While She Naps

An Interview With a McCall's Pattern Designer

Following up on our discussion of commercial sewing patterns last week I decided to contact the two major pattern companies, McCall's (Butterick, Vogue) and Simplicity (New Look, Burda Style) to see if I could hear about their patterns directly from one of their designers. Simplicity is clearly the more web savvy of the two, with a Facebook page and a presence on Twitter. They carry Oliver + S's Lisette line and have the community of BurdaStyle. I didn't get a response to my interview request from Simplicity, though. Maybe it didn't reach the right person. I was excited that I did hear back from McCall's. Carolyne Cafaro emailed me. She said she works with all of the in-house and outside designers and would find one who would be interested in answering my questions.

I emailed her the questions and requested a few images to use along with the post. Nothing too high resolution, just something to illustrate the text. She forwarded my request to Penny Reginio. Penny told me she would send me a CD. I reiterated that a few JPEGs in an email would be sufficient, but she said it was easier to send me a CD. The images you see here are from Penny's CD.

Carolyne got back to me saying that their resident soft craft designer, Virginia (Ginny) Maizenaski, would be doing the interview. Ginny's title is Non-Fashion Designer (Crafts, Accessories, Home Dec., Costumes). Here's the interview (the links are my doing):

How did you become a designer for McCall’s?

I've been involved in crafts since I was a girl.  I made soft toys (and clothes) for my girls.  I joined the Society of Craft Designers and began designing craft projects for various craft publications including ‘McCall’s Creates’. Margaret Chapman was Creative Director and asked me to come work for her.  A while later I became part of the McCall’s Patterns’ Team.

How much do you follow trends?

We continually watch trends.  Read blogs, attend Toy Fair, various magazines, catalogs, TV, stores, people watch.  Merchandising watches what the consumer is buying from us.  If the consumer responds positively we follow their lead.

Take us through the process of designing a new pattern from inception to publication.

There are many people involved in the process of a design from inception to publication.  Designers are given direction from Merchandising.  The line is presented and picked for the Issue. After a design and it’s fabrics are approved fabrics and notions are ordered.  I work with a patternmaker to discuss size, fabrics, construction, feel.  I’ll enlarge my illustrations to get appliques and/or a rudimentary pattern.  We go over the muslin making any corrections. Dressmaking/Craft Dept. makes the approved pattern photo model.  I make sure the photo model is correct and I may do some of the approved details.  Photography does their magic.  The Writing Dept. writes instructions and illustrations.  The Technical Artist does a detailed sketch.  The designer needs to be available to answer questions any department may have concerning the design.  The Art Dept. does page layout.

What misconceptions do people commonly hold about what you do?

There is a lot of technical work that is involved in the creative craft process.  All the little pieces have to be created and accounted for.  The initial creative idea gives way to precise engineering.

What do you think the future holds for the sewing pattern industry?

Crafts is an area in our industry that is on the upswing.  We see designs that previously only sold during holiday, selling all year round.  Consumers who might be afraid of making their own clothes seem more apt to try an item from the craft area.  We have to give the consumer what she wants.  My hope is we'll be creating new and exciting designs for the consumer for years to come.

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After I received the interview responses and read them over, I asked Ginny if she would take a look at my blog post about commercial sewing patterns, read your comments, and share her thoughts about our discussion. Ginny forwarded this request back to Carolyne who responded this way:

"Both Ginny and I read the postings. I, too, am a home sewer and personally prefer looking at the illustrations rather than reading the instructions. We do try our best to create clear instructions. It is an evolving process and our staff continually tries to produce the best product. We receive comments and read blogs so we are aware of our shortcomings and try to overcome them."

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I have a few reactions to the interview. First, I know people are very busy and I am appreciative that Carolyne, Ginny, and Penny took the time to interact with a blogger with a random interview request. Frankly, I was surprised that I wasn't immediately handed off to someone in public relations.

I will say it was a bit hard to assess who I was talking to because, besides Ginny, none of the people I emailed back and forth with have their title as part of their email signature.

I would  have thought that a few JPEGS in an email would be easier than mailing a CD. (The CD came in a folder along with a printout of my emailed request). But hey, images are images.

