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.
Over the past few months I have been working on a collaborative project with Kristy (whose beautiful blog is Fog and Swell). First, we chose the themes "ocean" and "forest." Then we each gathered fabrics to share with one another. Kristy put together a collection of hand-dyed cotton and linen in shades of deep redRead More →
There is a lot of hype in the craft blog world when new fabric collections are released and I love to look at all the patterns and colors just as much as the rest of us, but in the end I can't get all that excited because I don't sew much with quilting cotton. IRead More →
Building on the success of my first Lovey Dovey pattern, I've designed a 2nd edition! There were so many cute animals to choose from it was hard to decide. This series began with the owl and then grew from there with a penguin, a pig, and finally an elephant. You could easily turn the penguinRead More →
I am over at SewMamaSew today with a pattern I designed for this Baby Butterfly. This butterfly is made to be a stroller toy (or you could attach it to your diaper bag) to entertain your baby when your out and about. Long line at the coffee shop? Stuck in traffic? Give the butterfly aRead More →
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 patternRead More →
Today my artist’s group, the Wellesley Women Artisans, installed our window display in vacant shopfronts in Wellesley Center. Seven of us contributed work and it was fascinating to watch it all come together. We were assigned a large and prominent corner building (the site of what used to be The Rugged Bear, a children’s clothingRead More →
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 fromRead More →
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 buyRead More →
My friend, Carolyn, came over yesterday to take photos of me at work in my studio for an upcoming project. Here are a few of my favorites: Here you can see my work desk with my bulletin board filled with all kinds of clippings from everywhere and my whiteboard with a list of upcoming tasksRead More →
I am very excited about this new pattern. Last summer I made a hobby horse and it has been sitting in the corner of the studio staring at me all this time. I reimagined it as a magical pink unicorn sewn in dark and light pink fleece with colorful polka dotted reins, a sparkly horn,Read More →