Wednesday, January 30, 2013

First Stuffed Animal Pattern




First I would like to say I am sorry for being MIA lately. The cold and flu season hit our house hard and we have been battling to get it out since the week of Christmas. I think we are all FINALLY on the road to recovery.

I have to admit as a designer you may fail more times than you may like to admit but each time is a new learning experience. A couple weeks ago I shared with you how I go about making my sewing templates. On many occasions that technique has worked strait off the first try.  However taking on something like a stuffed animal I should have known that I might be in for a bit of a disappointment thinking I would get it on the first try.

I am not saying that my elephant looks horrible I am just saying the pattern could use some adjustments. But that is the good thing about using the process I use to design my patterns. It is so easy to go back to the drawing board to make those adjustments and then just cut out a new paper template. I had to share this with you though. It so important not to give up. Look at parts of what you don't like about something and try and fix it until you do like it.


I do look forward to getting this pattern down to perfection but it is fun to see the process along the way. 


Happy Crafting
Stephanie







Sunday, January 27, 2013

Stash it Sunday Week 4


Welcome to Stash it Sunday!!!

I love textured style prints. I think it brings out a real balanced look when using them in quilts and table runners. Textured prints in my opinion balance out your character or other print styles. With that in mind I have to show you this Awesome Collection I found over at our lovely sponsors




Check this out, look at the beautiful textures in this collection. The Sweethearts Stonehenge is by Linda Ludovico and I am in LOVE!!!! I call it a stonewashed look but either way its Amazing!!!! I think this could be made into a lovely wall hanging or table runner. I know this collection is being moved to the top of my stash list and might even ask they hubby for an advance so I can pick it up soon. You can see other Stonehenge collections in the Fat Quarter Shop Online. 


I think this is a must have for any quilters stash. I really hope that I will one day see this collection in person!! If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing all the amazing collections that Fat Quarter Shop has to offer than you really must take a peak. The site is neatly organized so you can find exactly the style of fabric you are looking for.


 The Fat quarter shop can be found on Facebook and you can also follow them on their blog page - The Jolly Jabber -

I always love to hear from my readers so why don't you let me know what you would do with this collection if it was in your stash.....



Happy Stashing,

Friday, January 25, 2013

Feature Me Friday - Week 4








In the handmade world we ask ourselves all the time, How do we start a home business from this? What do I charge for my handmade items? Well this week I was so excited to meet this awesome person from one of the crochet groups I belong to on Facebook. She wrote an awesome book, sharing her tips on how to figure out those very questions. I would like to welcome Sedie from Yarn Obsession

Yarn Obsession Logo

" I'm a crochet designing mommy who works as a small business marketer by day and a crochet designer, instructor by night. I am blessed to have my own business which allows me to be flexible in my schedule and enjoy my friends and family more than ever before. 

When I realized that the number one question most people were asking when they started or were into their crochet business was "how much should I charge" 
Pricing Crochet Fairly for Maximum ProfitI decided someone needed to take the time to answer that question with specific formulas. That's when "Pricing Crochet Fairly for Maximum Profit" was born. My goal is to help the crochet small business community understand that we only get as much as we think we deserve. The more time we put into thinking about our audience, the better we can build our businesses fairly, not just for our customers, but for ourselves.
In this book, Pricing Crochet Fairly for Maximum Profit, are formulas that will help put you on a solid path to pricing yourself properly.
Here’s what you’ll learn:
  • How to determine who your audience is
  • How to calculate a wholesale price that provides you with a profit
  • How to calculate a “Suggested Retail Price” that will entice a buyer to purchase your items
  • How to calculate a price for family and friends
  • Why you should never go below your wholesale price
  • The only instance I will ever suggest you go below a wholesale price you’ve calculated
  • The various ways you can monetize your crochet skills
This book has a mission and a purpose.
It will help crochet business people get on the right track when it comes to pricing their art and their skill. When more people are pricing their crochet in a way that works for their audience and for their businesses, then the crochet market will begin to see a shift. It is my mission to help bring that change along one crocheter at a time"


I know I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of this book.  If you purchase this book within the next 24 hours use coupon code "SMALLTOWN123" on her Etsy site to get the book for 30% off. 

If you miss the sale or are not a ETSY user don't worry you can still purchase her new Book by going directly to her site Yarn Obsession. You can also follow Sedie at her Facebook Fan Page



If you would like to be featured here on Feature Me Friday's than please send me a few good quality photos, a description about yourself, your item you would like featured and what inspired you to make it. Also include a link to your blog post and any other links you would like added. Email them to smalltowndreamz@gmail.com   subject: Feature Me Friday



See you next week




Thursday, January 24, 2013

Free Heart Crochet Pattern



I am over filled with excitement today. First thing is first my 5 of Hearts Pattern Pack releases TODAY!!!!!! You can purchase this pack in any of my 3 online shops. These hearts were inspired for Valentine's Day!



