4 NEW Patterns just released!

They're HERE! My 4 newest patterns!!!!! I feel like I've given birth to quadruplets - really I do!

REFINED offers my solution for all that yuck under the armscyes - even MORESO than my quick technique! AND, All 3 jackets you see photo'd are included in this pattern - Step-by-Step. This pattern is only available printed - not PDF delivery, as I can't figure out (yet) how to include the pattern pieces. Yep - pattern pieces - that you trace and lay onto your cut apart sweatshirt. I've developed 2 styles. A flatter cap and armscye that works with the USA Comfort Color Sweatshirts and a more shaped cap and armscye for the Authentic Pigment Sweatshirts. Sizes Small, Medium, and Large are included, and easily adapted for larger sizes if the sweatshirt 'fabric' permits. This isn't an "Exact Science" because it can't be with the wide variation of the sweatshirts - but I've done my best! I'm quite pleased with the designs offered, as well - I think they're some of my very best, most 'sophisticated' styles. The Moss Green Jacket sports 3 GREAT BIG Crone Art 'buttons' in solid black. I encouraged them to do these - and I got in a bunch for the Puyallup Show the end of this month - awesome, awesome, awesome! My tasks before this show don't allow my scanning and getting them up on my sites available to all YET - but I will as soon as I return in early March. You won't believe how GREAT these are! The 'Denim Dash' jacket shows off the 'Incomparable Buttons' from Africa that look like ceramic, but are machine washable. That is another new line - to debut when I return from Puyallup.

PATHWAYS offers a distinctively different design - angling strongly. Wait til you read my lengthy, well-reasoned case for placing the emphasis on the LEFT shoulder as you look at the jacket! This jacket is best considered a 'top' - as it only looks good buttoned up. The strong diagonal line is flattering, flattering, flattering!

The lower left jacket - Blue Heather - sports use of yet another new product: Mary Flannagan hand-dyed Wools. I'm even carrying the selvaes and used them extensively in the trim on this jacket. Here you you see the flowers I created from the selvage to serve as the shoulder focal point and finish.

I created it on black silk organza, and then filled in the center with needle felting some of the great yarn I couched on the jacket.

The jacket on the lower right has a jeans bottom - just too cute!

UNITY gives the step-by-step directions for 'unifying' an old sweater or jeans, or cutting a sweatshirt horizontally and making it much more fitted. I love the concept. The bottom of the brown and black one is an old sweater - courtesy of Good Will shopping.

I hope you 'realize' the Christian philosophy and message behind the titles of these patterns. They are carefully and prayerfully chosen to signify Christian attributes, and to describe the design concept.

That is the entire idea behind my Creative Sweatshirt Jacket patterns. I'm so thrilled to be sending a tithe on them to the Israeli Sewing Project.

At first glance, my 4th pattern, entitled French Lick Skirt seems to divert from that genre of pattern names, but, alas, it is named after the great little resort town of French Lick, Indiana where I saw (and took many notes on) a great, full, 2 layer sheer skirt. It was such fun that year when I closed my retail shop for a week and took all my employees/friends to this resort for some 'girl time'. We cooked, ate, watched chick flicks, sewed. What a memory! Anyway - in the hotel gift shop, we spyed this skirt. I came home, developed it into a class that I offered, and it has started to sell again recently as a very, very rough 'pattern', so I decided to spruce it up and offer it 'for real' as part of my Londa's Creative Threads line. It is a 'you draft it' pattern - as I instruct you how to draft the gores according to your measurements. As spring fabrics come into the stores - play with 2 completely different sheets - see how one shadows through the other and the great effects you get. Pick up this skirt pattern for just $10 and have some fun!

I've got oodles more to do before this Puyallup Show before I fly off to it Feb. 25, AND the house is a wonderful mess as we're now entering our 4th week of some renovations - like new flooring, countertop, etc. BUT, I welcome your comments on my 4 newest patterns!

