Travel Diaries: Taipei Coffee Shop

Remember how hard it was to come up with a blog name?  (To those of you who didn’t have a hard time, I’m jealous.)  Now let’s say you’d like to have your blog name in another language, like Russian, just to give your blog a little more character.  Here’s some advice:  find a reliable native speaker of the language to help you capture the feel of what you want your blog to say.

Now let’s say you have a plain banner with your blog name in English and Russian (a name that you just found using Babelfish) and you decide that you want a graphic to put beside the name to capture the feel of what you want your blog to look like.  You think, “I want a romantic feel.”  and you google “romantic images” and slap on a picture that shows up.  Hmm…. advice #2:  hire a good graphic designer than can capture that feel for you.

Now let’s say instead of a blog, you were opening a coffee shop.  Here is an example of someone who opened a coffee shop and did not follow the first line of advice:

 

And here they are again, neglecting advice #2.

 

The funny thing is that if I were the coffee-shop-going type, I just might go to this coffee shop in spite of the name.  I’ve found many coffee shops in Taiwan to be unique and fun to go to with nice little appetizers and delicious drinks.  And you can tell by the entrance landscaping that the owner of this one really cares about his business. 

We are enjoying our time here.  I had forgotten how incredibly tired I can get when jetlagging.

Pillowcase Tank Top

Why is it that I can meticulously follow a pattern for a top and end up scrapping it half-way through but if I start with a pillowcase I can turn it into something wearable?

Sure, it has it’s problems, but starting with a pillowcase seemed a lot easier than using a pattern.

I didn’t want to put in a zipper so I used buttons up the back instead.  Do you know how hard it is to button your own buttons in the back?  The boys have told me more than once when I’ve missed one.

I got to use my bias binder folder thingy to make the bias binding.  That is a nifty tool.  Why did I make this tank top?  For our trip to Taiwan.  And we’re here!  It was a super long plane ride, but we survived and so far the kids are handling the jet lag better than I am.  Obviously I won’t be doing any sewing while I’m here so I’ve lined up a few guest bloggers to add some crafty spice to the blog the next few weeks.

Kit, kit, kit.

The Tree and Bird Baby Quilt was inspired by fabric.  I had picked up some Japanese fabrics at Quilt Market and just fell in love with their simplicity and color.

I mean, what is it about this designer?  Such simple images that make me think I could surely create myself, but if I tried, I’d fail miserably.  These little daisies just work.

And they really work well together. Even better with a splash of Michael Miller.

So I ordered bolts a while back but  just haven’t gotten around to posting about them.  Fabric is Mrs. March’s 30’s collection by Lecien.  Kits for the Tree and Bird Baby Quilt are available here.

Argyle It!

Still making cushion covers and loving it!  I wanted to try an argyle-ish design.   And like any cautious designer, I did it first with paper to figure it out.

 

Then I remembered this cheater cloth from Lecien that I’ve had for a few months and thought I’d give it a try. 

 

I seriously never thought I’d say this, but isn’t argyle cool?

Lots of stitching, but a fun, fun project.

Wonderland

Can we talk about fabric?  Good, ‘cuz I really like talking about fabric. 

Before last weekend I hadn’t been to my quilt shop in ages.  And you know what fabric I walked out with?  This stuff:  Wonderland by Momo.  (See it here, buy it here or here.)    I know, I know,  it’s been out a few months and I’m just now catching on.  The colors are just so warm and calming and the illustrations are perfectly whimsical.  And I wonder how someone can come up with something so put together in a random kind of way like this. 

I decided to make a cushion.

It’s reverse appliqued – see the raw edge?  There are reverse applique tutorials all over the web.

 

And here’s the back that’s maybe just a
little bit
on the crazy-busy side.

Embarrased Guest Room

Before her name was Guest Room (GR), we called her Sewing Room.  Back then she looked on as I crafted and created into many late nights and kept me company, even through our brief insect invasion (sewing with the bugs wasn’t very fun).  Before that, we lovingly called her Nursery.  She watched each of our boys sleep and grow, proud to be the walls that heard their every sleeping breath and every nighttime Bible story.  Then came the big 3-room shake up and since then she’s been Guest Room and she is embarrased.  And why wouldn’t she be, especially since she has become the throw-everything-that-doesn’t-fit-anywhere-else-room. Now she houses an old bookshelf that used to be in our living room, an old dresser that was one of our big (used) purchases early in our marriage, and the guestbed that sits on a metal frame on wheels.  The old nursery valance still covers the window, the first quilt I ever made is on the bed and she just doesn’t feel put together like she should.  Quite honestly, while the rest of the house has been cared for, she has been neglected – something I hope to rectify in the near future – one step at a time.

First step – bedding.  I purchased some fabric in the form of duvet covers on Ebay.  One I’m using as an actual duvet cover and the other, I turned into a quilt.  It took a lot of guts to quilt this thing, and I’m so glad now that it’s done!

 

I had to back it with a bit of pink. See how the yellows are a nice match?

