Pattern Update

Small victory = finishing up designing the front of my pattern envelopes. Also, updating Craftsy and my shop with them. So exciting to create.

"The compelling thing about making art - or making anything, I suppose - is the moment when the vaporous, insubstantial idea becomes a solid there, a thing, a substance in a world of substances.”
-Audrey Niffenegger


xoxo CBB

Open Call....

For pattern testers that is! Do you love sewing? Want to try out something new? I'm currently looking for people to give my patterns a try (and get some feedback in return!). How it works? You get in touch & I send you a pattern free of charge. You give it a try (promptly, within 2 weeks) and then let me know how it went, what needs improvement, if you find errata, etc. Oh and send a pic of your finished product. Sound like fun? comment below or send me an email at caitlinbetsybell AT gmail DOT com.

xo CBB

p.s. I'm especially looking for testers for my clothing patterns since it is my first attempt at grading patterns, so if you have a little babe to sew for (0-18 months) drop me a line.....

endless hours staring at the computer screen...

I'm doing it--I'm making my patterns available in print (and not just digitally!). Why, you might ask? Because I decided to sign up for the summer artist market. Initially, I thought there was no way that it would ever be a possibility (the first sign up was during my first trimester when I had zero energy and felt like I could hardly get anything done). But it was just my luck that not enough people applied and the application deadline became a rolling one and now I've decided to give it a try.

Which leads me to why I'm making an attempt to have my patterns available in physical form since I would really like to have them for sale at the artist market. Which means I've been spending A LOT of time on the computer designing packaging, and writing, and editing, and the list goes on and on. At least I know that once done, I can just continually print more without having to repeat all of this initial work. This is definitely an advantage over being a little sweatshop and focusing on just sewing enough goods to sell every week. It will be exciting too to see what sort of feedback I get from my shift in focus with my business since the last time I took part in the market.

 

Here are some of the pattern envelopes that I've got in the works-- I'll be excited to get these printed and assembled. Although the first market is tomorrow, I'm shooting to start in two weeks and do it every other week (or as much as the weather allows!). I've got lots more to do but at least this is giving me a deadline to get it accomplished by!

xo CBB 

Pattern Peek

I'll take a little break from sharing baby clothes to share with you my other recent creative endeavor--designing pattern envelopes for my patterns. I hope at some point to offer print and not just digital patterns. For right now I want to be sure to have some cohesive branding/packaging even if they're purely digital. As I was trying to fall asleep the other night it occurred to me that I could illustrate using paper cutouts--and that is exactly what I've been working on!

I'm so thrilled to have devised a way to spend less time staring at my computer screen. I enjoy the creative design process a lot more if it's tactile rather than purely digital. Don't get me wrong there are functions on the computer which are invaluable (the ability to undo/redo is pretty swell). I just feel like it's easier for me to design with traditional media. I'd chose a pair of scissors and paper any day over hours of using the pen tool in Illustrator, but I'm thankful to know how to do both. I'll be adding my logo and the title of the pattern in Photoshop once I scan these designs in, but for now here is a little look into my process...

xo CBB

At my sewing machine today.

Today I considered sitting down to write another pattern. Instead, I thought a little research was in order. I'm not terribly new to writing patterns (I've had patterns published since 2008) but I haven't ever put so much of my energy into writing them before, and I want to make sure that I'm doing it well. When it comes to sewing, I myself don't use patterns much--I dream something up and make it. Sometimes I want to make things for myself or gifts for others and I might use someone else's pattern, but even if I do, I use the pattern pieces, but don't tend to look at the directions much. I prefer to figure it out intuitively. So today I pulled out a couple of craft books from my personal library and looked through to find a pattern from each one that I'd like to try out over the next few weeks. I hope that by doing this I'll learn how other people make things, and then how they communicate it in their directions--and ultimately improve my own pattern writing skills. So today instead of being at my computer I sat down at my sewing machine to give someone else's pattern a try.

xo CBB

A day for embroidery.

Today I started working on this...another sample of my embroidery pattern, Sly as a Fox, Wise as an Owl.

 It's been rather fun picking out floss colors from my rather large (and also rather tangled) stash. Perhaps sometime I'll organize it onto cute cards like these:

{found here}

I also got around to putting this free pattern up on Craftsy- you might recognize it if you read my former blog.

And that sums up my embroidery day.

xo CBB

A Book

Hmm, this pattern felt a little like writing a book--perhaps it's the 22 pattern pieces, or maybe all those diagrams for each step--either way, I'm keeping up with releasing a new pattern each day!

This time I made a pattern for my quiet book--a definite Nifty Kidstuff customer favorite and perhaps one of the more time intensive things I've chosen to produce. Also one of the most fun! Especially if you like applique and figuring out just the right bit of fabric for this and that (I do). Now you too can make this book using my new pattern!

xo CBB

A New Pattern in Store

The pattern of the day today is....

Goldilocks & the Three Bears finger puppets! I can't tell you how many finger puppets I have stitched in the past couple years but my guess is over 1000. They are a fun and quick sewing project (perfect if you like a little instant gratification from your sewing). Again, you can find it in my craftsy store or in my own shop.

 

Happy crafting!

xo CBB

Writing Patterns

When I relaunched my website last week, one little section wasn't quite finished: patterns. I've decided that I quite like the idea of writing patterns to sell instead of trying to be a one person sweatshop and crank out a million and one handmade toys. So instead I'm shifting my focus to spreading a little knowledge and craftiness by offering patterns through my shop. Right now there are three of them: two for sewing and one for embroidery. I'm making them available both in my big cartel shop and on Craftsy. They are for personal use only but I am thinking that in the future I will offer a cottage industry license to small time crafters who wish to sell what they make from my patterns. Exciting stuff.

I have the rather ambitious goal of adding one new pattern a day to my shop this week--hopefully I can make that happen! What would you like to see a pattern for?
xo CBB

p.s. if you're ever interested in pattern testing email me at caitlinbetsybell(at)gmail(dot)com--I'll give you a free copy to test out!