Ginny specifically mentions that the soft craft design team at McCall's is reading blogs and staying current. I'd love to see McCall's interact more with the online craft community, maybe set up an interactive web presence of some kind and start actively engaging. There are so many easy ways to do this now, and it does make a huge difference in the public's perception of a company.

Most of all I'd like to hear your thoughts on this interview, on the toys shown here, on what questions I might have asked, or on anything else that strikes you about my effort to reach out and hear an inside perspective and the response I got.

Review: Books by Charlene Phillips

When I began teaching people how to use their sewing machines I was nervous that I wouldn't know how particular machines worked. After all, I only know two machines very well: the Bernette 330 that I bought when I was 13 and had for 22 years, and my new Janome 2160.  Fortunately I co-taught the first two group classes along with Lauren, the owner of the sewing center in town, and during the classes she helped me to see that in reality, all sewing machines are the same.

And in recent months I've come to see that armed with a sewing machine you have the power to do a whole lot more than I had thought.

Sewing machines are a most amazing home appliance. I guess I would compare a good sewing machine to a good stand mixer. Both are built to last and both do a job faster and more effectively than you could do by hand.

But more than that, both the sewing machine and the hand mixer have capabilities beyond the obvious. A stand mixer can become a juicer, a pasta roller, a slicer and a shredder. With a meat grinding blade your stand mixer become a sausage maker, and with a dough hook it becomes a bread kneader. A home sewing machine has a similar level of potential. You just need to know how to harness it. With the right foot your machine can make rufffles, shirring, cording, tucks, and cordded pintucks. Your sewing machine can darn socks, sew sequins, couch, and make felled seams. It's really pretty amazing, but how do you figure out how to make your machine do all of this?

That's where these two excellent books by Charlene Phillips come in.

Charlene owns The Sew Box, a brick-and-mortar store in Ohio that also has an online shop. The Sew Box specializes in sewing machine feet, notions, and self-designed sewing patterns. And Charlene knows the sewing machine inside and out. Her mission with her shop and with these books is to help you to make your machine do everything that it can do.

The Sewing Machine Classroom is full of tiny tips and tricks that will help you sew better, faster, and more efficiently. And it demystifies all kinds of things, like what all these needles are for. I learned something on every page.

For example, I often sew pieces together that have very narrow seam allowances, like 1/8 inch or less. In these situations Charlene recommends moving the needle position all the way to the right so that the fabric is still in contact with both feed dogs for even, smooth stitches. That makes so much sense! That one tip changed the way I sew every day. 

The Sewing Machine Attachment Handbook is all about the feet and accessories you can get for your machine and how they all work. Each two-page spread covers a different foot with close-up photos of that foot in action, a diagram of the foot, and a descriptive paragraph or two on how to use it. I will confess I spent a bit of money on new presser feet after reading this book, but I firmly believe that having the right tool for each job makes all the difference. And you wouldn't beleive all the cool feet out there!  Mind boggling. And if you want a particular foot, or 12 new feet (!), check out The Sew Box's online shop.

Your stand mixer does a pretty nice job mixing brownie batter, but why stop there when you can make your own vermicilli?

If you have a sewing machine, you should have these books. I am recommending them because I truly think they are a beneficial additon to anyone's sewing reference library.

I contacted Krause, Charlene's publisher, to let them know that I would be reviewing her books on my blog and they offered a copy of The Sewing Machine Classroom to give away. The giveaway is limited to U.S. residents. If you leave a comment here, I'll pick a winner by Wednesday, February 1, and Krause will send you the book. And if you'd just like to buy these books now, here is an affiliate link to The Sewing Machine Classroom and here is one to to The Sewing Machine Attachment Handbook.

Curious About Mainstream Sewing Patterns

In 2005 I bought Simplicity 5825, a sewing pattern for a teddy bear with variations to make a rabbit and a dog. The pattern cost $13.95.

I remember picking it out at Joann's and bringing it home. I was curious about sewing toys and I wanted to sew a teddy bear. I remember the thrill of pulling out all the pattern pieces and prepping the fabric. I had a few yards of green ticking my mother-in-law gave me. I washed it and ironed it, imagining the bear I would make.

