Sewing, blogging, and creative business.
I’m very excited to have finished this patchwork Progress Pride Flag quilt. The pattern is by Bobbie Gentili from Geeky Bobbin. All of the fabrics are scraps from my stash.
This was a fun project and the finished quilt is really bright and colorful. As part of this process, I also enjoyed learning more about how the design of the Progress Pride flag came to be.
Designer and sewing teacher Wendi Gratz has a new book out with Stash Books called Creature Camp: 18 Softies to Draw, Sew & Stuff. Wendi is known for her clear easy-to-follow sewing instruction. She creates videos and tutorials demonstrating sewing techniques especially designed for beginners. Wendi has also taught hundreds of kids to sew duringRead More →
Most design work begins with basic shapes: a line, a square, a rectangle, a triangle, and a circle. We layer and combine them, stretch and condense them, cut them up and piece then back together again, but really it all begins here with the shapes we learn to draw and identify as toddlers. Today IRead More →
When you write an ebook you have the opportunity to really explore a topic in depth, much more so than in a blog post or tutorial. It’s a satisfyingly fast way to get your ideas out into the world, and you retain complete control over every aspect of the content. Writing an ebook is aRead More →
I love to sew. I used to dream about building a business that allowed me to sew every single day. For years, I worked in my studio sewing handmade soft toys and sold them at craft fairs and online. I made a little money – enough to cover expenses and have a little left overRead More →
Signing the contract to publish a book is one of the most thrilling, and overwhelming, moments in any designer’s professional life. You know it’ll be a lot of work, but you can already imagine the day when you walk into the bookstore and there’s your beautiful book sitting on the shelf. You’ll glow with prideRead More →
Sewing Tales to Stitch and Love, by Kerry Goulder, is a new project book with 18 softie sewing patterns. Kerry lives in Southern Maine and is a mom to two girls. Before writing this book designed five patterns for Anna Griffin, a well-known brand of stationary, home, and gift products. Kerry also sold her handmadeRead More →
+++++ January 7, 2016 UPDATE: Neal Cohen, the Ombudsman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission, got in touch with me this week to tell me about a brand new tool created to help small those of us who make toys and other handmade products figure out exactly what kind of safety testing we’ll need beforeRead More →
“No dessert until you finish your dinner.” “You can watch a show once you finish your homework.” “20 minutes playing on the computer is enough for tonight.” Sound familiar? I find myself repeating these rules, and a dozen more, to my three children day after day. As I say them I hear the echo ofRead More →
I love to create dimension with fabric. What draws me most to fabric as a material is the ability to cut two pieces of flat cloth into shapes that, when sewn together, will bulge and curve outward, or pinch inward, in just the right spots to create the three-dimensional form I have in mind. IRead More →
I’m married to a finance guy. He’s the type that reads Barron’s cover to cover each Saturday. On the desk next to the computer we share is a running list of stocks he’s investigating. This is a guy that loves a good spreadsheet. Curious about the bond market? I’ve got your man, and he’sRead More →