The pattern pack can be purchased for $2.70

NOW FOR THE BIG NEWS!!!!!!!

I am offering 1 of the 5 patterns for free on my sister site KiKi Love Creations



Hop on over there you wont want to miss out on a FREE pattern!!!!


Happy Crafting





Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Making a sewing pattern



Ever since I was 15 I had a passion for Graphic and Web Design, it wasn't until last year when DESIGNING became more than just a virtual world to me. With the encouragement of my husband and best friend I stuck my fingers into the world of pattern designing. My best friend in which I can comfortably say is a "Pattern Addict", is the one that finally talked me into it and I will forever be grateful to her for pushing me to do something with it.

My pattern designing started with crocheting and as I learned how to use my sewing machine I started cutting out my own paper templates for small sewing projects. This past fall I took the plunge into larger sewing patterns and designed my own basic beanie. I was looking at my sons old winter hat and thought to myself that looked like a fairly simple design and I went to the drawing boards. After finishing my first beanie I was able to measure and create the different sizes right off the original template. And just like everything in the design world you learn by trial and error.

From there I went on to the hot pad, oven mitt and the apron. This was fairly easy after I sketched out the initial design of everything. After I sketch everything out in my design sketchbook I start the actual designing process which i am going to share with you today.

Recently I have really wanted to try and sew stuffed animals and create my own stuffed animals. I know there are many patterns out there that were designed fabulously!!! However because of my background in designing I LOVE the challenge of creating something from nothing. To me there is no bigger reward than seeing something come to life from the very start to the very end. Now I can't say that I will always do this. I know when I am ready to finally start making clothing I will definitely be hitting up my favorite designers and purchasing some of their AMAZING Patterns. Things like that were there is no leeway I just don't trust myself enough to know enough about how clothing is supposed to lye on the body and where it needs to be brought in. Just the thought intimidates me.

Anyway I wanted to share my process for those that are in my shoes but just need an idea on where to start.


The first thing I do after I sketch it in my book (or a piece of paper ) is take my erasable marker board and using a dry erase marker, I will draw out my shapes in the size I would like them. If i am doing a large project and need the whole space for one piece I will just repeat this whole process as many times as needed. The reason I start on the dry erase board is so that I can simply erase and redraw quickly without a mess of faded pencil lines and such.

After I I am finished drawing my pieces out on my dry erase board I trace over the marker lines with my Crayola Brand Dry Erase Crayons. Taking the time out to do this will ensure that your lines won't get smudged or wiped away.

After I am done tracing over my pieces with my dry erase crayon I tape a piece of wax paper over my board and retrace my design onto the wax paper. This will give me the paper piecing for my elephant template. After its all traced on the wax paper you can go ahead and cut it all out.

After you have your cut pieces of wax paper you can either pin that to your fabric and cut your fabric that way or you can take an extra step like I do to make a slightly sturdier and reusable template. What I do is take my wax paper and tape it to my thicker cardstock and retrace it and cut out my new sturdier template pieces.



Now from there I lay the cardstock on my paper carefully pinning in down in the center to keep in place and I take my pencil and lightly trace the outline of my template on to the back of my fabric.

Once again this process of designing is trial and error but its a fairly quick and easy way to get through the initial design process so that you can start sewing up your new creation. I hope this process will help when it comes to designing your own patterns.


I would love to hear about your pattern making processes.

Happy Crafting


























Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Fat Quarter Shop's HUGE Book Giveaway




If you haven't entered into their new giveaway hop on over and check it out. It is so easy to enter.

5 Lucky people will win one of these awesome book collections. 






Contest closes next Friday, January 25th!

Click Here to hop on over to the Fat Quarter Shops Blog Page to get more details on how to enter. 




Good luck


Sunday, January 20, 2013

Stash it Sunday Week 3






Welcome to Stash it Sunday!!!

Now that I can actually have the time to sit down and sew or crochet I have an all new appreciation for the holidays. Valentine's Day included. I no longer see holidays as just a holiday. Now I see them as colors, inspiration, a reason to just do what I want, how I want. Being able to do my crafts gives me a freedom to express my feelings and emotions. Lately with Valentine's Day coming up I just can not get enough of the pink, reds, grays and those gorgeous aqua blues. 