I think you can see where this is going. When the baby went down for a nap the next afternoon I cut out the pattern pieces. Then I opened the big piece of newsprint with the pattern directions and read the first step.

"Make DART SEAM at lower edge of bear front sections."

Huh? What's a dart seam? Here are accompanying diagrams for steps 1, 2 and 3. No glossary. No way to find out about dart seams.

I still couldn't figure it out. What is a dart seam? Step 2 in the directions make no mention of sewing a dart, but there it is again in step 3:

"Make DART SEAM at lower edge of bear back sections. Press dart seam toward leg."

Ack. I felt helpless and really let down. After searching the pattern envelope and reading all the directions I gave up and put the whole thing away.

When my mother-in-law was down visiting us a few weeks later I showed her the instructions and she told me what a dart was. Even after I got that down, more confusion and frustration followed as I tried to figure out the next steps on my own. I was never able to sew the toy and put the pattern envelope away where it's sat, untouched.

I felt like the pattern was in another language. A secret language. A language that Simplicity didn't want me to understand because I wasn't already in the club. I didn't learn to sew sitting at my mother's feet and Home Ec. was only a semester long and that was back in 1988. I felt like I'd wasted $13.95.

I've spent the seven years since then teaching myself everything there is to know about sewing toys. I've read dozens of soft toy books and general sewing books, logged many thousands (!) of hours on the web reading sewing blogs, and I've sewn hundreds and hundreds of toys, including many teddy bears. I've designed teddy bear patterns and written in-depth about how to design patterns for bears (chapter 12 in my forthcoming book on soft toy design is all about bears).

Over time I have become a member of the club and I have learned to speak the language. And I'm in love with sewing and sewing patterns and sewing toys. So I guess I won the war even if I lost that battle.

This morning I pulled out Simplicity 5825 to reevaluate. Here is what strikes me about it. In some ways it is a good deal as far as patterns are concerned. For $13.95 you get full-sized pattern pieces for four toys.The directions still seem archaic to me. The language is robotic. "Turn bear RIGHT side out. STUFF along each stitching line." There are a lot of words in bold all caps, seemingly for emphasis, but I'm not sure why these exact words were chosen. The bold all caps words include: "SAFETY EYES" "BUTTON EYES" "LADDER STITCH" "DART SEAM" and "CLIP CURVES". To me these words are being said in a condescending voice by a little old lady who is looking askance at my lack of formal sewing training. And I'm wondering if I should try again to sew this bear. Maybe I'll give it another a go.

I know that I'm not the only person who wanted to make one of these patterns but couldn't crack the code and gave up.

Has this happened to you?

I want to hear your story. Have you tried a pattern from one of the mainstream pattern companies? What is your take on these patterns. I'm really curious.  Will you share your story in the comments?

New Shop Item: Hemostats

I am very excited to be able to begin selling some of my favorite softie-making tools in my shop on Etsy. Having the right tools for the job makes softie-making so much easier and less frustrating and my favorite tool of all time is my 5" curved hemostats. I use them every single day, so much so that I have a pretty significant callous on my right hand where they rub against my skin!

If you aren't sure that you need a pair, I hope this video I made a few months ago will convince you that indeed you do! Use hemostats to grasp the extremities of your softie in order to pull it right side out without tearing. Use them to stuff little fingers and toes and bird's beaks. They are amazing and I love this particular pair because they are curved on the tip so that I can reach especially hard to reach spots and they have little ridges inside which makes them hold on tight when I clamp them shut.

Hemostats are a specialty tool and they aren't sold in any brick-and-mortar craft stores or fabric shops that I've ever visited. I am now stocking them in my shop for $8 a pair and I have nine pairs in stock. You can find them right here.

Custom Plush: From A Child's Drawing

As part of my New Year's goal to begin to make custom plush toys, I made this toy from one of Stella's drawings.  Stella is 5. All her friends are boys and when she draws she draws boys.  This is one of her typical guys.

Again, I wasn't sure how this would go and again it was breathtakingly fun to make.

This toy will be part of another New Year's goal: to design a shop window. Like many downtown areas right now, downtown Wellesley has quite a few vacant storefronts. A local arts advocate had the idea to use those spaces to showcase local art while the landlords wait for new tenants.

