While She Naps

PicMonkey Tutorial: Working From a White Background

I don't own a graphics program, not even Photoshop, and investing in one isn't in the budget this year. Instead I'm really enjoying learning to use free online programs to their utmost.

PicMonkey is one of my very favorites. You may know of PicMonkey as a photo editing program, which it is, but it's also an incredibly powerful tool for creativity. This post is part of a series of PicMonkey tutorials I've created. See the first one here. Enjoy!

Did you know you can use PicMonkey to create graphic elements that don't involve photos? Figuring this out was a true revelation for me. And it's super easy!  

Ready? Here we go!

Select any photo at all and import it into PicMonkey. Don't worry about the image. We are going to cover it up.

Now go to the "overlays" tab on the side panel (that's the tab with the speech bubble, star, and heart icons).

Click "geometric" and select the rectangle.

Englarge the rectangle until it covers the entire image.

Now use the color slider to make the image white (the code for white is: FFFFFF).

Along the top menu select "merge" to combine the layers together.

Viola! A white canvas. I would suggest that you go ahead and save this image in a folder on your desktop. I labeled mine "white." Now, whenever you'd like to create a graphic that doesn't involve an image just upload your "white" file and get going!

A few notes:

• Choose a color other than white and see what you can do!
• If you need a graphic that is a certain size, to make a banner for your blog or a sidebar button for example, go ahead and resize your image before saving it. The "resize" feature is located in icon that looks like a molecule. Deselect the box for "keep proportions" so that you can make it any size.

Okay, now let's bring in some graphics! There are lots of fun, free graphic elements available in the "overlays" menu we used earlier. I'm especially fond of "ordinary beasts."

If you'd like to bring in your own graphics, head on up to the top of the "overlays" menu and select "your own" to bring in any files you'd like from your computer.

Clip art, scanned drawings, photos...the sky is the limit!

Here I brought in a scan of an elephant drawing from my sketch book. To duplicate it right click (or hold down the control key and click for Mac users) and hit "duplicate." I made a little elephants on parade pattern!

You can create a collage of images this way that isn't confined to the pre-set collage formats PicMonkey provides.

Guess what? Almost every graphic element you see here on my blog I made on PicMonkey using this technique! It has allowed me to redesign my blog myself, for free, and I can tweak the design any time easily. Hooray!

I hope you enjoy playing around with white backgrounds on PicMonkey. I can't wait to see what you make!

Disclaimer: I was not compensated in any way by PicMonkey. I just love it with all my heart.

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Awesome Handmade Toys: Weird Bug Lady

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.

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Brigette Zacharczenko is a graduate student in entemology and evoltunionary biology and I think it's safe to say that Brigette loves creepy, crawly things. Brigette terms herself the Weird Bug Lady.

 

She says,"I'm always looking for wildlife, and will go after and catch just about anything, with insects and reptiles being my favorite."

Brigetter has another passion, too. She makes plush. How do these two interests come together? She says, "I've always been frustrated by not being able to find plush toys of my favorite animals that were anatomically correct. So I set out to make my own!"

 

Specializing in what she calls "the creatures most often overlooked," Brigette makes insects and other invertebrates that I guarantee you've never seen at a regular toy store.

Luna Moth by the Weird Bug Lady on Etsy

 

She caters to customers who are looking for very particular creatures made in plush form. Graduate students, professors, and nature enthusiasts seeking softies of their favorite unusual animal commission Brigette to create toys for them.

Opabinia by the Weird Bug Lady

Creating unusual animals in fleece requires the in-depth knowledge of an animal's physical characteristics that only an entomologist could possess plus the sewing and construction skills of an expert toy maker. Brigette's got both.

Blue Weevil by the Weird Bug Lady

I see some design similarities here to imaginary monsters made from fleece, but the phrase "truth is better than fiction" comes to mind. Some of these color combinations, legs, spots, and body shapes are things you just couldn't make up. Plus, in real life some of these guys are actually microscopic.