Dyeing Ribbon & Jacket Kits

Been hard at work! Some of the most fun I've ever had - next to motherin' that is...
See my lovely manicure??? That is dye around those lovely nails.
We're also deep into some remodeling here in the house (HAVING it done, by the way - my hubby is NOT handy!). It means new kitchen sink and countertops - on top of which I vow NEVER to do this dyeing thing - so I really got busy last Friday morning and dyed up all the ribbon on hand...
I use the ColorHue Dyes I sell in mayo jars of water. I scrunch up, dip, pull out - dip into another color, etc. etc. til I have what I like. Then put into a lingerie bag and into the drier. My hubby then did most of the ironing of them - as the flu bug had me all weekend. These hunks are what you see as they just came out their 'jars' - on the island of my kitchen.

I ALSO yielded, and labored immensely to put together most EVERYTHING needed for a great ONE-OF-A-KIND jacket into KITS! Everything needed (except sweatshirt and monofilament thread and other 'tools'), but the consumable items for a jacket - snaps, Velcro, interfacing, trims, yarn, buttons, etc. are all assembled FOR you. I even designed the jacket. A pattern I based the jacket on is included with the kit! Then, I designed that specific jacket - pretty much how it will look like - or at least my idea. You can use it as a 'jumping off' point. I drew a sketch, labelled it, etc. I took pictures of each kit, and have copies of each of my sketches so that I will be 'in the know' if the owner of the kit needs more opinions, has a question, etc. The thing I'm really happy with is that I've met a need that was voiced over and over, yet stayed true to my creative mission - and that is ONE - OF - a - KIND! I can hardly describe what FUN IT WAS to dig into my stash and my stock of wonderful NEW stuff (especially the Crone Art Embellishments - Buttons!) to put these together!! AND, I now have some 'Incomparable Buttons" - ones made by African women that look like ceramic, but are machine washable! See the ones in the African Jacket above.

I did the 'rough' part - over a weekend, and you wouldn't have believed the mess! Nearly drove my hubby crazy - as this all occurs in the basement, and that is where we are living while this remodeling is going on! THEN.... I came back, and one - by - one, did the design work. I now have 36 of these assembled - to go with me to the Puyallup Sewing & Stitchery Expo. If a success - I'll constantly do more - and offer them with photos as you see, plus a photo of the design. Only task left is to 'bag' them nicely - and those bags better come today or tomorrow so I can get this done and have them on a trusty FED EX truck to WA state!

Politics: Family is the MOST important issue to me

Family Values is the MOST important thing to me in the election hub-bub. As a professed Christian, I truly believe God has His hand on our country. But, I also believe He has given us this form of government, and our brains, and our free will to handle it responsibly.

As the family goes - so goes the country. And, that, currently - is one scarey statment.

The most balanced source I know of is http://www.citizenlink.com/

Click on this link for some reasonable, unbiased coverage.
http://www.citizenlink.org/content/A000006338.cfm

Check it out. Form your OWN opinions - not those constantly fed to you by the media.

Jacket/ How-to's in Sew Savvy Magazine

Yea - it's out! My first magazine article since Creative Needle back in the early 90's.

Sew Savvy - March issue that just hit the stands.

It was fun to see my Mom's face when she turned to it. :)

Though I sent as complete directions as I am putting in my pattern 'Design Booklets', it was not surprising to see how much the edited the directions down. I expected that. It's too bad they didn't put in the flower from my garden that inspired it all - which looks like a Morning Glory - but is MUCH MUCH larger. I think someone in a seminar I gave called it a Kataba or something like that - Comment here if you know the name.

Anyway - after reading carefully through the minimal directions, it certainly confirmed in my brain that I want to keep on the path I'm on with my directions - writing EVERYTHING out as completely as I possibly can - Including my design thinking in the creative process.

The collar on this jacket is what I call my "Queen Anne" collar - made from the lower band. That style, along with my "Baseball" collar and "Cardigan" neckline - and Stand-up Lettuce-Edged and Mandarin will be in a new pattern called "Transformed". That one will come out in March - after the Puyallup Show. I've had to get real with myself as to what I can accomplish right now.

We are even well into some remodeling at home...Yea!!! Knocked out a silly wall between my family room and living room - LOVE it! Found a heat vent in part of it so not totally what I wanted, but that's the way life goes. I'm sure I can design around it in some neat way. Also on tap: new carpet, kitchen flooring, countertops, sink, and faucet! Just too exciting - and I'm so grateful we can do this. AND - on top of that, an excuse for not cooking for awhile. hehehehe.

