Craft a Creative Business : Book review

I've known Fiona Pullen for a while now, firstly on social media and checking into her Sewing Directory website.  Then I won a competition at Sewing Directory.  I met Fiona in person at the first Fat Quarterly retreat and then we met in person again as she has family in my area.  Now Fiona lives in Devon and she has written the book that she was born to write, Craft a Creative Business.  

Fiona is a dynamic hardworking woman with incredible business skills and a love of crafting, especially sewing.  She can problem solve all day long and is funny and positive even during hard times.  If I want anyone to tell me about business, I want it to be her!   Fiona writes with a friendly,  clear voice.  She covers a wide range of issues and topics relevant to a creative business (and many other small businesses) with no flannel, making complex subjects simple and easy to understand and absorb.  You can work your way through from beginning to end or, more likely, dip into the chapters that you either need to work on for your business or are naturally drawn to.  It's an interactive read; Fiona suggests at the beginning that you start the book with a notebook at your side and complete the activities as you go (these are the  ring bound notebook boxes on the page).  At the end of the book you will then have a notebook full of good ideas and plans for your enterprise.

This book is a joy to read and that in itself is an achievement in a book about business.  It is well laid out, with each chapter having a different background colour and information is presented in a mix of styles so you eye and brain is kept stimulated.  Its a neat size 6 ¾" x 8 ¼" too, easy to carry round and read on the go.

The coverage is vast, from tweaking your merchandise photographs to insurance, to google analytics.  

Its no surprise to me that the chapters that are particularly helpful are those on legal matters and the online themes of Social media and Online Market place; Fiona trained as a lawyer.  Legalities are not the most interesting to think about but they do have to be understood and mastering an online presence is an essential part of any business today.  Much of the success of Fiona's own business, Sewing Directory, has come from her knowledge of law and her social media skills.  Her etiquette guides to Twitter, Facebook and her Do's and Don'ts of Social Media are must read sections if you are new to any aspect of social media.

 I am self employed small business woman in my non sewing life- that sounds so fancy but really it means I run music classes for babies and toddlers as part of a supportive and friendly franchise.  Like many small businesses, I chose it because I love teaching (I used to be a primary teacher) and I wanted a job to fit round my daughter who was just starting school at the time.  Much of the online sections could be applied to this business, a non craft endeavour, and I worked my way throughout the section on Search Engine Optimisation (I think this could be Fi's specialist subject if she ever decides to go on Mastermind!).  The way Fiona explained it was easy to understand and my meta tags  descriptions, which were a bit vague and wishy washy, are now focused, up to date and ready for google searches.

 There are special guests with varying words of wisdom from all over the craft world.  Some chimed with me, others not so much but there is something for every sort of craft business.  I especially liked Kristin's (Sewmamasew) contribution, I could not agree more with her focus on community and reciprocity.  I do lots of work for free, blog hops, tutorials sharing links with projects and books that I find interesting and I hope you will too.  Most of these came about through slowly building relationships with a variety of people and businesses over the years.  Most are unpaid or without direct material benefit, occasionally I get sent a book or some thread which is always a treat- who doesn't love free stuff, but most are goodwill, support and mutual appreciation.

I should declare that I was sent this book for free as a review copy and that obviously I know Fiona.  If I had a criticism the only thing that comes to mind is the font choice in the little post-it note style squares- its a handwriting style font and just not to my taste and was probably decided by someone else.  There is nothing else to criticise!  Fiona has a dedicated website to  this book and keeping the topics up to date.  If you are having even the vaguest thoughts about starting a crafty business, this book is your new best friend.  Read it, do the activities and be prepared for what having a small business throws at you.  Its a tough world out there and everyone needs a friend!  It goes on sale mid November as is available for pre-order.

Well done Fiona, I await your next book- there is so obviously going to be another!

Love Patchwork and Quilting: Winter House

I've so many things to blog about at the moment, I don't have time to get them all in, but I really want to share a foundation paper piecing project that is just about to come out in October's copy of Love Patchwork and Quilting.  You know my favourite things to paper piece are teapots and houses, so in preparation of the colder weather  a 'Winter House' foundation pieced cushion cover.

I love the photo styling!   I find cushions and pillows hard to photograph so its amazing what a professional can do!   This is a a skills builder project:  there are downloadable free full-size templates on the LPQ website for the paper piecing and I cover the foundation piecing process in details; there is a mitred corner border so the house looks like its sitting in a picture frame; and finally there is a machine stitched zipper opening which could easily be replaced by an envelope style opening too.

I kept to a muted cool palette with a hint of warmth just hinting at Christmas.  

This is the issue to look out for, you can see Lynne's new BOM top right in very pretty new Windham 'Mimosa' fabrics, as well as Cristina's stunning star quilt and a hint of Christmas with Ali's star stockings and Judith's easy paper pieced winter tree triangle projects.

