A NEW Direction

I am taking my pattern line in a new direction. This change was brought about by some feedback and instruction that I recieved this month.

I took a couple of workshops through my local Score location covering many topics from How to Start a Business to Social Media Marketing. It was a lot to absorb in a small amount of time and many days I returned home with a brain that was turned to mush. 

By the end of the last workshop I had decided that my market, was actually two markets: Historic Costumes and Plush Toys. While there is some overlap, I am willing to bet that most of you who are reading this fall more into one camp than the other. While I had debated with myself periodically for years about this issue, I never really wanted to separate the my work into two categories, because frankly it means more work for me, I have to have two of just about everything in order to have the two pattern lines. I also never came up with a name for the soft toy patterns I liked.

That is until the other night, after the last workshop on marketing.

Introducing Sew Pandi

I am moving all the plush and craft patterns over to Sew Pandi, also any modern styled clothing would be featured there.

Corsetra Designs will remain for the corsets and historical costumes.

There may be some cross over too, only time will tell what I accomplish.

One of the biggest reasons for this change is to control my image better. If you Google “Corsetra” a good percentage of what you will get back (that is in English) is directly linked to me. However Corsetra.com is NOT me, and I would recommend against visiting the site.*

If you Google “Corsetra Designs” you will get references to me exclusively.

I intend to market my corset patterns to the historical costume community, and many of those in that field do not overtly sexualize the corset, knowing that it is just another aspect of the whole package.

Doing an image search for corsets on the internet can be a dangerous place, many images will not be considered safe for work/children . This NOT good for a line of soft toy patterns DESIGNED for children!

So with that in mind I have decided that Corsetra Designs is not a good name for the toy patterns. I LOVE the name, and my logo and that  is not going anywhere. The Skeleton Corset Pattern is still going on, and will be released this Spring/ Summer. 

What does this mean for YOU, my followers? Well it means you now have a choice, and having choices is good! You can now choose to follow Corsetra Designs, or Sew Pandi, based on your interests. I have already duplicated my social media outlets, so you can follow  Sew Pandi on Facebook, and Pinterest.

I will be moving over  the toy and doll posts to Sew Pandi from here, so those posts will become links to the content on Sew Pandi. 

For the rest of April I will be duplicating some info on both outlets,  staggered on different days, so hopefully I won’t annoy you.

I learned some of how Facebook works in the Social Media Marketing workshop. I will be implementing some new techniques. I can tell you that the algorithms that Facebook uses to determine how many of your fans it will show your posts to is complicated. certain times of day work better, the more people who see the post, the more it will show them to others. The more YOU like a post and otherwise engage with that page, the more you will see that page’s posts. So if you like a page, engage with them! Just like a real-life relationship between friends, if you don’t do your part to be there for your friends, the less likely you are going to be friends for the long term. It doesn’t take much to “Like” a post.

I will be releasing a BRAND NEW pattern over on Sew Pandi later this week, I hope you come follow the website and the Facebook page.

*They appear to sell cheap corsets, most likely made over seas, probably by very low paid workers. Having never owned a mass produced corset, I would guess that any corset bought from these type of places will not hold up well to wear, and likely be uncomfortable. I am a big fan of custom made corsets if you are going to wear them.

Pockets for the Bed

Organization.
It's important. A place for everything and everything in it's place. Especially when your space is small.
I mentioned in the post about my Bed Curtains that the current living arrangement for my family is living with relatives and all sleeping in the same room. It is tight and there is NO space for books or toys in the bedroom. (though my husband keeps creating a PILE of books beside the bed.

School just started and we were practicing several weeks ahead of the actual start to get ourselves back in routine. Kids are slow in the morning, so one of the common pieces of advice about getting them ready in the morning is to have they get their clothes set out the night before. There is no place for them to do that in our room. Yes there is a dresser, and they could put their clothes on top of that, but it normally is buried under the stack of books from my husband and the lonely sock bin. I just removed those from these pictures.