Here's a photo of the back of that jacket:

I hope you can 'see' the divisions of that huge flower in the applique sections on the shoulder, and pocket. ANYTHING can be your inspiration for a garment.

Also note that the emphasis on the collar is on the garments' right shoulder - the LEFT shoulder as one is looking at it - where one's eye goes - to the left side as one 'reads' the garment. I really go into this in my new Pathways pattern.

Sprinkled on this jacket in the center of the back, and front is Bonash Mending Powder (granules of glue) that I then laid Gold Hologram Artisst Foil on and pressed - for little specks of gold 'pixie dust'. Quite a nice, subtle touch I think.

Anyway - enjoy. Would apprecite any comments.

Off to finalize "Refined".

Refined & Pathways pattern development

I'm hard at work on "Refined" - the pattern that will give some template patterns for armscye and sleeve cap for both the USA Comfort Color sweatshirts and the Authentic Pigment Sweatshirts. Though obviously more work - it really does make for a nicer fitting jacket. See here how MUCH excess is taken out of the armhole???
End result of what you saw above. That's the bottom band for the collar. Look closely and you'll see the circle motif of the batik worked freemotion on the silk doupionni.

I saw a jacket with eensy strips of bias irridescent silk doupioni and so I'm playing with that - which you can't see very well on this jacket - but it's there on the princess seams, and other places. That is sna tape on the collar and cuffs too. The button is one of the great Crone Art embellishments that I carry.


My resident 'help'er - Sasha. She said to tell you she looks good in pink. She's guarding my favorite tools: Dritz Rotary Cutter - which IS a Kai! , my Kai 5220 shears, and my Chakoner.
Pathways - pastel version. The collar is the bottom band, lettuce edged on the serger. This bright colored one was a joy to work on after all the more subtle colors I've been involved with.

I've got lots more figuring out to do on the Refined Pattern yet - but it's fun.

2 weeks til deadline - and I've at least 4 more jackets, plus editing all my directions, etc......

Stay tuned :)

Brass Striped Unity Jacket

Here's what I started with - at least all the 'possibilities'. They NEVER all get to 'play together' in the end on a jacket!
The back needed to be at least one of my hand lengths longer...so the top of some jeans came to the rescue.
It turned out SO neat! Here you can see the entire lower edge - note how I 'blended' the longer back into the fronts with angled pieces of the legs. See too that pocket I put on the left sleeve. I'm lovin' this one! Too bad it is 2 sizes too large for me. I ultimately sell these jackets - so I keep trying to make a variety of sizes.
Auditioning some of the great new JUMBO snaps I have in - in antique gold (here), silver, and black nickel - both square and round. The only challenge is, I want to SEE the snap - and when fastened up - you don't see any part of it - so I guess the solution might be to use 1.5 snaps per spot - and sew another half to the outer side... I'm still thinking bout that. These are a full 1" wide... $4.00 each.

A 'stuffed sausage' collar covered with the bias cut striped fabric completed this jacket. I'm still 'noodling' the closures - and onto a petal pink and pastel jacket today...

I also get to watch my almost 3 year old grandson today - and construction sites are beckoning us - so I'm not sure how much progress I'll make on the jacket. There's nothing more fun than watching cranes at work on a construction site - WITH my boy!

Inspiration shared from daily Quiet Time

I love, love, love Taste & See devotional by John Piper. His thoughts are so full of 'food' and challenge my mind and soul. From today I just had to share...
"The toothache expected and the toothach experienced are not the same. I have come through enough to believe God's future grace will be sufficient."

Ponder that as you stitch....along with me.

Progress report on new patterns

Well - I'm hard at work designing - stitching - and then typing. My hubby snapped a pic of me at my old ironing board where I have my laptop set up. I have this down to a system: create - stitch - type the step I just did. I'm thrilled with it - as it will take less time in the long run, and surely be more accurate than ever.

Take a peek at these wondeful hand-dyed wool groups! Thse are new products that I will be able to offer on a continual basis - therefore GREAT 'paint' to use in my new designing! I also have selvage groups from the same place - and am having GREAT fun with them! See in the next picture how I pieced them together to create the front embellishment of this blue jacket.
Clipping into the selveage edge - see what can be done to create a flower! Perhaps needle felting on the inside? I stitched it onto a piece of black silk organza.