Plush Antlion Larva by the Weird Bug Lady

This is the only Etsy shop I've seen in which customers are encouraged to browse by Phylum. Are you looking for an amoebozoan? a chordate? or perhaps a Platyhelminthes?

Got a particular unusual insect or invertebrate in mind? The Weird Bug Lady takes custom orders. Check out her shop to get in touch. 

A Go-To Baby Gift

I remember so clearly opening the pink and yellow blankie my aunt crocheted for Stella, our middle daughter, when she was born. Knowing how much work went into selecting the yarn and stitching that blanket made us feel so loved.

Babies end up getting tons of gifts in their first year and it can end up being kind of a blur, but those handmade presents stand out and fill us with love even years later. We would never give them away. They get packed up to be saved for grandchildren.

I try to create sewing patterns to make these kinds of gifts. Nothing is better than that pattern you pull out to make as your go-to baby gift. I like a pattern that comes together easily, but includes enough variations that you can make a custom version for each new arrival.

I designed the Lovey Dovey patterns (the first and second sets) and the Animal Rattles (the first and second sets) to fit this description. A rattle and a lovey together makes a really nice pair. I recently made a gift that included one of each for a little baby boy named Garrett.
I like to add one of these nifty rattle inserts inside the Animal Rattles' heads. The rattles are machine washable and they make a really pleasing sound. The toy becomes interactive for the baby this way and a little more fun for mom and dad, too.

If you'd like to have all the materials on hand to whip up a rattle on an afternoon, I've put together kits to make super soft ducky rattles. The fabrics are super soft cuddle fleece! 

I love that people are using the patterns to create special gifts for new babies. Here are some beautiful Lovey Dovies made recently by:

1. Jody's Crafty Creations

2. Bright Life Toys

3. Stitch/Craft

4. Lots of Pink Here

Make something special for your next baby shower. A handmade baby gift is infused with your love and that means so much to family who receives it. All of these patterns, and the inserts, are available in my shop on Etsy.

PicMonkey Tutorial: Selective Coloration

I don't own a graphics program, not even Photoshop, and investing in one isn't in the budget this year. Instead I'm really enjoying learning to use free online programs to their utmost.

PicMonkey is one of my very favorites. You may know of PicMonkey as a photo editing program, which it is, but it's also an incredibly powerful tool for creativity. I thought I'd share some of what I've learned to do on PicMonkey with you and maybe inspire you to play with it, too.

Okay, let's get started!

Have you ever seen a black and white photo in which just one part was left colored?

This technique is called selective coloration and it's a great way to make a focal point in a composition. Guess what? You can easily to do it with PicMonkey.

Here's how:

First, choose a photo and import it into PicMonkey.

Under "Effects" (the bubbly test tube on the left side) select "Black and White." The whole photo will now turn black and white.

You're going to use the Paint menu that pops up automatically, and you're also going to use the paintbrush.

Click on the paintbrush and begin painting back in the object you want to selectively color. Change the brush size and strength in the Paint menu.

You're going to want to zoom in pretty close, especially when you're painting the edges.

Looking good! If you live in my house, though, a toddler is pulling at your leg while you're attempting to color in your giraffe causing you to accidentally color outside the lines.

Have no fear! In the Paint menu click "effect." Now your brush is working in reverse. Paint over the mess up to return it to black and white.

Click back over to "original" in the Paint menu to continue selectively coloring your image. When you're all finished click "apply."  All done!

Look how eyecatching Jeremy Giraffe is when he's the only thing in color!

You did it! Now go to town coloring in bits of your black and white photos!

Selective coloration is a great way to draw attention to your handmade goods. A colorful bunting strung across your black and white mantel or a rainbow mobile in a black and white nursery would look amazing! 

I can't wait to see what you make!

Disclaimer: I was not compensated in any way by PicMonkey. I just love it with all my heart.