Instead I thought that I could make a set of pockets to hang over their headboards (yes the actually headboards are arranged at their feet, it was how things worked in our room, I will explain things later.)

I went through my stash of novelty cotton prints and while I had all the fabric for the pink one, I still needed to get solid blue and green for the boys.

First up is the Eldest's bed. His bed frame is home made (re-purposed posts no less.) and is currently attached to the shelf frame over his bed on the far end. In a room with so little floor space, all storage (extra blankets, towels and out of season clothes) must go UP. His bed is too low to the ground for any under bed storage.

He likes Blue, Red, Vehicles, especially trains, buildings and Dogs, so I had been collecting prints from the Traveling with my Pets line by M'Liss for a while. this was an opportunity to use them.

Next child has an Extensible bed from Ikea and has an under the bed drawer/bin for some clothes. Bears and Tractors are just right for him. Pockets are of differing lengths inside and outside the bed to accommodate mattress height.

Last child also has an extensible bed from Ikea with a draw bin under it. This one required an actual pattern to be made because of the curve. The other two were done by just using measurements.

I LOVE these extensible beds from Ikea, they are twin width but you can set them shorter, they are currently set to their shortest to allow us to have some room to walk between the beds. The reason that the headboards are near their feet is so that they can have drawers under their beds without the third leg, which supports the bed in the middle, being in the way.

The tall dresser between the boys' bed is half Husband's and half Eldest. The dresser between the youngers beds is mine, the other large dresser is the kids' Most of Hubby and mine's clothes are hanging on the wall next to our bed behind the curtains. I also hang some on the wall between Daughter and our's bed, which I removed for photos.

As you can see from the floor plan above, which I made when we were trying to find a better layout for our room many months ago (I LOVE CAD!), there is just about 2 feet of walking space between all beds, the best we could do since we determined our children would not be safe in a bunk bed just yet. There is a laundry basket, for clean clothes, that lives between our and Daughter's bed, and a laundry hamper, for dirty clothes, that lives at the end of Eldest's bed, another laundry hamper is in the bathroom of course, and then there is always a pile of socks under my husband's computer table.....

Now the children haven't quite gotten into a routine of putting the next day's clothes in their pockets, but at least they have the option, and I USED SOME STASH! with 2 children at school, I foresee a lot more sewing in my future.

Hallows Thoughts

It is September and the Children have started school.

I am still not used to the idea of NOT having my boys for 6 hours, my daughter seems bored, and I don't know what to do with my time. I know that with time I will get a good routine down, but right now it just feels odd.

September, so close to October. October = Halloween. Halloween = COSTUMES!!!!

So I find myself asking the children ever so briefly what they would like to be for Halloween. The boys will need some sort costume that they can put on at school for the festivities. (They can't wear the costume all day.) and it wouldn't be fair to leave the girl out so she will need something as well.

I am thinking of finishing up the Rainbow Dash dress I started for her birthday and still haven't finished.

 It is a 3-piece ensemble, dress, jacket with wings, hat. Oh and I made matching shorts as well. It isn't finished because some child mucked with the settings of my serger and I couldn't get it back in synch in time for her B-day.

So I have a plan for one child, even though she keeps saying she wants to be a kitty, and I remind her that she was one last year.

I so far have not gotten an idea out of the boys, and am thinking that once they see their sister is going to be a Pony, they may want to be one too. I think I could convince one to be Doctor Whooves, seeing we are Doctor Who fans of many years (3 is my fave) but I don't really have another male pony that they would want to be and am concerned about sending them dressed as a female character. I will if it is what they want though, and I think they would be cute. Out of all the Mane Six, Rainbow Dash would be the easiest for a little boy to dress up as, but that is already taken in our family. AppleJack would be a good choice too an happens to be one of my boy's favorite Pony.

http://mlp.wikia.com/wiki/Dr._Hooves

Then *I* want something new and shiny to wear. All this thought of costumes is so much fun I start to feel left out.

