Your Custom Text Here
Today, Luna Lovegood, a custom request, left for her new home in Arizona. She was so fun to make and inspired me to start thinking about the other Harry Potter characters. Hermione might be next.
Luna Lovegood, A Harry Potter doll
Luna Lovegood, A Harry Potter doll
Luna Lovegood, A Harry Potter doll
Luna Lovegood, A Harry Potter doll
10 Podcasts to enjoy while sewing or knitting
I LOVE listening to podcasts while I sew or knit or clean up my workspace. Great podcasts help keep me focused and help me be more productive. I have noticed if I don't have a podcast in the background, I am more likely to be distracted by things like my phone.
I use the app iCatcher for downloading, listening, organizing and deleting my podcasts. I know there are others that do the same job, but I have no complaints about iCatcher. All of these podcasts can also be listened to straight from your computer, if you are not a smart phone user.
I have a number of favorites and I wanted to share them and hear from others what they recommend, both craft-related and uncraft-related but great to craft to.
Un-craft-related:
The Moth: Their tagline is "True Stories Told Live", which is completely accurate, except the Moth folks do a great job of screening and curating, so the stories really are great. Some of the stories are short, so if you want a continuous stretch of stories, listen to The Moth Radio Hour. Just a heads up if you are listening without head phones and there are young children around, not all stories are PG13.
Freakonomics: The authors of Freakonomics, Superfreak and Think Like a Freak have a podcast. Part social science, part economics, always interesting and always funny. The authors are a lot like your favorite college professors. These two can bring any topic to life.
The Ted Radio Hour: Brought to you by NPR. If you haven't discovered Ted Talks yet, you need to. Wise, inspiring, often witty speakers speak about their thing for 19 minutes, which seems to be the perfect amount of time for most attention spans--except if you are sewing, or knitting, then you may want the Ted Radio Hour, which synthesizes several Ted talks along a theme, weaves them together, along with interviews with the speakers. I love these, except sometimes I just feel very ordinary compared to these people. Today I listened to a Ted Radio Hour that included a woman who rowed across the Atlantic and Pacific, without a lifeline boat trailing.
Serial: It would be hard to miss the Serial hype these days. Everyone is following this podcast, which spun off from NPR's This American Life. This podcast is a story told in serial (week by week) form investigating a murder and conviction that occurred in a Baltimore suburb in 1999. It involves high schoolers, an ex-boyfriend, issues with a defense attorney, who is no longer alive, and a very questionable timeline. Tomorrow is the twelfth and last episode. If you haven't been following, because it is a podcast, you can start anytime, and that is the beauty of podcasts.
Mac OS Ken: I have to admit, this is my husband's favorite podcast. Mac OS Ken covers all things Apple every day. Since Apple products make my life much easier, I have both Mac OS Ken and my husband to thank!
Crafting related:
While She Naps: Every other Monday Abby Glassenberg interviews those at the forefront of the sewing, creating and craft blogging worlds. Jess Brown, Alicia Paulson and Melanie Falick were recent guests. Sometimes if there is time, the guests and Abby recommend products--everything from cookbooks to apps and clothing.
Never Not Knitting: Alana Dakos is not only an amazing knitter and pattern designer but she does a cool podcast. She ruminates about knitting, reviews products, interviews guests and talks about her progress on specific projects and pattern designs. She's a good storyteller and also has an incredibly soothing voice, so this blog will calm you down and remind you to keep knitting.
Explore Your Enthusiasm: Tara Swiger started as a yarn dyer and successfully marketed her yarn. She now helps other makers market their products. She is a great coach/therapist for those of us trying to make and sell. Tara usually thoroughly discusses one aspect of the process. She looks at that process from inspiration to customer in each podcast.
The Unmistakable Creative: Srini Raos interviews people from all different worlds of creating about everything from inspiration, overcoming setbacks, crowdfunding. Very inspiring podcast.
After The Jump: Grace Bonney of DesignSponge does a bit of all of the above podcasts, except the knitting. She interviews people in the design industry and talks about the process.
That's all of my recommendations for now. Would love to hear what you listen to. And who is waiting for the final episode of Serial tomorrow?
Smocking dresses, doll dresses, is one of my favorite things to do. I just shipped a few smocked dresses today.
Hope everyone is enjoying the season.
As soon as I am done with holiday orders Doll Dressmaking will be back on my blog.
First, apologies, I have not had enough time to do a number of things, including post to my blog. As soon as I have shipped Christmas orders, I will resume the Doll Dressmaking series. Sleeves, pleats, raglan, there's so much more to cover.
In the meantime, it has been cold out there. Today is cold and wet, but mostly it has been cold and windy. I am happy to say that even if my thirteen year old daughter (AKA Egg) will not wear mittens or a hat out, Phoebe and Egg should be pretty warm.