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March Wrap-Up

 

March has been a great month!

I love softies and there's always so much to learn and see in the softie-making world. This month we explored:

• designing cut-and-sew softies on Spoonflower
• taking an indie plush business to the next level with Monster Factory
• using one of my favorite softie-making tools, the ball point awl.

I love thinking about how to run a successful creative business and how to write a great craft blog. This month we focused on:

• writing intriguing headlines
• training yourself to work more efficiently
• writing a successful pitch email
• and making bookkeeping simple

I've been collaborating with other makers to create some great things including:

• the brand new Six Months of Softies club which launched this month
• and the release of Pepper the Penguin, a sew + crochet pattern I designed with Stacey Trock of FreshStitches

I love teaching and I know that many of you are interested in teaching your craft. To that end, we focused on teaching this month with:

• a review the Craftsy class, How to Teach It that aims to help all of us become excellent local or national teachers
• a focus on five difficulties new sewing machine users commonly encounter

I love exploring these topics and discussing them with you. Thank you for your all of your comments and discussions here this month!

If this blog is valuable to you I'm taking a minute now to ask you to become a sponsor.

While She Naps gets over 44,000 page views per month so you'll get new eyes on your blog, store, or project, and at the same time you'll be showing that you support independent media that you find valuable.

The rates are really reasonable so anyone can afford an ad no matter how large or small your business might be right now. I use a nifty service called Passionfruit that makes signing up quick and easy. Learn more right here. And thank you. I am truly grateful for your support of this blog and the work that I do. April is going to be a great month (and will include a book launch)! See you Monday!

5 Difficulties New Sewing Machine Users Commonly Encounter

Last night I taught Sewing Machine 101 here in town. This is one of my favorite classes to teach. People walk in the door with a sewing machine they got as a gift or inherited from an aunt or bought for themselves with the best of intentions. They’re nervous. Maybe they’ve tried to sew with it and gotten frustrated, or maybe they’re just totally overwhelmed by the task of winding the bobbin and getting the machine threaded properly. But they’re motivated. They really want to figure it out because they’ve got all kinds of projects waiting in the wings.

We work together for a few hours and by the end of class they are totally comfortable sewing on their own! It’s an incredibly rewarding feeling as a teacher. A sewing machine is THE most important tool in my own creative life. Teaching this class I’m giving people access to this tool so that they can pursue their own creativity. This is the heart of what propels me professionally.

I’ve been teaching this class twice a month for two years now and I’ve noticed that there are a few particular areas that often trip up new sewing machines users.

1. Ack! What just happened to my presser foot? Just when things are going smoothly and the new sewist is stitching away on their first project, their hand will bump the little button at the back of the the presser foot and the foot will pop off. This may even happen at home, after the class is over. Be sure to spend a few minutes in class having students remove and replace the presser foot. And this way they’ll also be ready to change to a specialized foot in the future if they’d like to.
2. But I don’t want to throw away this thread! Students will often come to class with only one bobbin and its already been wound. In order to learn to wind a bobbin, they’ll need to unwind it. Students often want to save the thread they take off. In my experience people who are new to a craft can be hesitant to “waste” materials. I understand that thread can be expensive if you buy a lot of it, but it’s important to unwind this bobbin in order to get practice winding it in class. Also, older thread and cheap thread are often brittle or of poor quality. It’s best to start fresh with new, good quality thread in class. Give people permission to throw old thread away.

3. This “going fishing” thing is mysterious. I refer to the act of bringing the needle down into the machine and back up again, bringing up the bobbin thread, as “going fishing.” I think I got that phrase from 8th grade Home Ec., but it works. New sewing machine users often find this interaction between the upper and lower threads to be rather mysterious. What exactly is going on here and why is it necessary? To make the process explicit I have students use orange thread in the upper part of the machine and green in the bobbin. Now when they go fishing they can watch the orange thread go down into the machine, grab the green thread, and bring it up through the throat plate.