This week we stopped at Southern Fabric. I just recently found them online and they have some amazing collection you have to check out. Here is one that I fell in love with. This collection is called "FLIRT". It's designed by Sandy Gervais with Moda Fabrics. OOOHHH I would love to get my hands on this. The bright  boldness of it just screams to be made into Lovely Throw Blanket or Lap Quilt.

  

Flirt Layer Cake, Moda, 17700LC, Sandy Gervais



 Southern Fabric can be found on Facebook and you can also follow them on their blog page

I always love to hear from my readers so why don't you let me know what you would do with this collection if it was in your stash.....




Happy Stashing,


Friday, January 18, 2013

Feature Me Friday Week 2






There are so many types of crochet stitches out there and I always think to myself it would be so cool if one day I could somehow create my own crochet stitch. I think no matter what I would call my stitch the dream stitch or something along that line. Anyway this week we are going to meet someone that actually did get a chance to create her own stitch. Lets give a big warm welcome to Candy from



" One day when I was sick and making a slouch hat and single crocheting in a daze. Not looking at what I was doing until I noticed my flow had stopped. I looked down and couldn't figure out what I had done, so I ripped out the stitch slowly paying a attention so I could repeat it. Once I figured it out I kept repeating it just to see what it would look like, and I noticed what looked like bows and on further inspection I saw the butterflies! I was so amazed I ripped out what I has done on my hat so far and started to do it with this new stitch instead. As soon as I finished the hat I filmed this video sharing what I had just done. (You can see the video here.) and started on a pattern and project right away to share it! I hope that all who sees it will get inspired and think of all kinds of things that can be made with this stitch"

I just love this stitch and I can't wait to try it out perhaps on the pair of wrist warmers that I have been wanting to make myself. You can find more great tutorials and awesome work done by Candy at her website Meladora's Creations. You can also follow her on Facebook on her Fan Page






If you would like to be featured here on Feature Me Friday's than please send me a few good quality photos, a description about yourself, your item you would like featured and what inspired you to make it. Also include a link to your blog post and any other links you would like added. Email them to smalltowndreamz@gmail.com   subject: Feature Me Friday


See you next week



Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Fleece Winter Hats


I just had to share with you some photos that were taken of a beautiful baby girl modeling some fleece hats that I made this past December. I just love the work that Eisells Imagery does. She has an amazing talent behind that camera.

The first is the White Ultra Plush Fleece Hat. This is a beanie style hat that I had created the pattern for myself. You can actually read up on it from a post I did a while back. You can purchase this hat in my ETSY Shop


Next we have this adorable Blue Snowflake Ultra Plush Fleece Hat. This is the same style beanie hat. . You can purchase this hat in my ETSY Shop









Last but not least here is a sneak peak at some headbands that are coming to my shop soon .






Another big thank you to Eisells Imagery for the Beautiful photos.


Happy Crafting

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Stash it Sunday Week 2




Welcome to Stash it Sunday!!!

This week on Stash it Sunday we have an AWESOME announcement to make. Smalltown Dreamz has a new SPONSOR!!!!!! I couldn't be more excited! I would like to give a BIG warm Wisconsin welcome to





The other day I stopped  over at their online shop and started looking around. I literally spent hours just paging through all the Amazing Collections. I was just amazed at how many different designers and collections that you can find at the Fat Quarter Shop. You definitely need to stop by if you haven't already. I know I am excited to be getting my first order. 

 I am still keeping in with the Valentine's Day Theme this week and I found another Beautiful Collection  to add to my stash wish list.  I have a few sew able projects that I have in mind that I would like to do for the occasion. How SWEET is this Fat Quarter Bundle Collection......Hug Me by Sue Zipkin is right up my alley in terms of colorways. I am in LOVE with that Aged Scrollwork.  I would also love to see some of that Confetti Hearts fall right on to my cutting table.  


I love the simplicity of this collection. If I were able to add this to my stash I think that I would like to make an Adorable Valentine's Day Banner with it or a Cute Table Runner.


 The Fat quarter shop can be found on Facebook and you can also follow them on their blog page - The Jolly Jabber -

I always love to hear from my readers so why don't you let me know what you would do with this collection if it was in your stash.....




Happy Stashing,



Friday, January 11, 2013

Feature Me Friday Week 1



Welcome to the first week of Feature Me Friday.



I Love Yarn and anything that you can make with it. I have been on the search for some crochet blogs and sites and for the longest time I just couldn't find them. Thankfully a dear friend of mine pointed me in the right direction and I have been on cloud 9 ever since.