My local artists group will be showing our work in one of the prominent, large shop windows in the center of Wellesley this spring. We chose the spring months to coincide with Wellesley College graduation and another townwide event that takes place over Memorial Day weekend.

For the show I am going to create a series of toys from children's drawings (my own children and my four nieces) and show them alongside enlarged versions of the original drawings. My hope is that they'll be eyecatching for kids and adults alike as they walk through town and that they'll bring a smile to a few faces.

I will also begin to take custom orders for plush toys made from children's drawings. I'm really excited to take these on and I hope it is something that appeals to other people as much as it appeals to me. More details on these later on, once my book manuscript is completed.

When Stella saw her drawing jump off the page as real toy her eyes got big and she gave it a huge hug. I hope there is a child in your life that might want to that same experience!

Custom Plush: Logos

In an effort to build my custom plush portfolio (one of my New Year's goals) I tweeted a few weeks ago asking if anyone would like me to create a plush version of their logo. I heard back right away from Sarah Day whose blog is A Small Fox in a Big World. Sarah is someone I've been in touch with on and off for many years. She helped me to design a postcard for my first big show in 2007. And she tested a pattern for my new book and is in the process of testing a second one. She has been super generous to me, clearly, and I was thrilled when she asked if I'd make the adorable fox logo that she uses on her blog and in her Etsy shop into a softie.

Sarah sent me a few digital drawings of her fox. I asked a few questions just to be sure I was envisioning the fox the same way that she was and then I sat down and started.

I wasn't sure how I would feel about rendering someone else's drawing in plush. I've only done that one other time (for a print ad that I'll tell you more about once it is released), and both times I was unsure when I started whether I would like it.

But I do! I really love it. To take what a client has given me and build them a three-dimensional fabric version is perhaps the most fun I can think of! Sarah's logo really lends itself to a plush toy. It is almost like a drawing of a toy. I am curious about making plush from a rather untoylike drawing.

I hope Sarah is happy with her fox, and I hope I can continue to build my portfolio so that I can take on more work like this.

forming a group of local women artisans

Last night the Wellesley Women Artisans got together to discuss our current work and brainstorm new directions. It was a wonderful experience and I thought I would share how we came to be in case you might be interested in bringing together women artisans where you live for a similar experience.

Over the summer a woman in town emailed me out of the blue. She said she'd read about me an article in our weekly newspaper in 2007 (when I had a show at our local library) and had been meaning to get in touch ever since. She is potter and wanted to reach out to connect with another woman in town pursing a creative career.

Wellesley is known for many things, including a top teir women's college, an incredible public school systems, and, to be honest, wealth and homogeneity. Clearly that doesn't sum up the reality of Wellesley (diversity of all kinds does exist here), but it is safe to say our town is not known as a center for bohemian artmaking. I lived here for nearly seven years before becoming aware of any other artists in town. In fact, at times it seemed I was the only one scurrying home after school drop-off to draw, stitch, and create.

The woman who emailed me turned out to be Elizabeth Cohen and she came over to visit and see my studio. And then I went to visit her and see her porcelain work. While I was there one of us casually suggested that we form some kind of group of like-minded women makers in town. I left, not thinking much of it. But Elizabeth followed up and we arranged to have dinner at a local restaurant, each of us inviting the few women we knew who were also artists.

A few months later I hosted an art/craft supply swap at my house, inviting a few additional people who were friends with those in the original group.

Then we had a decoupage night at someone else's house, and a few more women were added until we had nine all together. To make communication easier, I set up a Google Group and Wellesley Women Artisans was born!

At the end of our decoupage night, someone suggested that our next gathering be a sort of check-in on what each of us was currently working on, with the goal of helping to brainstorm next steps and work through areas where we might be stuck. That meeting was last night.

Each of us brough some current projects and set them up on Elizabeth's dining room table. And then we went around, talking for a few minutes about what we are doing, what successes we've had, what we hope to achieve with our current work. And everyone brainstormed, helping to come up with ways to take the work further, to help each person to achieve their goals, whether it be to license designs, to expand a craft business, to get a book published, to work with a new material, or to get a show at a Boston gallery.