But then the cynic in me asks "What is the point?" We will not be trick-or-treating, the children cant eat anything they would get, and I only some of it, my husband less. We are not likely to be invited to any parties, so why should I bother dressing up?

Last year's costumes worked out well, the children have used them as clothing and enjoy their hats very much, it was a win. a bit of a cop-out for a costumer, but a win. I had them finished ahead of when they were needed, they were loved and USED more than once. In fact my daughter is now sporting the shortest hair of my children since she found scissors, so I expect her to be wearing hats quite a bit in the upcoming months as it gets cooler.

Then I think of those UFOs I have. I am especially thinking of the Codex I started when my daugher was a baby (it was nursing friendly no less) but I ran out of time and ended up whipping up a gnome hat and being a gnome with my daughter and husband.

You can see the Codex staff my husband made me is quite shiny! That is my default ren dress by the way, LOVE it!

So Codex has sat in a box for almost 3 years, I should finish it. (Take out the nursing access if I can.) Then I will have something to wear to the local comic and Sci-Fi conventions! Yes that's it.

It is @&$# Halloween, I SHOULD dress up, it is part of the costumer's creed is it not?

Now to get that sewing space back in order.....

Bed Curtains

Personal Project Alert
I have mentioned before that I am reorganizing my living spaces. one aspect was to move my bed and add curtains around it.
Last night I finally finished that project.

My husband and I wanted curtains around our bed for some privacy, as we share the room with our children.
Here is how I accomplished that.

First I did room measurements, then I took my stud locator and found where the beams in the ceiling were.

When I knew the measurements I multiplied them by 1.5 so that the curtains are not too full.

We wanted the top of the curtains to still allow the sunlight to come in, as it helps us to wake up. I figured on about 24" for that. The bottom part ended up being the same size as a Twin Sheet, so that is what is is!

Yes our bed is IN the closet!

I did have one complication. there is a shelf on one wall that sticks out 20"
I thought long and hard about how to deal with this, my solution was to add a smaller, shorter panel to hang from the underside of the shelf. the top part is cut the full width of the curtain, and with the removal of the shorter panel, could be attached nicely to the bottom half and be a fully matching curtain.

Magnus says Hi!
The sheets are not that opaque, but a little privacy is all we need.

The sheets are poly cotton, and were $8 each, but there was a buy one get one half off sale, so that was actually $12
The top fabric is a curtain fabric and was under $4 a yard, I bought 2 yards, it is 108" wide, 100% poly.
I had just the right shade of blue in my stash, and just enough of it too! the rope was from my local Sailor, eyebolts found in the shop.

$20 project! and it makes me happy, if my children can leave my curtains alone, they will get their own!

How do you store your patterns?

I moved my computer desk recently, which required me to clean it off! in the process I found no less than a dozen patterns that needed to be put away. I thought this would be a good time to share how I store my patterns.

First off, there is no right way to store patterns, what works for me may not work for you.

I have several different patterns, of several different types and I have different methods for storing them.

First off, the Big Three (Simplicity, McCalls, Butterick)
I store these in what are often sold as File storage, and indeed they are intended to hold hanging files.
I like them because they are clear so I can see which type of patterns are in them. I also often make a label for the bin. (historical costume, costume, craft, mundane, McCalls, Simplicity, Butterick.)

Initially when I start a new bin, they go in this way, as it is easier to flip through them, but as the bin gets more full, I turn them 90 degrees and put in two rows. This works well for Simplicity and Butterick, not so much for the McCalls patterns which are just a bit wider.

Since these bins are designed for files, you can store all most all sizes of patterns in them, you just have to orientate them efficiently!

If you have a few patterns, this will work well, but if you have lots (I have enough to fill a half dozen of these bins) it is not really the best storage option, they are not square on the outside and thus can take up a bit more space than they need.