 

The other advantage is that when they stitch they’ll be able to see the stitches the orange thread is creating on the top surface of the fabric and those the green thread is creating underneath. This helps new sewists see how sewing machine stitches are formed.

4. If I go faster, the stitches will change. New sewing machine users often assume that when a sewing machine is stitching faster the stitches are closer together and when it is stitching slowly the stitches are further apart. This isn’t true, of course, but it’s important to address this assumption early on in class. If students don’t dispel this idea it can inhibit their ability to sew well later (they’ll be worrying too much about controlling speed, and they’ll have a hard time understanding how stitch length is actually controlled). So be sure to demonstrate that speed is just speed and has no effect on the look of the stitches being created.

5. I just can’t imagine that! A big part of sewing is wrapping your head around transforming a piece of cloth into an object. Whether you’re sewing a quilt square, a tote bag, a pillow, a toy, or a shirt there’s a good deal of imagining involved. Matching up these corners, sewing this dart, and cutting this curve will, in the end, create a new shape, trust me! When I teach Sewing Machine 101 we make a very simple drawstring bag. Thinking about leaving the top of the bag open (so that it doesn’t become a pillow!) and creating a casing for the drawstring (even understanding how a drawstring functions) are great beginning exercises in this new kind of imagining. It take practice and experience to see how patterns come together. This is just the beginning.

I’m teaching Sewing Machine 101 again on Thursday morning. I’ve got a full class registered and I’m really excited to bring these new students into the fold. A sewing machine is really just a household appliance, but it’s just complicated enough that having some one-on-one help in the beginning can make all the difference in your success as a new sewist.

If you are an experienced sewist and you’d like to begin teaching this class in your area, you can get my full Teacher’s Guide and get up and running as a teacher in no time. And if you have other tips that often trip up new sewists (or tripped you up when you were first learning), please share!

Bookkeeping for Your Creative Business

 

On December 1 my business, Abby Glassenberg Design, became an S Corp. Now I get junk mail that refers to me as CEO and President! As such I've commited myself to all that being in charge of a legitimate business requires and this includes serious bookkeeping.

I first need to make clear that I am not a numbers person. Ever noticed that I don’t quilt? Or knit? Math kills the joy for me. I don’t cut in straight lines. I don’t sew in straight lines. I don’t calculate stuff. Except now I do. Financial record keeping is a vital component of having a business and it cannot be avoided. It was time to grow up and figure it out.

So, beginning on December 1 I started doing my bookkeeping every Friday. Charlie helped me set up a nifty Excel spreadsheet where I enter every Etsy sale, Craftsy sale, eJunkie sale, and check, along with every Etsy fee, PayPal fee, postage receipt, and other expense. It takes about a ½ hour on Friday mornings and you know what? It’s been awesome.

Looking the numbers in the eye once a week has made me:

• Cut back on how much fabric and supplies I buy. Now I evaluate every purchase before spending anything.

• Work harder at marketing. If I don’t sell any copies of my ebook one month can I really justify paying the $5 fee to eJunkie to host it? Better hustle!

• Feel great when I can see my sales growing.

• Start a sponsorship program for this blog.

• Feel confident that I can invest in things that will help me grow even if they might be a bit costly upfront.

Tracking numbers is necessary and makes tax time much simpler, but what’s really valuable for a business owner is analyzing those numbers. Where is your income coming from? What’s seen a good return on investment? Where do you need to improve?  

 

Is there an easier way?

 

Since December I’ve had my eye on an online bookkeeping service called Outright that seems to be designed just for people like me. It promises to help me reduce my ½ hour/week time investment by automatically linking to Etsy and PayPal, and it has the power to easily create graphs and charts to help me analyze my numbers visually even if I hate analyzing numbers.

I reached out to Jennifer Dunn who works for Outright to get some more information because I thought you might like to learn about this service along with me. I am not a financial expert by any means and I wanted to be sure I was getting things right so I owe Jennifer a big thank you for helping me with this post! Okay, here we go!