And after putting a narrow ruffle on  the quilt I decided that I love short ruffles.  So I took apart my dotty cushion and redid the ruffle.  If you ever doubt how sturdy your handmade items are, just try to take them apart.  The seam ripping took me 2 hours!  But it was worth it.

 

Nope, I’m not showing much of the rest of the room.  A little at a time I’ll redo what I can and maybe GR can be proud again. I have some fabric left over…maybe some pillow shams…

Morning Snack Scarf – It’s Yummy, You Want One

And the winner is….

Adrienne who blogs at Some of a Kind.

 Congratulations, Adrienne!!!   And thank you all for playing along!

The knitting I’ve been doing in the sun?  The Morning Snack Scarf.  This was a fun scarf to knit.  Not too difficult, but not boring.  And the end product was a nice, lacy scarf that doesn’t heat you up when it’s warm outside at your son’s soccer practice and doesn’t hang too heavy on the needles so your wrists get tired.

 

And if there’s anything more fun than taking pictures of your own clothes on the floor, it’s taking pictures of your clothes on a dress form.

1 ball of Jaeger Trinity 433.  (I *really* enjoyed knitting with this yarn)

Free pattern here: Morning Snack Scarf   (Love the name!)

Author: Stardust Shoes (My bestest sister ever!)

Knitting in the Sun

Comments are now closed.

The kind folks at Wiley’s have given me a copy of Knitting in the Sun to give away!

SO appropriate as summer is coming.  I’ve been doing a little bit of knitting in the sun myself.  Hopefully it will be ready for my next post.  Most of the knitting is lightweight sleeveless or short-sleeved tops.  There’s even a swim suit!  All of the patterns are named after locations and I’m betting one of the contributors has a connection to Taiwan, since two are named after locations there.    I don’t think I’ve mentioned here that my family is taking a trip to Taiwan this summer.  Me and the boys are travelling there by ourselves and Matt will join us after a couple of weeks.  4 weeks total.  I’m excited.  And nervous about travelling.  I grew up there, but haven’t been back in over 10 years.  TEN YEARS.  I don’t even know how to say “cell phone” or “internet” in Chinese.  But I still remember how to order Kung Pao chicken and to get a yummy bing.  So at least we won’t starve.

Leave a comment for the book by noon Friday.  If you’re international, be prepared to help with shipping. Thanks!

Pattern Designing Answers

Great questions, ladies!  It’s a lot easier for me to answer questions than to write a big long post, not knowing what anyone really wants to know.  I’ve been designing patterns for a little over 2 years (which still makes me a newbie!) and have learned a ton on my own, but there is also a great book out there if you are interested:  Publish your Patterns by Nancy Restuccia and McKenna Linn.  I’ll do my best to share my experiences, but keep in mind, there may be things I haven’t encountered as I haven’t been doing this for very long.  Now to the questions (interspersed with random pictures throughout to break it up a little)!

Did you register as an official company with your state from the get go?  No, I didn’t.  Honestly, when I published my first pattern, I didn’t know if I could even sell one copy.  When I realized this was something I wanted to continue doing (after a couple of months in), I filed paperwork with the state which allows me to purchase resellable items tax free and also enables me to purchase items at wholesale.  I also got a DBA so that I could cash checks that were made out to the company name.  Each state has their own requirements so you’ll want to check with your appropriate state office.

Do you make a sample for everything that you did or just make the pattern knowing you knew enough to make it work?  I make at least 10 items of everything I write a pattern for.  Not all of them are of the final product and some of them I only finish part way, abandoning it when I realize it’s not turning out the way I want it to.  This is one of the hardest things about having a crafty blog.  I would love to post each and every sample, but don’t want to bore anyone.  

Do you produce your patterns on your own or are they outsourced?  So far I’ve done everything myself.  I draw my own diagrams and take my own cover shots.  When I’m pretty sure that the pattern is finished, I send copies out to test sewers who sew through the instructions and make recommendations.  This is by far the most valuable step for me.  I hope my test sewers know how much I appreciate them!  One thing I had help with recently is hiring a graphic designer to design the cover for me.  More on this next.

I produce my patterns mostly in MS Publisher.  From what I’ve been able to gather, some people love Publisher and others hate it.  It has worked well for me so I haven’t needed to look for more complex software.

How did you do the background floral image on your pattern covers (at right)?  In a word:  Photoshop.  I hired a graphic designer to design the cover for me and she sent me the Photoshop file that I could drop pictures and text into.  This is one of the best decisions I’ve made, since designing the covers has always been a weak area for me.  A good graphic designer is important, and lucky for me I found a great one!  By the way, I am loving Photoshop right now – it’s taken me a few years to get used to it, but now I’m loving it for many reasons.

How are your patterns marketed to quilt shops/online shops?  I know there are a lot of pattern designers that can walk into a shop introduce themselves and start talking about their patterns.  I am NOT that person.  My first wholesale order came from someone who had seen my patterns on Etsy.  My second wholesale order came from my local quilt shop where my friend Yvonne started asking me really loudly about my patterns.  I had no idea she was going to do that (Thanks Yvonne! ) but it opened the door to a meeting with the owner about my patterns which led to multiple orders.  In many cases I have no idea how quilt shops found me.