And it was unquestionably amazing. Each of us works in a different way, in a different media, and with different degrees of intensity and commercial success. But each of us is working, creating, trying to make money, thinking hard about our next steps.

Before we wrapped up we decided to apply for two upcoming group exhibiting opportunities in town. I think the experience of working on those shows in the coming months will coalese this group even further.

I rarely volunteer to organize any sort of social gathering (volunteering for the PTA is not on my agenda), but orgazining this group feels fantastic. I think no matter where you live, even in a rural area or a staid suburb, if you look beyond the surface there are makers in your midst. Think about bringing them together to make something, to organize a show, to discuss current work. Youll be so glad you did. 

sketching

It's raining and blustery in Wellesley today. I taught another session of Get To Know Your Sewing Machine this morning and now I'm home, sketching the project for chapter 13, while the baby naps.

I hope this guy doesn't give me too much trouble.

Class Report: Get To Know Your Sewing Machine

Last week I taught a class entitled, "Get To Know Your Sewing Machine," at Sew Easy in Wellesley. Sew Easy has never had adult classes before, so this was an exciting first.

The class was fully enrolled with eight women eager to learn to use their machines. One woman brought a Singer that has been passed down through her family. It is built into a table and is a gorgeous machine still in perfect working order.  She had to bring it up a big flight of stairs to get to the classroom and I give her so much credit! 

Others brought new machines they had gotten for Christmas and had yet to take out of the box and older machines that had been sitting in their closets collecting dust. Many of the women's children had taken classes at Sew Easy, but they themselves don't know how to sew.

I started the class by explaining how a sewing machine makes stitches by intertwining the upper and lower threads.  Then I gave a little lesson on the anatomy of sewing machine and showed how to wind a bobbin on my own machine.  Then everyone when back to their machines to figure out how to wind a bobbin.  The owner, Lauren, worked with me to get everyone's machine's up and running.

The thing I was most nervous about was figuring out how to use all these different machines. I've only really sewn on my old Bernette (the one that died a few months ago) and my new Janome. I wondered if I would be sweating away trying to get all these machines working.

It's funny, though. Each machine is different, but really they are all the same. Old or new they all have the same basic parts and they all work the same way.

I showed how to thread my machine, and "go fishing" for the bobbin thread and then sent them off to thread their machines and bring up the bobbin thread. I showed how to adjust the stitch length and the width of the stitches, how to adjust the tension and how to backstitch. I wanted them to not be afraid to turn the dials and experiment. Then I gave everyone a piece of muslin folded in half to experiment with and sent them back to their machines.

Before they began stitching, though, Lauren had them unthread and rethread the machine twice more and go fishing for the bobbin thread twice more. Such a good idea. It seems harsh, but after so much practice they felt like masters.

Everyone made little stitch samplers. I handed out markers so they could write on their samplers, marking which stitches were made on which settings.

Then I did a brief lesson on fabric. I explained how fabric is woven with warp thread and weft threads and showed what a selvadge looks like. I passed out some fabric samples so everyone could stretch them parallel and perpindicular to the selvadge to feel the relative degree of stretch.  We talked about how to place pattern pieces and how to buy fabric.

And then we sewed simple drawstring pouches. Nothing is more motivating than making something useful!

Before everyone unplugged their machine and packed up I gave out a handout with the directions for the pouch so that they could make more at home, and a handout with contact information for local, independently owned fabric shops, online fabric stores, and websites with good sewing tutorials.

Everyone left with a completed project, and (hopefully) feeling like they knew how to thread their machine, wind a bobbin, and start sewing.

It was a jam packed 2.5 hours, but it was totally fun. Showing people how to operate a machine that has opened up amazing avenues of creativity for me, and hopefully will for them, too, is tremendously satisfying.

some goals for 2012

Felt cactus pattern from Big Little Felt Universe by Jeanette Lim.

It's New Year's Eve and time to set some professional goals for the new year.

This year I would like to:

1. Start taking custom work.

Although I made all kinds of plush in the past, I was really afraid to take on custom work because I felt like I may not be able to make a successful sewing pattern for a new animal. Some of my patterns worked by chance, really, and others had taken a long time to develop. People would often assume that I could make just anything, but the truth was I didn't think I could.