I personally have been a crocheter for going on 25 years this year. Although I didn't start getting real heavy into it until just a couple years ago. Anyway while I was finding all these amazing crochet blogs I came across one that I really fell in love with. So I would like to kick off the first Feature Me Friday by visiting Lorene over at...
"Hello, my name is Lorene and I am a crochet-a-holic.  I’m also a craft-a-holic, but crochet is by far my biggest obsession.  I love creating new designs and making homemade treasures for my family and friends.
Until recently I never followed a pattern.  I just looked and created what I saw, lots of times having to rip out most of my work and start over.  As I got better and better with creating designs in my head I got pretty good at crocheting.  I decided to try my hand at following a pattern.  It was all down hill from there.  I started to create my own patterns and designs.  Blogging was a natural progression for me.  I love being able to share my FREE patterns and designs with fellow hookers.
I would like to share a Newborn Blanket that I recently had made.I love animal print, especially zebra print and I really love the way it looks with hot pink.  I have a friend who is expecting her first girl any day now and she is also really into zebra print so I created this lovely blanket for her soon to be bundle of joy.  It is VERY easy to work up and unlike some zebra prints I have seen it is varied in design.  I hope you enjoy creating this cuddly Zebra Newborn Blanket for someone in your life."




 Lorene offers this pattern for free for you to use on her site you can view the pattern here. You can also find her stuff for sale at her ETSY SHOP. You can follow her on Facebook as well. 





If you would like to be featured here on Feature Me Friday's than please send me a few good quality photos, a discription about yourself, your item you would like featured and what inspired you to make it. Also include a link to your blog post and any other links you would like added. Email them to smalltowndreamz@gmail.com   subject: Feature Me Friday



See you next week




Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Turning a Flat Sheet into a Single Panel Curtain


Hi everyone!!!! Finally the holidays are over and I am cleaned up. My house is nearly back to normal which means it was time for me to pull out the sewing machine again.


I know we have all come across it...You go to redecorate your kids rooms, new paint, new wall hangings, new sheets and pillow cases but wait NO MATCHING CURTAIN!!!!! Well this is what happened to a friend of mine. So she gave me a call and asked me what I could do to help. So I thought I would share.



GURR! Well here is a simple fix that I am sure everyone will like. Most parents I know when they buy the sheet sets for their kids beds don't put on the flat sheet. This usually just sits on the top shelf of the closet and wastes space. Why not use that matching sheet in replace of spending more money and trying to go through the burden of finding a matching curtain.




This process is very easy even for a beginner sewer. I left it as a single panel since we were not looking to be able to tie it back.


All I did was take the top part of the sheet and folded it over so that the already made seam in now in the back. I ironed it to hold it over Sew I could make a new seam at the top.





Once I finished the top seam I had sewn one more line at the bottom of the flap. This leaves me with a 2 inch hole to slip my curtain rod into.


That's it sew 2 strait lines and you have yourself a full length single pain curtain.


I have all venetian blinds here so I was not able to get it hung on a curtain rod. But I promise when she gets it up in her home I will revisit this and show you how it looked hung with all the other matching bedding in the
room. Perfect for any little sports fan!!!


Happy Sewing,





Sunday, January 6, 2013

Stash it Sunday



Welcome to Stash it Sunday!!!

Every week I am going to start posting what I would like to see in my stashes for 2013!! In my world my stashes include many products but as always its all about fabric and yarn on this blog. (HaHa). I have to admit there is a lot more fabric on my stash list then yarn these days. There are just SOOO many Beautiful Collections out there. So I am going to kick things off by taking a visit over to my favorite fabric shop



First I would like to say if you haven't shopped here you MUST Stop by her online store. Natasha ALWAYS has in my opinion BEST collections! I bought my very first online fabric order through her. I had  found some green Grinch material that I am stashing away to make my husband the Grinch quilt that he keeps asking for. I am still on the search for more of that but that is another day. 

With Valentine's Day not to far off I notice that I am a little shy in the red and pinks department in my little stash here so I have been eyeing up this Gorgeous Fat Quarter Bundle of Pink Dot Fabric by Micheal Miller. 

Pink Dot Fat Quarter Bundle, $16.50

I am a sucker for my dots and simple patterns such as this collection. If I had to pick something to make with this it would definitely have to be a classic style looking apron with a sweet heart cut top.

If you haven't stopped in she always has great deals and amazing shipping prices. You can also hear about her great deals and offers on her FB page. Free Fabric Friday is just one awesome deals that she does for her readers. I have been fortunate enough to win that once so make sure you go fan her you could be next.

I always love to hear from my readers so why don't you let me know what you would do with this collection if it was in your stash.....




Happy Stashing
Stephanie



Looking Forward.....

As I sit here and dust off the cobwebs to my tiny ghost town of a blog, I am excited to make a fresh start and slowly get back to what...