How does this work?

Outright is a free online bookkeeping service designed specifically for small businesses. With Outright’s free version, there is no monthly fee, no credit card required, no trial and no expiration date.

Outright allows you to import your PayPal, bank account, credit cards, and marketplace accounts like Etsy, eBay, Amazon, and Big Cartel to make your accounting easier and less prone to errors.  You link your accounts to Outright and Outright imports your sales and expense transactions. From then on, Outright downloads your new data every night.

When linking your bank account or credit card you are not providing your account number. You're simply authorizing Outright to download your transaction history. Outright doesn’t  deposit, withdraw or move any money. It’s just bookkeeping software.

 

Crunch Your Vital Numbers

 

With Outright you can easily see visually how your business is doing. Check out this super clear profit and loss chart:

The green bar is either up or it’s down. See, I got it!

And you can break your profit sources down into categories, too. As a solo entreprenuer you most likely have multiple income streams. Maybe you teach, sell at craft fairs and sell online. With Outright you can easily see on a chart or graph which of these streams is bringing in the most income.

Your reports automatically refresh as your data comes in, so they are never behind the times. And you’ll have reports on:

• Your spending

• Your profit and loss

• Your sources of income

• Your best customers

• Your biggest vendors

• Your sales by state

Very nice! Now let’s look at spending.

Jennifer tells me, “We’ve had many Outright users tell us that they didn’t realize they had such an addiction to office supplies or buying domain names until they took a look at their spending habits on their Reports Tab.” I do have a tendency to randomly purchase cute ribbon and buttons on Etsy from time to time, but seeing it as a slice of that pie would make me think twice!

Make Tax Time Less Taxing

Since tax time is just around the corner, let’s explore what Outright has to offer to help make filing taxes easier.

You might be wondering how Outright makes money if it’s offering it’s services for free. Well, it’s a fremium model.

If you’d like help with taxes, you can upgrade to a paid account called Outright Plus. Outright Plus is $9.95 per month and has more features than a free account, including Annual, Quarterly and Sales Tax tracking and reporting. And Outright Plus also automatically pulls in any sales tax you collect through the marketplaces you sell on, and lets you know just how much you need to remit to your state when sales tax is due. That might be handy. Right now I track sales tax on yet another spreadsheet.

Outright’s Plus version will fill out your Schedule C form for you (this is the one that’s due with your 1040 form on April 15th). Just print it out and hand it to your accountant or tax preparer.

 

If you have to pay quarterly estimated taxes – and any sole-proprietor who will owe more than $1,000 on April 15th generally does – then Outright Plus helps you calculate those amounts each quarter – and reminds you to pay.

 

Jennifer says, “We understand that everyone has a different level of experience with bookkeeping and taxes and that everybody’s tax situation is different. That’s why we have the Outright Community where you can ask tax professionals or your colleagues what they would do in a certain tax or business situation.” That’s sounds pretty helpful.

 

I’m not an Outright user yet, but I thinking of signing on. I feel like it’s the responsible thing to do and I’m actually looking forward to running reports and doing some analysis. I want my business to be a success and I think this is going to be a great step toward that goal.

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Do you use Outright? Please tell us how you like it. And if you have a different system (or no system!), let's hear about that, too. Financial recordkeeping was something I skirted around for years. I've been there.

If you have particular questions or comments about Outright, or about my super cool spreadsheet system, please fire away in the comments. It might not be the sexiest topic, but it’s important, you know?

**I was not compensated in any way to write this post. I honestly think this is a great tool for creative businesses and wanted to learn more about it. Okey dokey.**

Awesome Handmade Toys: An Interview with Monster Factory

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.

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Most indie plush toy businesses start out as one person's idea. One sewing machine, a big pile of fabric, and one girl (or guy) working very hard to turn an idea into something real. I'm always intrigued when I find an indie plush business that has taken a different route and been really successful.