Last year I sent my patterns to a distributor for review and they picked up several of my patterns.  Distributors buy large quantities (below wholesale cost) and sell them to quilt shops at wholesale cost.  It’s a nice arrangement because quilt shop owners browse distributor’s sites so it gives my patterns greater exposure.  My samples have also been in the distributor’s booth at Quilt Market.

What gave you the courage and belief that you could actually do this?  Writing a couple of tutorials on this blog and getting such a positive response gave me the courage to write my first pattern.  The funny thing is that although the patterns were selling and people were giving me  a positive response, it wasn’t until I sent my patterns off to a distributor and they added them to their distribution that I actually felt like a legitimate pattern designer.  It was like, “Wow, someone actually in the industry thinks I can write a pattern!” 

Do you have a booth at Market?  I haven’t had a booth at Market.  Right now, it would really be too much for me to handle both financially and timewise.  There is the cost of the booth, of decorating said booth and of getting all the items to Market and back.  Plus having to set up and tear down would mean about a week of my time away from my family.  Just going to Houston for a day and walking around looking at the booths wears me out – I can’t imagine being gone for a week!

I would love to know about the process of actually sitting down and writing the pattern from scratch.  It all starts with an idea and a lot of time refining the shape and dimensions of that idea.  I take copious notes, then from that break them down into manageable steps.  The actual writing takes me a while.  Then I have to determine which steps need diagrams.  Writing out the instructions and refining the diagrams take about equal time for me.  Then off to the test sewers, re-editing, finishing off the cover design and off to the printer! 

How much of an investment was it to produce your patterns?  My start-up costs were relatively small.  Here’s a brief list.  Keep in mind that depending on type of pattern, costs will differ:

$20     Nancy’s book (above)
$30+  Postal Scale (for weighing envelopes at home)
$30+  Long-Arm Stapler (for stapling booklets at home)
$10     Box of envelopes (for shipping)
$7       Bone folder

Variable Costs – depending on what you choose for your business:
             packaging for patterns
             printing cost for pattern instructions
             printing cost for pattern sheets (large-format copies = $$$)
             computer 
             software – for typing up and editing patterns

Do you take the pattern to a printer? Yes.  I started printing locally, then more recently with with an professional printer who prints on nice paper, folds, and staples the patterns for me for a fraction of the cost.  The catch?  I have to order a minimum of 1000. 

How long until you were making a profit?  Given the modest start-up costs, after selling for a few weeks, I had made up the above cost.  But, there are always more costs along the way.  For example, my first pattern pieces I was able to fit on 11″ x 17″ sheets of paper.   As I made more profit, and published more patterns, I eventually made large format copies which require a larger up-front cost to print.

Would you do it all over again?  Go big and make all the investments, or just stick to small sewing for friends and family and the occasional sew for hire?  I would TOTALLY do it again.  Honestly, I don’t enjoy sewing for hire.  I love sewing for my friends, but don’t enjoy sewing with deadlines or for pay.  I really enjoy that I have something I can do at home that keeps my brain from turning to mush and keeps me sewing – which really is therapy for me.

Right now my big question is about copyright. I understand the importance of protecting your patterns and I’m wondering how you go about getting them copyrighted.  Here’s a nifty link for registering your copyright in the USA.

Do you worry about whether your chosen name is already on a pattern somewhere and how you could find that out!  You know, this hasn’t been a huge concern for me.  When I come up with a new pattern name, I’ll google the name and see what comes up.  Obviously “The Diaper Bag” is probably out there someplace, but I’m pretty sure “Patchfolio” is unique to me.  There is a chapter in the book mentioned above about trademarks, copyright, etc.  Good stuff.

What kind of publicity do you do?  I’ve tried a few things.  I’ve taken banner ads out on Craftster and some sewing forums.  Recently I went in with a group on a print ad in a magazine.  My goal in advertising is to get my name out there.  I may or may not get increased individual sales from these ads.  I have no way of knowing unless someone mentions it to me. 

Have you ever considered PDF downloads?  No, but this is a good question.  It has always been my goal to sell my patterns to quilt shops so I never considered going the PDF route.

Do you enjoy this?  About 90% of the time, I enjoy having a pattern business.  There are days, of course when I feel overwhelmed by all that needs to be done around the house and with the kid’s school, soccer, piano, etc.  I don’t want there to be any ideas out there that I’m some sort of super mom.  There are many days that I can’t find the time to sew or craft.  Many of my business desires have to be put on hold when being a mom requires all of my time.  It’s just the way it is and I’m sure every mom understands what I’m talking about.  There is also always the feeling that “I’m not as good as (fill in the blank)”  that I just have to shake off.

Feel free to leave more questions if you like.  I had no idea how long this post would take me to write or that it would be my LONGEST post EVER. 

Pattern Designing Questions?

I often get emails asking about how to get started in pattern designing.  So I’m thinking of putting together a post (or a series of posts) on what I’ve done in putting together my little business.  If you have questions about pattern designing (or sewing,  or life in general -ha!) now’s the time to ask!  I’ll do my best to answer.