Here's a sneak peek at the winter wear. A few have been sold already and a few need to still be listed on Etsy.
Boot will be included, they are still on the needles.
Long underwear, of course
These pajamas are part of a cuddly winter play set (including a fur coat) I have just made for Baby Egg.
I was thinking to redo them. Can you guess why?
When I sew, I have a tendency to redo my work. Some times more than once. At times way too much.
It does not always make sense to be such a perfectionist. It can be counter productive and so I’ve been trying to draw a line.
I am sure anyone who runs a handmade business is familiar with the urge to redo and the need to draw a line.
Very few maker’s can have a style of making and constantly remaking. They cannot stay in business. It can be financially and emotionally draining. We are all perfectionists in our craft, but we need to determine to what degree makes sense.
So each maker must relearn what is a flaw and what is may be considered Wabi-Sabi, a Japanese philosophy that respects impermanence and imperfection.
I have been working hard to redo less.
First I see “flaws” that often only I see.
But most importantly, a decision to buy handmade is often a decision to embrace variation and a bit of quirkiness. A handmade purchase is not a the same as off the shelf, or slick or mass produced. Those items are all predictably the same. Mass production eliminates all evidence of the hand.
Handmade will have the mark of the maker. This includes the makers’ unique vision and the maker’s style of production. Often a flaw is also part of the essence and charm of an object. A slight tilt, a mis-matched thread color, a few hand stitches that show, an extra row of smocking. These are the mark of the maker and part of the many details that give a handmade object its character.
I am always happy to redo upon request, if the request is reasonable. But I need to relearn to not be too beholden to my own eye and mind.
Have you noticed why yet?
The label is at a slight tilt. I am leaving Baby Egg's pajamas for Baby Egg to enjoy as they are and I am beginning to enjoy leaving well enough alone .
Tis the season... for those who craft for a living to take a few breathing lessons. Trying to stay on schedule but also trying to balance Phoebe&Egg with real life which is also busy right about now.
So if there are fewer blog posts this time of year, enjoy the break, because I am fairly certain you are busy too.
Sent two Baby Egg sisters off to their new home in South Carolina today. One of them may need to change their name, two little girls named Egg may get confusing.
Baby Eggs off to their new home
One of the Baby Egg clothes sets
Off to the Post Office
Cuddly Egg with an often requested kind of hair
Today marks one year since I first went live with my Etsy shop. It has been an amazing year and I feel incredibly lucky to be doing this for a living.
It has also been an educational year.
Here are just ten of the many things I learned.
1. I need to OWN my business, I mean own like flaunt it.
After nearly two decades in the environmental protection business, in May, I left to grow Phoebe&Egg. I love what I do, but when people ask I what I do, I still hesitate to say “I am a doll-maker”. It’s just not your usual profession.
When I proudly own it, the conversation not only goes more smoothly, I often make unexpected connections. People don’t talk about dolls in daily conversations, but there a lot of people who are happy to if given the chance.
So now I always have my Moo mini cards and am happy to talk about what I do.
I own Phoebe&Egg.
2. Have patience. My husband said this the day after I officially gave my notice at my previous job. He knows I am not the most patient person, especially when it comes to my own progress. But that is one of the best pieces of advice a new business owner can receive.
This past summer, my first summer in "retail", business was slow. I worried. Had this all been just a crazy far-fetched idea?
I am now crazy busy and wish I had been patient and enjoyed the slower pace last June, when I needed to be patient.
It is important to enjoy the process of growing gradually.
3. When your business is online you meet a lot of people. Maybe more than when you sell in a bricks and mortar store ( I do both).
I’ve met some great people. I love my customers. I also have met some amazing people who sew or craft for a living. I am not sure I would have made so many connections by only selling in bricks and mortar stores or indirectly through other online shops. It has been the direct connections, through my blog, my etsy shop, emails or Facebook or Instagram, that have been most valuable.
4. I can't do craft fairs. At least not for a few years.
I did one last year, it was fun (I maybe broke even).
I signed up for two this holiday season (back in June when business was slow), thinking that was what I needed for the holiday season.
It was not what I needed at all. I am so busy with custom orders this fall that I never had time to create stock for one fair, let alone two.
It was with great angst that I backed out of each fair.
So fairs will not be my thing.
5. Don’t order too many supplies. I tend to worry I am going to run out of something at a critical time. In fact I have on occasion run out of something critical. But not for long. In this day and age, most things can be obtained within a few days and stuff takes up space.
6. Assume the best. This one I got from Tara Swiger, of Share Your Enthusiasm. This applies to so much. Assume the postal service will work. Assume a customer issue can be resolved. Assume people will like what you make for them. Negative thoughts and worry drain your valuable energy.