I was first drawn to Monster Factory for the creativity and unique look of their toys, but after doing some further research I became curious about their business model, too. Curious enough to get in touch and see if I could learn more. 

Monter Factory toys.

Monster Factory describes itself as a "character toy brand" making plush monsters that are collectible and all have a signature look and feel. Monster Factory toys are sewn from soft fleece, are firmly stuffed, and are easily recognizable due to particular characteristics like their eyes, colors, and basic shapes. Take a look:

 

Wilma, Royal, Pax and Wayne are Studio Edition monsters made by hand in Toronto by Monster Factory. They average 10" tall and cost between $30-$40.

I love the shapes of these toys. Really, I love the seams. But I'm weird that way. I love a good seam on a softie. I encourage you to take a look at the full line of Monster Factory toys. They're silly, imaginative, clever and cute. I'm super impressed.

The launch of Monser Factory collectible minis that will hit retail stores this year.

Today I'm really pleased to bring you an audio interview I recorded with Rhya Tamasauskas, one of the three founders of Monster Factory.

Rhya Tamasauskas, Adam Dunn and Bliss Man are the founders of Monster Factory

In our 27 minute talk Rhya tells the story of how an art project evolved into a company, how that company has grown over time, and where they're headed next.

You'll hear about:

• How they cleverly employed interns to help the business be more productive.
• What roles the six employees at Monster Factory play. (They're a plush business with a writer on staff!)
• Why a new series of Monster Factory mini toys will be manufactured overseas and how this move is allowing the business to flourish in entirely new ways.

Monster Factory now has over 100 toy designs. Each character is engaging, as is the story of this emerging toy business. I hope you enjoy the interview! Click the box below to start the interview:

Monster Factory Interview with Rhya Tamasauskas

If you have any questions or comments about Monster Factory's journey, please feel free to leave a comment and Rhya will respond to you!  And if you're in Toronto, swing by their studio!  They're open to the public Monday-Friday 10 am - 6 pm.

How to Design Cut-and-Sew Softies and Dolls on Spoonflower

 

 

A few weeks ago I got in touch with the folks at Spoonflower, the print on demand fabric company, to see about getting some cut-and-sew softie and doll fabrics to play with. I thrilled when they agreed to send me a few fat quarters and today I’m ready to show you what I’ve made and give you some tips for designing these fabrics.

Spoonflower allows anyone to design and print their own, custom fabrics. For creative people this means endless awesome possibilities and for doll and softie designers it means you can have pattern pieces and sewing instructions printed right on the fabric for an easy cut-and-sew project. I’ve had my eye on cut-and-sew softie fabrics since August of 2011 when they were the focus of Spoonflower’s weekly design contest.

I did a search on Spoonflower's website for "plush" and browsed through so many great fabrics. In the end I went with:

• Kawaii Kitchen and Mister Zombie by Bora
• Zakka Ice Cream Cones by Katarina Dragutinovic Roccella
• Amelia and her Kittens by Stacy Iest Hsu.

Each of these designers has several (or dozens) of gorgeous Spoonflower designs, including multiple cut-and-sew softies. I had so much fun looking through them all!

I’ve never designed a cut-and-sew softie or doll so after I chose a few fat quarters to try out, I contacted two of the designers to find out more about their process. One of them is Stacy Iest Hsu. Stacy is actually a trained textile designer. She says she isn’t much of a sewist beyond 4-H as a child, but her dolls are adorable. I also talked to Katarina (Nina) Dragutinovic Roccella who designs prolifically on Spoonflower and has lots of doll and softies among her fabrics.

