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.

Spiral Ornaments on my Tree

Last pattern for 2013 is this set of 4 spiral ornaments.

This pattern was designed back in November. I participated in a stuffed ornament swap with other soft toy designers, while technically I think they were expecting an animal, this was the design that popped into my head.
I came up with at least 6 different shapes, some didn't work out too well, others were to similar. Each pattern has gone through at least 2 revisions, some more than that!

This is a pattern I couldn't have created quickly without the use of CAD, no it wasn't a 3D model build, but it would have taken FOREVER to do with paper and pen.

There are 4 different ornaments, each has enough variations to distinguish it from the others.

Ornament C was actually the first pattern I developed, it is the most difficult of the lot do to the pattern piece doubling back on itself. It is the longest at 6 1/2" (16.5) long

Ornament A, at 5 1/2" (14cm) long, was then created, I essentially chopped off the center section of the pattern, this is the easiest of the 4 patterns, as it doesn't have as steep of curves. This is why it is listed first, instead of Ornament C

Ornament B followed quickly on the heels of A, but was a totally new draft. I was drawing inspiration from traditional glass ornament shapes. 4" (10cm) long.

Ornament D was created while the pattern went through its first round of testing. I decided I needed a sphere shape to round out the set. You saw this 3" (8cm) sphere in my last post.

This pattern has step by step photos as well as a lot of tips on sewing curves. The general consensus of the pattern testers was that this was NOT a beginners pattern, so it is described as intermediate. There is quite a bit of hand sewing involved in this pattern, so knowledge of hand sewing techniques is required.
This pattern is a good use for scraps as the largest pattern can be made from just three pieces, each measuring  4"x16" (10cmx40.5cm)

I have been able to make one up in an afternoon. I love knowing that my children will not be able to turn these ornaments in to dangerous shards, like they have out glass and plastic ones. I am already planing on making a few more up in other colors for other holidays!

Pattern can be found on Craftsy and in my Etsy Shop at an introductory price of just $6.00USD for the next week. Regular price is $8.00, that is 25%!

There is still time to make something for Christmas, don't put it off too long!

Birthday Give Away

I am wrapping up my brat week here with a give away!

I am giving away 3 copies of my Hippo Birdie Pattern AND 1 Pattern Digitization service of up to 5 pages.

You can enter through Raffle Copter



Even if you don't win, I am still running 30% off EVERYTHING in my etsy shop with the code BRATWEEK30 

Hippo Birdie to ME

I am celebrating my birthday this week!
Earlier in the month I was laying in bed thinking about my last birthday party a few years ago. My dear friend had brought Kinder Happy Hippo Cocoa Biscuits (cookies) and I teased her about not bringing anything bird related and then it could have been Hippo Birdie, which many of you will have ran across on the internet as a birthday greeting (corruption of Happy B-day?)

Inspiration struck and I got out of bed and pull out some visual dictionaries and animal drawing books. I found How to Draw Animals by Jack Hamm to be particularly helpful as it covered hippopotamus.

I drew a rough sketch of what my Hippo-Bird mashup should look like with seam lines and then went to bed, having formed the plan of releasing the pattern as a birthday celebration.

A few days later I did a quick internet search to see if Hippo-Birds were commonly illustrated, and satisfied that there wasn't already an obvious plush pattern on the market, I drew up the pattern pieces and made my mock up, using old sheets.

Mock up 1, which I still have, and will not show you the pictures of was a success for the most part, I did simplify a few things. Out of the 11 pattern pieces, only 1 was unchanged.

I then sewed up the second one out of grey cotton, noticed a few minor tweaks were needed (dart length, seam alignment) I then put my pattern into CAD and cleaned it up. I then scaled it down to be 2/3 of the original size and made up the second one in blue.

Monsieur requested a mustache, I couldn't deny him, it being Movember and all.After making up several felt mustache shapes (too fake, Snydly Whiplash, Kaiser), my husband decided on the final shape and I gave Monsieur his mustache and bow tie.

I then wanted to see how the pattern would translate to Polar Fleece, so I made up Prudence.
There are a few differences in construction between the cotton and fleece versions. The fleece, being a knit sculpts better, however being thicker means that the ears have to be single layer. I also used safety eyes on Prudence to check a different look.

Pattern is now available on Etsy. Also available on Craftsy


One of my favorite things about this pattern is the nostrils! They are created using a tuck dart as a starting point so they truly have depth to them.

All the while I was making these Hippo Birdies I was planing how I would stage the photos.

I used Abby Glassenberg of While She Naps' Tutorial on making Mini Felt Bunting, while at the fabric store I looked for cake or birthday fabric but all I found was some ribbon, which I bought since it went so well with the dots I was going to use for the cupcake wrapper. I made felt party hats, and then the girls got aprons. I also made up a cupcake complete with pink icing and a colorful wraper. Decided it needed a candle as well.

The cupcake is not included in the pattern, it will be part of a forth coming pattern for play food.

Know someone with a birthday coming up and have no clue what to give them? The Hippo Birdie just might be the thing.Pick it up on Craftsy or Etsy

Hippo Birdie to ME