Quilty Fun Birthday Block

Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet and Fat Quarter shop are celebrating a year since the publication of Lori's Quilty Fun book with cutting instructions for a free birthday block which you may have seen popping up on Instagram, blogs etc.  This is my version- I added a little flame to the candle too!

I went for saturated colours and a bright background- Michael Miller cotton couture in turquoise.  The little flame addition was a mix of a little Y seam and then paper pieced, fiddly but I like the effect.

The download is cutting instructions only- its easy to assemble if you are familiar with Lori's easy techniques like easy corner triangle which she covers in Quilty Fun and in her blog tutorials. 

For UK and non USA people looking for the book, it is available here at Kaleidoscope quilting and books.  Its an easy block to make, I cut mine out and laid it as the diagram on a tray and then worked my way through the main sections of the cake.   It would make a lovely block for a first birthday baby quilt too!

Autumn Wonderland Maxi: Darling Ranges

I loved wearing the Megan Nielsen's Darling Ranges Dress I made when I tested the revamped PDF version last year and a few months back, I bought three metres of Autumn Wonderland by Elosie Renouf from her Bark and Branch collection for Cloud 9 from Eternal Maker  (I can only find some here in the UK and also here (thanks to Andrea!) with an eye to making another this year.  I am not a detailed planner when it comes to quilts, garments or sewing generally.  I do however do a lot of thinking and mulling over.  Sometimes I sketch out thoughts and have a particular fabric in mind but I rarely have buttons, zips, thread, interfacing all perfectly ready and I tend to go with the process as I make it.  When I came to make this dress I had maxi dresses on my mind.  The weather is changing, I hate wearing tights and leggings.  I tend to wear long thin socks instead and so my skirts and dresses need to be long to go from autumn to winter so I ended up with a maxi Darling Ranges frock.   

I made most of my alterations last time with a small bust adjustment and cutting the small size.  This time, I used the skirt from Simplicity Cynthia Rowley dress 1801 which has a maxi option.  The skirt pattern pieces are almost the same width as the Darling Ranges skirt pieces but they have a slight A line cut and the pockets are sewn in on the waist seam as well as the side.  The skirt length was around 37" unhemmed. 

I lengthened the three quarter length sleeve option by 2" and used the cuff pattern piece from the Tova pattern

I added a skirt lining as I realised the fabric was going to be a bit light for a winter dress and I had some  thrifted old silk crepe  which was just the right length and the colour was perfect for this fabric and not much good for anything else.  I made the outer skirt first, including the pockets, and then made the skirt lining and placed the two together wrong sides together so the lining became an interlining and the fabric was then treated as one layer for joining the skirt to the bodice.  It helped to add a little structure on the skirt button bands too. 

 For the hem, I cut the lining layer to the finished skirt length.  I then double folded the hem on the outer skirt fabric and hand sewed the skirt hem to the interlining so nothing can be seen on the right side.  It was a little tricky to get the hang and drape of both layers to work together and I found it easiest to hang the dress on a door and work from the floor to pin the hem in place.  It does make for a lovely swishy skirt and adds warmth without adding bulk.  The silk was also much easier to sew that I thought- I fear slippery fabrics!

I had some pink snaps left form other project- these are from Cowgirl snaps and I used my tutorial  to attach them.

The cuffs and tie were left over chambray poplin from this skirt.

I like the waist to be relaxed and use the ties to pull it in.  

The end dress has a bohemian feel, is incredibly comfortable and reminds me a little of 1970s Ossie Clarke V-neck maxi dresses.  I have another maxi dress ready to blog, more to follow soon.

Cotton + Steel Upholstery

My husband knows my magpie eyes.  He knows my tendency to go out to get some milk and come back with a table.  On one of my regular Sunday car boot sale visits, I picked up a foot stool with a tilting platform- I hurt my knee a few months back and I wanted something to rest my leg on.  And then on a quick round the block dog walk I came back with a chair that was been thrown out during student house rennovations over the summer.  Both have proved to be ideal for a little Cotton + Steel canvas upholstery adventure.  I started with the easiest project, the foot stool:

It had a rather nasty satiny fabric covering the top and as it was clean, I left that in place as a base and just removed the hinges and took the wooden tilting top off.  Then it was simply a question of using a shape gun and hammering the staples into the back.  The fabric is Melody Miller 'Gallop' canvas from the Mustang collection.

The whole process took 30 mins tops.  Very satisfying!  Here it is in situ in our tiny living room.

Next the chair, this was more complex.  I cleaned the chair up, vacuumed and wiped it down.  I had to patch the seat a little as the material had worn through to the padding so I used some quilt wadding and patched it over the gap.  The seat and back rest unscrew and the seat was covered using a staple gun again but the rounded corners needed a little stitching to ease the fabric in.  This print is Tiger Stripes canvas in aqua from Alexia Abegg's Hatbox collection  and the only UK shop I could find with some in stock is M is for Make. 