After working on this soft toy design book for nearly nine months I am now in a totally different place. I have learned a tremendous amount about pattern design and I've made all kinds of new animals (I can't wait to show you!). My skills have jumped by leaps and bounds.  And now I know that, yes, I can make anything! It may take a bunch of prototypes, but I've learned to enjoy that part of the process, for the most part.

In 2012 I am hoping to offer custom plush design for people with a particular animal in mind.

And I'm hoping to make soft toys from children's drawings. I made a monster from Roxanne's drawing and it was so much fun. Send me a drawing and I'll make a custom toy for your child. Awesome.

2. Learn about creating installation and display windows.

I'd like to begin to learn about making softies on a larger scale and concept for window displays. I'm not talking about installation art in a gallery. I'm thinking more like Anthropologie's amazing store windows, but with plush. Coming up with a concept, color choices, and scale. I'm not sure I'll be able to actually do a window this year, but I am going to learn more about how they're done and think about what I would do. And you never know, maybe it will happen.

3. Create a sewing pattern for digital download in my Etsy shop.

I have terrible (read NO) graphic design skills. I own Illustrator, but don't know how to use it (I don't have Photoshop). I've heard about InDesign, Gimp, Scribus, but I haven't explored any of them (are there others I should know about?). It is really hard for me to dedicate my few hours of free time to learning to use a computer program. I end up getting frustrated and giving up, then feeling like I've wasted my time. And although my husband has many excellent skills, computerized design programs are not among them. So it's on me. And it's gonna happen. Once I stop whining about it.

Okay, those are my goals. Do you have professional goals for this year? I've found it really helps to think about where you'd like to head, no matter how small your craft business (or hobby) might be. Last year I decided to begin teaching sewing and over the course of the year I taught seven sewing classes. It was tremendously satisfying, and wouldn't have happened without setting an explicit goal to work towards.

2012 is going to be a great one! Here's to a creative, successful, and joyful new year! I love you guys!

Book Review: Sewing School

Charlie's sister, Jacquie, asked me what Roxanne would like for Hanukkah this year. Roxanne has been asking for a new backpack, so we chose one from Land's End and had it monogrammed. It was deeply discounted so we got to choose something else to go with it. Books are always a huge hit with Roxanne and I picked several that I knew she would love including My Milk Toof (she's read the entire web comic thus far) and Sewing School.

She also got some money for Hanukkah and last week she decided to buy some pink variegated wool yarn and a pair of sewing scissors with her own money and that launched us into quite a spree of making.

Roxanne has sewn a little bit and took a pillow making class at summer camp. She is always asking for some kind of project to work on beyond weaving potholders on her loom.

We recently did some finger knitting (I used to finger knit as a kid, but watched this video to be reminded how). Finger knitting creates long knitted strands with an open weave.  We felted one strand in the washing machine. It felts great! We sewed some elastic to the ends and made it into a headband.

And now she is determined to sew her way through all the projects in Sewing School. Before we started I read the whole book and it is fantastic. This book is written by two women who have taught sewing to children for many, many years and it shows. Kids can pull out the full-sized pattern pieces from the envelope in the back of the book, cut them out, and get started right away. Each pattern piece is labeled with a photo of the project for easy identification.

Step-by-step photos show kids exactly how to proceed. And the finished projects shown in the book are clearly sewn by actual children. They aren't beautifully finished, and therefore impossible to recreate. I love that!

There is a great page with a series of photos showing common mistakes and how to correct them including what to do when your thread gets tangled, your pieces aren't exacty the same size as one another, you make a whipstitch when you meant to make a straight stitch, or you ran out of thread and don't have enough left to tie a knot. If you've ever sewn with children (and I've rececently been teaching area Brownie troops to sew so I speak from experience beyond just teaching Roxanne) these are the problems every child has when they begin.

I've been really trying, and mostly succeeding, in keeping my hands off her projects. Her cutting could be neater, her stitching is imperfect, her stuffing lumpy, but it is all hers and she is so proud!