You may have noticed that some of those patterns are in zip top bags.
This is because I have USED the pattern.  I ALWAYS trace off the pattern, never cutting the originals. I do this for several reasons

• tissue paper tears
• I need to make more than one size
• I need to alter the pattern
• I want to be able to give or sell the pattern intact someday

This is Simplicity 2745 which I used to make coats for my children for Halloween 2012 you can read my review and the pattern alterations I did to it.
Please note that I wrote the pattern number, size and pattern piece on EACH pattern piece in the bag.

By the way, the bag size I use for Simplicity patterns is 8X10 and 2mil is fine for storage.

Many of my patterns are actually stored in my file cabinets. My computer desk is a table top over two file cabinets, home made from re-purposed wood, it is not the prettiest, but VERY functional, and not hard to move once the file cabinets are emptied and the top is just lifted off. (yes we think about these things in our furniture)

Here I have them organized a bit better, most are in paper envelopes, but some are in plastic bags. This is where I store my larger Historical patterns.

Notice on the front of the envelope I have written down the pattern name and number, the sizes and even the date that I made them. Inside there is a sheet with peoples measurements too.

I also store patterns from books here.

Note that I wrote down the page numbers the pattern came off of as well as the book and pattern name.
For this pattern, I didn't have to do much alterations, so there isn't additional measurement info on the outside. (I am on the smaller side of normal, so the patterns fit rather well out of the book!)

Then of course there are patterns that I make

Note that this copy of the pattern is labeled Uncut, and it is supposed to STAY that way, this is my paper copy in case I lose my digital data. It is also dated should I ever need to update the pattern, I won't accidentally grab the older version.

And of course I have patterns taken off of original garments that I plan on turning into patterns

These envelopes contain more than just the pattern though, they will contain other written information like the research I have done on them, photos, and receipts from purchase.

No, I haven't shared anything about those two patterns yet. ;)

Of course not all my patterns are put away this neatly, here are some examples of the less neat patterns in my file cabinet.

I did paper tape shoe pattern making on my children. Note that the ziplock bag is titled and dated. Each pattern piece is labeled with the child's initials, date, shoe size and left or right.

I reuse envelopes, which means that many of the large envelopes you saw in my file drawer have my address on them! The above pattern is one I JUST made and haven't made up yet. I should date it, it is sitting right here on my desk, there dated!

Anyone recognize this pattern? You should, I have posted the finished product. This one may or may not end up in a paper envelope. I tend to use the plastic 9X12 zip bags for pattern storage as I am working on a project, and paper for when it is finished. But this pattern was not a full success.

Then there is another category of pattern storage, I subscribe to Soft Dolls and Animals, which always has a pattern pull out in the magazine.
I used to store these in magazine holders, which work okay for me, but if you take the pattern insert out it could get separated should the magazine holder ever be knocked over.

Then I went to Binder Storage and used these holders for the magazines and regular sheet protectors for the patterns.
I am currently using Expandable sheet protectors to hold 2 magazines in each one WITH the patterns inside the magazines.

I would love to have a 3 ring sheet protector that had a zip top like these to try out for those loose pattern pieces.

Now there is one last pattern storage category I would like to go over, the In-Progress category.

I have two ways of doing this, when it isa large project, like a garment, I like to put the patterns, and all other papers, like research and inspiration, measurement sheets, receipts, and design sketches into a binder.

This is when the sheet protectors get the most use, after the project is completed (and I am being a good organized girl) i will put the pattern into a proper envelope for long term storage.
In the mean time, it will look like this:

To reduce the need for several books to be open, I photo copy the needed pages and put them in my binder. You can tell that some pattern pieces will need to be folded down a bit before they go in the envelopes.

For little projects, the pattern will live with the materials in a bin.

I label the bins so that I know what is in them. I had to do some photo editing on this picture since some are future gifts. ;)

There is a problem with doing this though, you may never get back to that project! it has happened to me several times, I am hoping them being so blatantly obvious means that it doesn't happen again!

