern instructions that you can package, market, and sell online. Whether you sew softies or do another type of craft, creating patterns is a great way to add an income stream to your handmade business. Pattern sales produce small bits of income that…
Welcome to Pattern Design Week: Topic #1 Choosing the Right Project to Turn Into a Pattern
This week I'm going to be talking about how to turn your craft projects into pattern instructions that you can package, market, and sell online. Whether you sew softies or do another type of craft, creating patterns is a great way to add an income stream to your handmade business. Pattern sales produce small bits…
Pattern Review: Polar Bears by Betz White
One of the best ways to learn to design your own sewing patterns is to sew from other people's patterns. The more patterns you use, the more you learn. Sometimes I go long stretches just doing my own design work and forget that this is true. Last week Betz White sent me a copy of…
Awesome Handmade Toys: Jennifer Muskopf
The post is part of an occasional series called "Awesome Handmade Toys." These posts feature toy makers whose work I think is particularly fresh and inventive. You can see previous posts in the series here. I also pin toys to my Inspiring Softies pinboard on a regular basis if you're looking for more inspiration. I…
How to Explain Your Plush Business Without Turning People Off
"So what kind of work do you do?" This commonly asked question has stumped me for years. Even though people ask it often, I always seem to be caught off guard. I find myself verbally stumbling, trying to figure out the right words and phrases to encapsulate what I do. I end up throwing out…
How To Get Crafting (Even When You Don’t Have Time)
Have you ever had an idea for a craft project stuck in your head? Something you know you have to make? I get ideas like this all the time. It can be frustrating to have an intense desire to make something and watch the day slip away leaving you with no time to sit down…
Dachshund Puppy Pattern
I have a brand new pattern in the shop today: a dachshund puppy! When I was growing up we would always ask my mom to tell us stories about the dachshund she had as a child. His name was Meatball and, according to my mother, in the winter Meatball would sit on the heat grate…
Darcy the Dachshund Pattern
I have a brand new pattern in the shop today: a dachshund puppy! When I was growing up we would always ask my mom to tell us stories about the dachshund she had as a child. His name was Meatball and, according to my mother, in the winter Meatball would sit on the heat grate…
Plush From a Child’s Drawing: Simon’s Snail
Simon came home from Kindergarten with this snail drawing a few months ago. I think it was a pretty slapdash effort, actually, but to me this snail had such incredible personality. I squirreled the drawing away upstairs for a future plush project. I mentioned to Simon this week that I was making a plush snail…
Octopus Softie Pattern
The idea of making an octopus crossed my mind on Saturday and I quickly became totally obsessed. Once I start down a softie-making road, there is no turning back! And so today I have a new pattern in my Craftsy pattern store! A fleece octopus that is fun to sew and fun to hug! I've…
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