At the end of each project there is a bulleted list of ways to "make it your own." Once you make the apple pincushion, the author's suggest making it in orange felt so that it becomes an orange, or drawing your own fruit. As we made the four projects we've done so far, we've talked about how we could create our own designs. I think this gives kids to confidence to make their own ideas come to life in fabric if they want to, and not just depend on the patterns in a book, once they've learned the basics.

Right now we're working on sewing these fleece bears. (My one-year-old photo assistant was helping me today).

Sewing School is a great book for me, as a teacher of sewing, too. I love how the author's have you first create a needlebook and a pincushion so that you have a well-appointed sewing kit with handmade items that you can use right away. Every project is well-designed. If you wanted to start a sewing school of your own, this is your textbook.

Stella has gotten in on some of the sewing action, but sewing is still really challenging for her at 5. Roxanne isn't a typical kid in many ways and she struggles daily with managing her frustration, slowing down, being okay with making mistakes and forging ahead despite uncertainty. Sewing is a terrific way to work on all of these skills. Her fine motor skills have never been great, but at 7 she is able to hand sew mostly without help, and that is wonderful for her (and for me!).

If you are looking to sew with children, or you know a child who would like to learn to sewn, this is the book I would choose.

*Please note that I did not receive a review copy of this book. I chose to review it because I love it and that's it! The links above are affiliate links.

Happy Hanukkah

We made latkes on Sunday afternoon. I like small, crispy latkes. If you've ever made them you know that your house smells like latkes for days and days afterwards, and making latkes makes a huge mess. So I make them once, and I make a lot. Then I freeze them in dinner-sized portions in ziplock bags. We made five dinner's worth. And a huge pot of homemade applesauce.

The older girls can sing the blessings now, and know the words to Ma'oz Tzur in both Hebrew and English. It's adorable to hear their little voices singing so proudly each night.

And there's been lots of driedel playing with M&Ms and lots of chocolate gelt eating. And presents. We spread it out so they get something from a different relative or friend each night.

We made a little garland of origami driedels using plain white paper that we cut down into squares and then dot painted. 

As the menorahs get new candles each night it gets prettier and prettier. We have five menorahs this year, and we put them near the window so they are visible from outside.

Wishing you a very Happy Hanukkah and a happy holiday season!

Comfort Crafting

I had a crazy week last week so I made a bird. It's like crafting comfort food.

I've put her in my shop.

I'm hoping for a quieter, more focused week this week. I've got writing and sewing deadlines before the kids are home on vacation.  Wishing you a productive week, too!

snail in a real shell

I made this guy today. He says, "Happy weekend to you!".

Project Upcycle: An Online Class on Craftsy Taught by Betz White

Betz White gave me the opportunity to try out and review her online class, Project Upcycle, offered through Craftsy. Craftsy offers online courses on all kinds of crafts. Once you sign up for a particular class you have access to it anytime and for as long as you want. The videos are in HD and are really beautifully done. My husband, Charlie, was sitting next to me when I watched the class video and he was totally amazed with the quality of the production.

I would describe the experience as being like opening one of Betz's books and then, instead of having to read the text and figure out what the pictures are showing, the book comes to life and Betz is right there talking to you and taking you through the project step-by-step.  Really impressive.

You can take notes right on the screen and you can ask Betz questions, too. Craftsy's platform is really interactive and really easy to use.

I made the Felted Wool Tote, one of five projects in this class. Isn't it pretty!

I learned a lot about how to choose the perfect sweater for felting. I've done some sweater felting before, but with mixed results.  After taking the class I knew exactly what to look for at the thrift store and the green sweater I chose felted beautifully in the wash. Plus, I couldn't resist green, Betz's signature color.

The tote is really cleverly designed. See those handles? They were once shoulders. Very clever.

It's hard for me to get out of the house to take a class because I have three little kids. Project Upcycle gave me the opportunity to develop my skills and learn new techniques, all on my own time. The class also includes other projects including a cashmere shrug, a wallet, an adorable beret, and a wrap skirt.

Use this link and you'll get $10 of the price of the course. You're going to be very impressed.

 

 

learning to make teddy bears

I am learning to make jointed teddy bears.  Although making teddy bears is not so different from making any other kind of softie, it is intimidating because there is a whole huge community of artist teddy bear makers out there and they are very particular about the way these things are made. 