"Refined" will be a quick add-on pattern that gives 2 sleeve and 2 armhole silhouettes for really 'refining' that area of a sweatshirt for a better fit. Here are the sleeves as they come cut out of: left - the Authentic Pigment Sweatshirt brand and right - the USA Comfort Color Sweatshirt brand.
This is a jacket from "Refined" testing. It went together quite quickly. How different blacks can be! I tried to use this cut off collar from a sweater - but it was just TOO different. See in the last photo a glimpse of how it finally turned out.

The right side (as you look at it) stayed the same. I scrimped some strips of the same fabric to space out on the left side. I dyed some silk ribbon black - 3 days later, my fingers are finally back to their normal color! The bottom band became a mandaring collar. It features 3 GREAT solid black Crone Art fimo clay buttons. I realized when setting in the sleeves - that it was sew much easier to embellish the cuffs before the seam is sewn - but then the end look of that seam isn't as nice... a trade-off I suppose. Anyway - all these things 'blended' the different blacks that were still 'going on' in this jacket. My dear daughter (25) said it was "nice looking - not that she'd wear it" , but still 'nice'. O well...I wasn't making it for her anyway!

So here's the results of this first intensive week of work. From the left: Refined, then Unity - then Pathways - then Unity. Today I'm finishing that blue one, and then onto the final jacket for Pathways - the angled front one.

Oh - a trip to the yarn shop was great fun - Needleworks, and they have a store on eBay as well - you should check that out. The perfect yarn makes creating SO much more fun!

On a personal level, I don't know why I am so lucky as to be doing this. I have friends who have lost a baby to cancer, just had serious surgery, and another dealing with being the caretaker for her hubby with Parkinson's. I pray for them all - for the peace only God can give - as I work.

In Christ,

Londa

The Second jacket for my Unity pattern - this one to replace a favorite of mine (and apparently someone else's - as it was swiped right off a HIGH rod in my booth at the Houston Quilt Festival! Grrrrrr.). Sure hope they are enjoying it as much as I did! :)

See here the stack of goodies I pulled together. See those HUGE new snaps right in the center? About an inch in diameter - oooo, I love them! The only thing that has me disappointed as I try to design with them though is that undone - you only get to see the spectacular-ness of the 'under' snap - not the guts of it on the 'upper' layer - shucky durn. My stolen jacket featured the butterfly appliques. I have those to sell, and want to use them again - but they seem to compete with the tie - so not sure if they'll end up in this or not. The yarn is wool, and it shrank on that first jacket - so I know to couch it down REAL well.
Here, you see the bottom portion of this jacket all prepared...and it took quite a few steps to get to this point! That's the waistband of the jeans to the left. I took the pockets off - as they were upside down when you use the jeans upside down... and shrunk the pockets as well.


I'm also hard at work figuring out how to easily do - and share/teach - how to cut the sleeves out, recut the cap, and an armscye - so you can have a less bulky look and feel under the arms on these jackets - yet still maintain the comfy factor of the sweatshirt to begin with.

That's the task for me today - after I finish this one up.

Here's where I stopped last night - and yea, I know that the 'tie' isn't 'even' at the top - so what???
It's gonna be covered with the collar anyway. Wait til you see it - I cut it on the bias from the legs. It will be GREAT!

What you see here is the bottom, outer main portion of that tie, all opened up and split right down the middle. I like using that wider tip up at the top. I stitched the right side of the tie to the wrong side of the sweatshirt, (which I had been sure to stabilize with fusible straight tape!). THen, folded it to the outside. I don't even turn that outer edge under. I just zigged it down, then couched the yarn over top.

I'm afraid those butterflies won't be 'flittering around' on this jacket - they're just 'too much'. I have to remember my motto: "Less is Best" .



My dear Sis wrote that she wanted to see bigger pictures - and have more how-to's in this Blog. Hmmmm - that's what the patterns are for, my dear!