Stacy and Nina shared some valuable tips with me for designing this specific type of fabric. Here is what they said:

Getting Started

Nina often starts with a drawing of the doll on paper. She’ll then cut out pattern pieces and sew a prototype to get the shape right, before scanning and playing with the colors and patterns in Photoshop. Nina shared this collage of her process with me:

 

Stacy recommends designing the doll with a fairly simple silhouette to keep the sewing simple and Nina agrees. Nina says, “Try to avoid narrow small spaces within the design especially at the neck. The first boy doll I created looked like a giraffe! Try to avoid acute angles because these can be tricky to sew.”

Considering the Front and the Back

Stacy says creating a front and back for the doll makes it come to life, as opposed to just putting a print on the back or leaving it solid. Nina does this by duplicating the front, flipping it and then deleting the face details.

Adding Special Elements

Both designers recommend adding a place somewhere on the doll for the customer to personalize it. Usually these dolls are made as gifts so this gives the customer the opportunity to add their own touches and makes them feel they had a part in the design process

Use some of the extra space on the fat quarter to make a label with your brand name, website or blog that can then be attached someplace on the doll. As Stacy says, “These dolls are your best tool for advertising and they will probably go to many places where other moms will see them.”

Natalie Doll by Stacy Iest Hsu on Spoonflower

Look at how Stacy added to her doll. She says, “Think of ways to allow customers to embellish the doll or toy with embroidery or ribbon.”

Write Up the Sewing Instructions

Stacy points out that you should make your sewing instructions simple and easy to follow. Use the same language used in conventional sewing patterns and proofread them well! And Nina says to be sure to indicate that the curves and corners should be clipped  before turning and stuffing because beginners may not know this.

Remember to add a ¼ inch seam allowance. Stacy likes the front and back of the doll to meet without any white showing at the seam lines once the doll is sewn up.

What's it Like to Sew These Toys?

Here's what I made!

 

As a customer I appreciated clear, well-written and thorough sewing instructions. Be sure not to skip any steps, such  as stuffing the arms and legs. It helps to have someone else read your instructions, too, given that once they’re printed you can’t go back and edit them!

I really loved the little extra graphic bits some of the designers added in the white space. These would be great to applique on a t-shirt or a tote bag to accompany the finished doll. And I appreciated that these designs were all on just a fat quarter of fabric. This made the project affordable and quick! One of these fat quarters would be a great gift for my 9-year-old who just learned to use the sewing machine.

 

Other Cut-and-Sew Softies from Spoonflower

Choosing just a few fat quarters from the thousands of cut-and-sew softies and dolls available on Spoonflower was hard. Here are some more of my favorites:

• This owl

• This turtle

• Super pig!

• Hank (in a bowtie!)

• Funky Retro Robots

• Incredible Super Sheep

And there are so many more. I must say that this was one of the most fun blog posts I’ve written!

I really hope the design tips from Nina and Stacy are helpful to you if you are interested in designing some cut-and-sew softies or dolls using Spoonflower. Both of them are happy to answer your questions in the comments so please don’t hesitate to ask!

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Pepper the Penguin, the sew and crochet pattern I designed in collaboration with Stacey Trock of FreshStitches, is being released today! This is such a cool 2-in-1 pattern and we hope you love sewing AND crocheting Pepper. Read more about our collaboration here and get the pattern now in my shop on Etsy!

How To Increase Your Craft Blog Readership (Even If Your Blog is Small)

If you sell any sort of handmade product and you’ve ever written a tutorial for your blog, or shown how you organize your studio shelves, or explained how you choose cohesive colors for a quilt top, you’ve done something called “content marketing.”

Content marketing is creating and sharing content in order to acquire customers. Essentially you provide valuable information or entertainment in an effort to develop a relationship with potential customers, but you stop short of a sales pitch.

There are people who've developed careers around teaching best practices in content marketing. And just like the craft world, the content marketing world consists of thousands of sophisticated blogs with very dedicated authors trying to make a living selling what they know. There are podcasts devoted to content marketing and a flood of new books and online classes on the topic. There are content marketing celebrities and gurus and conferences to attend where you can meet them. Content marketing is hot because it works better than other, more traditional marketing methods when it comes to selling online.