So there are some of the ways that *I* store my patterns, each has it's advantages and disadvantages and may not work for you.

Here are some last tips

• Label EACH pattern piece! I had some loose craft pattern pieces on my desk that I have no clue what they were.
• Label the envelope
• Include dates and sizes
• Group like patterns together, but maybe not in the same packaging
• What ever works for you is fair game

How do YOU store your patterns? I would love to hear from you.

Creativity is....

Merriam Webster defines Creativity as: the quality of being creative, the ability to create

designaemporter

Earlier this week I started down a path of reading up on how to improve my writing/blogging, and I have been READING. Nothing else has gotten accomplished, well I drew a doll pattern.....

One of the things I have read is How To Be CREATIVE by Huge Macleod of gapingvoid

I am going to share some of my favorite quotes from this great bit of inspiration.

"The more original your idea is, the less good advice other people will be able to give you."

"Plus, a big idea will change you. Your friends may love you, but they donʼt want you to
change. If you change, then their dynamic with you also changes. They like things the way
they are, thatʼs how they love you—the way you are, not the way you may become."

Change is hard, but it is part of life, we all grow and change, it is just that CHANGE. I have been paying attention to some social developments going on close to me, and have been musing over how human interactions between parents and their children change as the child grows up into an adult hood. Some aspects of growing up the parent relishes and encourages (like potty training!) and others the parent may not be wanting to let of of just yet, fearing the change that will happen. We can't keep our children babies forever, nor would we want to.

Original idea, my idea isn't that original, but those I talk to most often have no clue what I REALLY want to do, it is outside their interest field, I have come to acknowledge this and accept it, so I don't often ask for their advice. In the end, I think only YOU should be making your decisions, and if you need to get out the old Pro/Con list, then do so.

Source: gethenchnow.com via Corsetra on Pinterest

"Your idea doesn't have to be big. It just has to be yours alone. The more the idea is yours
alone, the more freedom you have to do something really amazing."

If you are trying to fit yourself into the confines of any group, art-form, business or any other "box" you are cheating yourself, limiting your abilities to create something truly masterful!

"Doing anything worthwhile takes forever. 90% of what separates successful people and failed people is time, effort, and stamina."

SERIOUSLY! My mother always told me, "If you are going to do something, Do it Right the FIRST TIME!" Not to say you aren't going to make mistakes, after all we all learn from mistakes, and some mistakes, are in fact, in the end, not a mistake at all but a new discovery!
If you just glue some stuff together, it may look like something to someone, but the odds are it will just look like random stuff glued together to most people (including yourself) and if you don't value your work, why should anyone else?

"the definition of being good at it is being able to make it look easy."

But it isn't easy, we all know that. Just a look at some of the most influential pieces of modern art like this piece by Piet Mondrian

Source: Wikipedia Commons

Looks Simple right? Like any Kindergartner could have done it, so why is it considered an influential piece of art? For the answer you will have to learn more about art than I could teach you, not having an art class since High School! but I can tell you that there are important principles behind this work, which is why it is iconic.

"Nobody can tell you if what youʼre doing is good, meaningful or worthwhile. The more compelling the path, the lonelier it is."

Just think of Van Gogh for this one. He was compelled to paint, and those around him didn't see the value in his work until after he was dead. And I will not go on and on about how great the Doctor Who Episode Vincent and the Doctor is, all my fellow creative Whovians already know.

The point is, you are NOT going to gather a bunch of 'yes men" who applaud your every work overnight, nor would you want to!

You need to find yourself, and then be true to yourself, be true to your art, don't sell out, don't change something just because someone else wants you to. (Now, of course, if you had some niggling detail that wasn't right, but you could pin point it, and asked for opinions, someone else might be able to point out that detail to you)

Source: wordsoverpixels.com via Corsetra on Pinterest

"Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten. 
Then when you hit puberty they take the crayons away and replace them with books on algebra etc. Being suddenly hit years later with the creative bug is just a wee voice telling you, “Iʼd like my crayons back, please.”"