If I had assumed the best when the summer was slow, I would have spent more time creating back stock for fairs, organizing my photos in Lightroom, and writing blog posts, because I would have assumed I would be very busy now.
7. Develop systems when you are slow. They are critical for when you are busy. Things like a “shipping station” or a system for how your photo files are organized (if you are getting the sense this is a problem, you are right) or a blog posting routine. After the holidays, I will be instituting a few more systems.
8. My husband is right more often than I admit. He was right about being patient. And many other things. He has been my biggest (and most helpful) fan.
9. Family time needs to be sacred. For your sanity and for your family's. A few times I’ve been behind and tried to borrow from family time, it didn’t turn out well.
10. My customers have the best ideas. Many of my new doll ideas have been prompted by customer requests. I have then gone on to sell many more of that doll. Fancy Nancy. A boy doll. A baby with pink hair. A toddler with the wild braids. I just had a Harry Potter request.
So please, keep the great ideas coming.
And most of all, thank you for such an amazing year.
As some of you know, in October I started a program called the Doll Friend Project. For every Phoebe&Egg doll I sell, I will also make a doll for a child in the foster care system.
The dolls serve as transitional objects, basically a comfort object.
I have a "list" of the children with just enough information to help me decide what type of doll would be appropriate for that child. I take age, sex and ethnicity into account when designing a doll for these children.
In October, I made dolls for girls. I started with them, because making dolls for girls is what I know. I was a bit hesitant to move onto the five boys on my list. Their average age was 10.
A ten year old boy is far different than a six year old. By ten, they are very aware of what the other boys think about them. By ten, they often care more about being macho. By ten, they won't cry in front of their peers. I remember ten well with my own son.
At this age, they begin to worry about being stigmatized. More so for this group of boys, who don't necessarily have all of the things most boys have that positively affirm their identity.
A traditional doll will is unlikely to be a security object for them. It could be embarrassing, hidden, dscarded.
So for awhile I was not sure what to make this group. The "doll" needed to be: not embarrassing, endearing, enduring and portable.
Selfishly, it also had to be enjoyable to make. So for a awhile I just mulled, feeling guilty that I had not done anything yet.
The one day I realized that the answer had been there all along. A pattern from ElfPop that I had pinned from Etsy onto Pinterest a few months back, with a few tweaks, would be perfect.
I made the puppies out of a soft cotton brushed twill and their spots are made from various tweeds that I have. Instead of embroidering their faces I used safety eyes and a really cool tool to attach the safety eyes from Glass Eyes Online. I also used an awl to punch the hole first. I first read about the safety eye tool on Abby Glassenberg's While She Naps blog.
Clockwise: Safety eye insertion tool, Awl, safety eyes.
A safety eye, ie, an eye that will not budge. No risk of falling off an becoming a choking hazard.
Scarves knitted with Quince Osprey yarn. Soft and yummy.
I've been sewing a lot lately.
Lots of dresses,
lots of dolls.
and boy clothes,
and dolls for foster care.
I've been photographing a lot lately too. Not sure if I did an official brag about my new camera. But I am in love with my Nikon 5300 and the two lenses I got. Completely smitten.
What I have not been doing is listing all of this work on Etsy, which may seem like this small action defeats the purpose of why I sew. And to an extent that is true. Except I lOVE to sew. And I now love to photograph. I just get a little stressed about listing. That's for another blog post.
I just listed a few dresses and will be adding more over the week. So if your Phoebe is twitching for new clothes, take a peek and keep watching for more.
Pockets are often the perfect accent for kids and doll clothing. For kids, a lined patch pocket is easy, the lining makes for easy clean edges.
Doll pockets are too small to line easily. And machine hemming all the edges is tricky for such a small size rectangle.
My trick is to "line" the pockets with tulle.
Cut out two pockets. A rectangle that is 3x3.5 inches should work for Phoebe, Waldorf and American Girl Dolls. It will seem large but it will be smaller when it's done.
Tulle is sold in many crafts shops and online as a 6inch roll.
1. Place your two pockets right side up.
2. Cut a piece of tulle large to cover both pockets.
3. Lay tulle over both pockets and pin.
4. Stitch around the edges of each pocket, leaving an opening that is about an inch for turning right side out. A larger seam allowance is better for this. Just under a half inch is good.
5. Clip corners.
6. Turn right side out. Use something like a knitting needle to carefully poke out corners.
7. Iron flat. Iron with fabric side up, tulle cannot withstand direct heat.
8. Pin pockets to dress. Pocket placement is a personal preference. I placed these with a tiny bit going onto the back of the dress.
9. Sew the pockets. If a tiny bit of tulle shows anywhere, it is easy to snip off.
Click to enlarge.
Pockets are not so hard and maybe even fun.