My intent here is just to intrigue you and inspire you.....to do the same, and if you'd like, to buy my patterns. They will be available - added to the 3 I already have available - by early March. My goal is for the big show in Puyallup - 3, if not 4 new ones!
all at my new site:
http://www.makeasweatshirtjacket.com/

UNITY
I'm 'organized' now - and it's time to get started! Unity - the design where you slash around the middle of the sweatshirt and add a 'different' bottom is the one that says to me it wants to be used with this grouping of a Brass USA Comfort Color Sweatshirt, this great hunk of oriental cotton fabric, black yarn to couch, a black chenille striped sweater (from Goodwill), and oriental coins and 'things' as you see in the picture to the right.






The challenge here is that the sweatshirt is a 2XL. My duct tape double is not a 2XL - more like a 10/12. So - don't expect it to all look 'fitted' on the pictures. Eventually, I sell all my samples and I need to offer a wide size range. Also - as I design for patterns, I want to include all size ranges - offering attractive designs and guidance for a wide range of sizes. I think that is - as Martha Stewart says, "A Good Thing".


To the left, you can see my beginning - I've cut the sweatshirt apart in the middle - with angles, going down at the center front and back. That's the lower band around the neckline.
To the right above, you see that lower band embellished with small pieces of the feature fabrics described above.
Below, you see where I stopped yesterday - the bottom half is totally the bottom half of that chenille striped sweater. I thought I was creating a jacket with a LONG bottom half. Hmmmm - totally FRUMPY! Proportions are all wrong - as the right hand of this shows. Raising it up - AHhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! And what a good example for the principle I teach of proportion. Read all about it in my books on CD and DVD, and in my patterns. Today - I plan to finish this jacket and get on with yet another one.
I'm all set up in basement (messy, yet creative) space to create, stitch, and then hop over to my laptop set up on my old ironing board with stool, to type the 'guts' of this new pattern. THIS is my 'heaven on earth' - second only to spending time with my family - most especially these days with 2.5+ year old grandson Cole - reading to him. I promise some pictures soon....

God's miracle - RAIN!

In my quiet time with the Lord this morning, I read - again - John Piper's meditation in Taste and See on the grandness of God in considering such a thing as rain. I quote (though I'm paraphrasing) from him some facts that I'm sure you'll find interesting to ponder:
" 1. Consider yourself a farmer in the Near East - far from any lake or stream - dependent on water for family and animals - to exist. You have a few wells, but they are dried up. You need water - but where is it to come from? The Sky.
2. How does water then get carried in the sky from the Mediterranean Sea several hundred miles? Carried? How much does it weigh? If one inch of rain falls on one square mile of farmland during the night, that woudl be 2,323,200 cubic feet of water. Equals 17,377,536 gallons = 144,735,360 pounds of water.
3. That's heavy. So how does it get up in the sky and stay there? Evaporation. What's that? It means that the water stops being water for a while so it can go up and not down. How does it get down? Condensation. The water starts becoming water again by gathering around little dust particles betweeh .00001 and .0001 cm wide. That's small.
4. What about salt? Mediterranean sea water is saltwater. Salt kills crops. It has to be taken out. So the sky picks up millions of pounds of water from the sea, takes out the salt, and carries the water (in whatever state - I'm confused!) for 300 miles and dumps it as water again on this guys' farm.
5. Dump it? If it dumped millions of pounds of water on the farm the wheat would be crushed. So - the sky dribbles the millions of pounds of water down in little drops. The drops have to be BIG enough to fall for one mile without evaporating, and small enoughto keep from crushing the wheat stalks. Ohhhh.
6. How do all these microscopic specks of water that weigh millions of pounds get heavy enough to fall? Coalescence. - Meaning the specks of water start bumping into each other and join up and get bigger and when they are big enough, the fall. AND, not exactly just fall cause they would just bounce off each other instead of joining up if there were no electric field present. What? Never mind...take my word for it. "

John Piper suggests that we just take God's word for it - as found in Job 5: 8-10. "God gives rain on the earth, and sends water on the fields."

I agree with Job - only a mighty, mighty God could do all that - and what amazes me personally is that He continues to do this for a people he created to love Him - and so very few do. I do, love Him I mean, and I'm glad. It's raining today - and I will appreciate the miracle God gives..............

Jacket Pattern Design Process

It occurred to me while in the mess you see to the left, that it might be interesting to 'sewing crazy ladies' like myself, to follow along in the creative process. My 'system' is not real pretty - but the 'trip' is sure fun. Sew..... follow along with me. I hope doing so will encourage your own creative sewing for 2008!