"The wee voice didn't show up because it decided you need more money or you need to hang out with movie stars. Your wee voice came back because your soul somehow depends on it. Thereʼs something you havenʼt said, something you havenʼt done, some light that needs to be switched on, and it needs to be taken care of. Now."
So you have to listen to the wee voice or it will die…taking a big chunk of you along with it."


I hear this one from my husband often, but then he NEVER goes anywhere where without a sketchbook. He feels that school didn't teach him what he needed to know, and now that we have children in school, he is trying to prevent that happening to our children by exposing them to things that they show interest in (like algebra, at kindergarten age!)

What did you want to do as a child, chances that it changed more than once, does it still appeal to you? why aren't you doing it?

"Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put on this earth to climb.
You may never reach the summit; for that you will be forgiven. But if you donʼt make at least one serious attempt to get above the snow line, years later you will find yourself lying on your deathbed, and all you will feel is emptiness.
“Admit that your own private Mount Everest exists. That is half the battle.”"

As Yoda said "Do or Do Not, there is no try"
Another good quote is "the only stupid question, is the one unasked." Now all my husband's questions are "stupid questions" he says so just before he asks them, and I tease him about it lovingly.
If you never try, you will never know what you can do, what you can accomplish

Source: imprinttrainingcenter.blogspot.com via Corsetra on Pinterest

"“The first rule of business,” he said, chuckling at my naiveté, “is never sell something you
love. Otherwise, you may as well be selling your children.”"

"The most important thing a creative person can learn, professionally, is where to draw the red line that  separates what you are willing to do, and what you are not. It is this red line that demarcates your sovereignty, that defines your own private creative domain. What shit you are willing to take, and what shit youʼre not. What you are willing to relinquish control over, and what you arenʼt. What price you are willing to pay, and what price you arenʼt. Everybody is different; everybody has his or her own red line."

Ohh Tough choices here, are you in ART or BUSINESS?
For me, I know a few things about myself

• I hate doing mass production. I may make multiples of the same thing, but they will all have differences, even if it is just a different color. I had a job sewing on an assembly line once, it killed my desire to sew at home, and it aggravated my bad hip.
• I am not the best seamstress. My actual clothing construction skills could really use some sharpening, and I know where to learn more, just not focusing on that because...
• I do not want to do sewing for a living. There I said it, and you may be surprised to read that, but I am not interested in taking commissions and working to someone else ideals.
• I want to design, to create, to take pencil and paper in hand and make something, I'll sew up that pattern to test it out, and then I'll likely never make it again. I have decent math skills and tools at my disposal to creat patterns, so that is what I am going to do.

"Don’t worry about finding inspiration. It comes eventually.
Inspiration precedes the desire to create, not the other way around.

You have to find a way of working that makes it dead easy to take full advantage of your inspired moments. They never hit at a convenient time, nor do they last long.

Writerʼs block is just a symptom of feeling like you have nothing to say, combined with the rather weird idea that you SHOULD feel the need to say something."

The muse comes in spurts (so does depression it seems) I know this from my personal life, sometimes you are blocked creatively because there is another aspect of your life that is out of balance. I have just recently experienced this in my personal life, I feel that some of the non-creative problems have been dealt with and am glad to have my creative mood coming back.
DO SOMETHING ELSE the muse will come back, or if there is another problem, deal with that.

Mug from Cafe Press

So there you have it, just a FEW quotes from How To Be CREATIVE by Huge Macleodthat I found to be inspirational for me. i would highly recomend going over to ChangeThis and downloading How To Be CREATIVE for FREE, print it out, mark it up with highlighter and notes in the margins. Put it in a binder and read through it again when you have the need, I know that is what I have done, and will do.