There are long, complicated books solely about how to make teddy bears, and active online discussion forums.The teddy bear makers have national conventions and attract some hardcore collectors.

Artist teddy bear making requires some different supplies than regular softie making, including jointing tools like cotter keys and locknuts, expensive fabrics like mohair, and a hard-pack stuffing called excelsior. All this stuff is available through specialty suppliers that sell to the teddy bear making community. It's pretty intense, and pretty cool, really.

One of my teddy bear making idols is Peng Peng. She makes amazing sock monkeys, too.  I love that that her teddy bears don't look like any bear I ever had as a child. They are urban and hip and just all around awesome.

For a long time I have sort of avoided making artist teddy bears. It just seemed overwhelming. But chapter 12 in the book is a teddy bear (dang table of contents). Sure enough, the time has come for me to write chapter 12. See what I do to myself? Force myself to figure it out.

And as I start making these little guys I can see how this industry developed. These are really, really fun.

a post about fear

All of the images in this post are of toys I've made years and years ago. Some of them I made many, many times.

I want to write a post about fear. Creative fear. In particular, the fear of stopping making the things you make right now. Have you felt that fear? That feeling like you have to keep making what you already make, what you've become known for making, because if you stop you'll fade into oblivion, or you won't sell enough, or anything, and people will stop reading what you have to say or looking at your pictures.

But then, when you have a few hours and you are ready to start making something, you wonder, "Maybe I could make something different? Maybe I could create a new pattern? Or try to make something really big?". And your mind starts working, visualizing how the new piece might look and you start getting excited. You sit down to start sketching, making little notes in the margin about how this new thing might be created.

And then you pause for a minute and look at the page and it just looks really complicated. It looks like there are probably going to be some big problems in there to solve. It's going to take a lot of time to figure this out and it might not work at all. And let's face it, you might not be skilled enough to make this new thing come to life.

And what if you devote these precious hours or the next few days or weeks to it and in the end it turns out to be nothing. In the meantime, you haven't been making the thing you're know for, the thing you always make. And after all that effort you have nothing pretty to take pictures of, nothing to write about, nothing new to sell. Those blog stats are slipping, you can feel it.

And so you get up from your desk, and leave the sketch book behind. You reach for the same materials and the same pattern you've been using for years and start cutting out yet another one. It's familiar and, at this point, it's easy. It may not be exciting, but it's what they want, what they expect, and you know it will sell.

Has this happened to you? Have you had this kind of fear? My gosh, I have.

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As I work on this book encouraging people to try to draft their own softie patterns, and as I think about the new year ahead, I want to propose that we set aside chunks of time, big chunks, and give ourselves mental space, forgiving mental space, to wrestle with this fear.  Start something new, with a fresh sheet of paper and a different set of materials. Let's not just make what we've always made, what is easy, what is popular. 

Let's make something new.

the ornaments are now in the shop!

My winter ornament collection is now up in my shop! There are five handmade birds and five handmade mice. Each one is sewn from felt and treasured bits of vintage fabric. I hope you like them!

We were away in Connecticut for Thanksgiving. I brought a huge bag of assorted felt scraps with me and spent a few hours sorting them all by color.  Now I have a bag of felt scraps for every color in the rainbow. Time well spent.

I took out my camera this morning to take some photos only to find out that the focus function is broken.  I'm feeling some panic because I need my camera in order to make progress on the book.  I have a Nikon D-40 and it's never failed me before. I hope it is easy to fix!

I took that photo up there with my phone. In the background you can see an awesome piece of driftwood and two beautiful yellow and black feathers we found on the beach at Harkness state park in Waterford, Connecticut. 

 

Winter Collection

My Winter Collection of handmade ornaments is coming on Monday, November 28.

Five mice and five birds, all made from wool felt and bits of vintage fabric, will be up in my Etsy shop that morning.

Each ornament will be $25 and shipping is free.

If you want to reserve one of these now, email me at abbyglassenberg (at) comcast (dot) net and I will set up a reserved listing for you.  Thank you!

an article

There is a lovely article about my work in the winter 2011 issue of Wellesley Weston magazine.  Here is the link if you'd like to take a look.