You can see the gathering technique below- very simple and just used at the rounded corners.  I used a long stitch on my machine and Gutermann sew all poly thread as it is strong.  I temporarily pinned the fabric in place using very chunky pins and then stapled into the fabric layer  underneath and the wooden frame.  This is all covered up by another layer of plain cotton with the raw edges turned in and stapled on to neaten everything up.

So far so good, but the back rest was a little more problematic as it was curved and more of it is visible so nowhere to hide staples. 

 Instead, I covered the inward curve of the back rest front first.  I used the big pins as before to hold the fabric in place and a variety of hand stitches according to whatever seemed to work best.  It was hard work to sew as it's all by hand and the surface has only a little padding.  I had to pull the fabric tight to make sure it followed the curve.  The catch stitch worked best and I ended up redoing some areas so that it was catch stitch all the way round.

 I then used a piece of freezer paper to make a template for the back fabric: this is the side that screws into the wooden back supports.  I pressed the waxy side of the freezer paper onto the back rest and drew around the edge and cut out the template.  I then pressed this onto the reverse of the canvas and  cut a generous seam allowance all round.  Where the curve dips at the top, the fabric needs to stretch a little more so I cut some triangular notches into the seam allowance.  Around the outer curves, again I used a gathering stitch to manage the fullness.  The freezer paper is then removed and the back fabric is pinned in place with all the raw edges folded in and slip stitched it onto the fabric that I had already sewn on.

 It was hard going, painful on the finger tips but the end result was so neat.

Both pieces of furniture are in use and the fabrics are making us all happy! 

September at Village Haberdashery

I've just about got time in September for a sneaky visit to Village Haberdashery where Annie has rather mysteriously managed a world exclusive by being the first shop worldwide to secure the delivery of Carolyn Friedlander's newest collection, Doe.

It was all down to a chance meeting at with a fabric rep!  So Village Haberdashery has the whole collection months before it arrives in USA- that never happens!  Stand out prints include

Lined Dots in Carrot- this looks to be the accent colour in the collection:

And I am pretty keen on this print, Lined Field in Sage.

And this one, bias check in colour options, Blue and Sky and Meringue.

 

Is is a low key, understated collection.  Lots of sketchy, soft geometrics in gorgeous colours.  I  was having a conversation with Jo from A Life in Lists  a few weeks back ( we live within relatively easy travelling distance) and we were saying how Carolyn's collections have totally changed blender and background fabrics and made them so much more desirable, thoughtful and exciting!   Annie has put a Kona build a bundle selection together to co-ordinate with Doe. And you can build your Doe prints bundle here.

There are Carolyn Friedlander quilt patterns available in the shop too- this one caught my eye, 'Focal':

A few weeks back I ordered a Figure Eight Scarf kit from Annie which featured Kim Kight's Home Body Window Vine print in silky lawn from Cotton and Steel paired with Roberty Kaufman Cambridge Lawn in Mango.  The aqua bobble trim can be found here.  The tutorial to make it is here- my only change was to use a zipper foot to manage the bulk of the bobble trim.

 

This is the result- modelled by my daughter. A soft, silky very wearable scarf!  I have a lot of blue and a growing quantity of coral colours in my wardrobe so it is perfect for when the summer finally leaves and the cooler weather kicks in.  These kits need a bit of prep as the fabric is cut down the length rather than across the width so click on the link to sign up for a stock notification or email Annie so that she knows more kits are required!

Now let's talk a dressmaking favourite, Chambray!  I have a big stock of chambray in my wardrobe and dressmaking fabrics, but there's always room for more!  This time, spotty dotty reversible chambray:

You can see the right side more clearly here (it looks a little brown in the photo above, I suspect the photo below is more representative). 

It is a lightweight but a little heavier than the floaty Chambray Union fabrics which are a little see through when used as a single layer.  I suspect these reversible chambrays would make great shirts, shirt dresses and gathered skirts as well as kids clothes and even quilts.

These are some of the available Chambray Union fabrics, Slub chambray in Indigo:

This fabric is beautifully shown off in the Lisette Traveller Dress made by Zoe Edwards for Annie's window and a class in November that she is teaching on how to make the dress at Village Haberdashery.

I suspect that this Green Bee 'Dylan' children's pattern would work in a selection of the chambray fabrics.

Chambray dot (not reversible) is back in stock.  Not the easiest fabric to sew with but floaty and washes and wears beautifully.  I made an Alder dress in this fabric and it was my most worn summer garment! 

I know for some, a change into the cooler seasons brings out tapestry and needle point.  I used to do a lot of tapestry- crewel wool and canvas to make cushions.  I love the Emily Peacock kits- huge choice but these two were calling me, Mexican Heart and Tree of Life- simple and vibrant:

 Wow, those colours really sing and make my eyes very happy!  Enjoy x