 

Photo by Laineys Repertoire on Flickr

But I think craft bloggers were among the first content marketers, and are among the most authentic. All this talk of creating content to lure customers may seem pretty slimy to craft bloggers. Craft bloggers earnestly and honestly want people to learn new skills and to enjoy making things by hand.

I’m a craft blogger, but I also have an internet-based microbusiness. Being a successful entrepreneur in today’s online landscape means learning the fundamentals of content marketing. When it comes down to it, a business exists to make money. And content marketers have a lot to teach us about how to do that better, faster, and more consistently.

Fewer and fewer people subscribe to blogs and become regular readers now. Most people who visit your blog get there by following a link from Twitter, or Facebook, Pinterest, or some other reblogging site. Social media marketing best practices will help you to get those people to click over and read, and share.

Photo by davewrightphotography on Flickr

Some of the content marketing blogs are incredibly cheesy, promising more than anyone could deliver with a high slime factor to boot. But you certainly don’t have to implement something that makes you feel uncomfortable. I try to read broadly, shedding what doesn’t apply and picking up what does.

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One afternoon last summer I was sitting on the lawn at the house we’d rented on the Cape. The kids were dipping their feet in the water, searching for shells, and I was on the Adirondack chair with a beer, reading blog posts about how to write great blog posts. (Yeah, that’s the kind of thing I read while on vacation. Don’t judge.)

That afternoon I followed a link that led me to a most amazing content marketing document. I downloaded it right away and I’ve referred to it several times a week since. More than anything else I’ve read, this document has been exceptionally helpful to me in generating topics for blog posts and, equally important, it’s attracted more attention to those posts.

Like much of the social media marketing texts, when I first started reading this document, it really made me laugh. Was this thing for real? But the following week, back at home, I sat down at the computer and tried to actually apply what it said and was wowed. I found myself easily coming up with great new post topics and those posts became really popular. It works!

Once you get over the sort of ludicrous nature of it you'll see. It's valuable. And it’s free.

It’s called 52 Headline Hacks: A “Cheat Sheet” for Writing Blog Posts that Go Viral  and it’s by Jon Morrow, the Associate Editor at Copyblogger. Go get it, okay?

Writing headlines is not a topic I see craft bloggers focusing on, but we should be. An excellent headline brings in readers. And you can use a headline to generate ideas for posts, too. In this ebook you get 52 tried and true headlines to use as titles for your blog posts. Just fill in the blanks. As Morrow says,

“Of all the ways you can improve your blog, this one is by far the easiest…The more curious your headlines make people, the more they’ll read your posts. The more they read your posts, the better your chance of building a relationship with them. The more relationships you have, the more influential you become in your niche. It’s the same process, regardless of whether you have 100,000 subscribers or you just started your blog yesterday. And it all begins with the headline.”

Here are some of my posts with headlines written after reading 52 Headline Hacks. Do you remember any of them? Did the headline help?

• Top 5 Most Useful Thread Types for Sewing Softies

• 7 Valuable Post Topics for Your Craft Blog

• 2 Essential Tricks for Sewing Thick Fabrics

• How Patterns in Sewing Books Go Untested and Why That Should Change

• 5 Simple Tips for Writing Sewing Patterns Your Customers Will Love

If you have a great post from the past that you either didn’t title, or titled with a limp headline, you can go back and fix it. Then tweet it or put it up on Facebook and see what happens. If you’re looking for an idea of what to post about this week, scan through the 52 headlines and pick one that jumps out at you. Fill in the blanks and see what you can come up with.

Look at you and your content marketing crafty self go!

*On a side note, you can also use this ebook to come up with some pretty hysterical headlines for craft blog posts. Here’s two:

• The Shocking Truth about Pompoms

• 9 Lies Quilters Like to Tell

Hee hee!  Charlie and I have laughed really really hard many an evening coming up with terrible headlines.