• The first photo at the left ... well, it was MORE of a mess before I snapped this picture. YES, it is the floor - in my basement. What you see is my 'piles' of a sweatshirt, with coordinating trims, my favorite "Crone Art" button/embellishments (thoseon the white cards), etc. As I 'piled' goodies, I also envisioned what design they might best become.
  This 2nd photo is really the 'pattern reject' pile - at least for now. These will likely become KITS - this great idea that my friend, Bev - who accompanied me to the Houston Quilt Festival - talked me into. My 'mantra' has been 'ONE-OF-A-KIND' jackets - so how can I hold fast to that and still do 'kits'??? Well - I have drawers and drawers and boxes and boxes of fabrics and goodies, so my current 'plan' for kits is to just start grouping them together and come up with 'skeleton' design guidelines. I'll sketch on a sweatshirt 'blank' for the front of the 'Kit', suggest one of my basic (growing collection) of my Creative Sweatshirt Jacket patterns. Price according to the 'goodies' included. Number the kit, take a picture for my files. Da da - a "Kit". Bev tells me that quilters LOVE kits. OK - so these will be my kits. With my files, it will be easy for me to 'consult' with the Kit owner as she designs - because I'll be able to refer to the specific 'Kit' she has purchased and is working with. If all goes well, I'll premier these 'Kits' at the Puyallup Show at the end of Feb.
  What you see here in the 3rd photo are 'baskets' of projects. I have approximately 4 baskets for each of the 4 new patterns I'm working on. The yellow sheet in each basket gives my beginning ideas for designing with the goodies in that basket. It was both fun and challenging to 'envision' a stack of goodies into just one of my pattern concepts. Right now those pattern concepts are:
  
• UNITY - a design where you slash the sweatshirt through the middle horizontally - like an Empire line - below the bust, in the midriff. Below then can be any other fabric, sweater, jeans, even the same sweatshirting fabric, but embellished, fitted, etc. An example is the maroon jacket with floral trim around the neck on the front of my Vol II. The 'line' to which I am referring is at the bottom-most button.
• REFINED - a design that actually guides you in removing the sleeve, cutting a 'cap' to the sleeve (as much as possible), creating an 'armscye' by cutting and fitting the remaining 'jacket' in that area, and re-inserting the new sleeve. This will even further 'refine' the fit of the 'sweatshirt being used as fabric and matching ribbing'. Other 'fitting' techniques will also be included - darts, seaming, etc. to further 'refine' the sweatshirt into a great jacket!
• PATHWAYS - is the angled design, where a strong diagonal crosses the body. I'm 'real excited' about this one. I've done several of these over the past 2 years, and they always cause great comments - and "HOW did you DO that?" questions. Many of the 'piles' you see above just 'said' this design to me.
• FRUITFUL - is another pattern. It is probably the first of many like this - in which I pack embellishment ideas.
  

To the left, you see the 'organization' of my ideas. I've set up a folder for each of the patterns, plus future pattern ideas. Scibbled on the front are some of my favorite ideas. Above, are the color charts for my 'blanks' - my 'fabric + matching ribbing' - better known as sweatshirts. I'm especially excited by the numerous great colors in the USA Comfort Color line of sweatshirts. Though I love the Authentic Pigment Brand, the quality and supply seems to remain increasingly 'iffy'. Give me 'MADE in the USA' any day!

Over at the right, you can see 'inside' ond of my files. This is inside the Fruitful file. You can see notes from my skimming through favorite books like "Options" from Lois Ericson - one of my all time favorites, magazine and catalog tear-outs.... see on the lower left a home dec bed with pillows? That one grey pillow there has a brilliant use for these wonderful dyed wool strips of selvage I've found! Ooooooo - can't wait to get started.
Time to 'publish' this, write a newsletter, and get started.

By the way - I'm looking for about 5 more of you willing to be 'TESTERS & REVIEWERS'. I need people who will both test my directions, give me suggestions for increased clarity, and also review my end products and post about them on sewing boards, blogs, etc. I'm looking for a good variety of sewing expertise 'levels'. If you're interested, please let me know with a quick email to me at londa@londas-sewing.com

I invite your comments on this creative process blog. Thanks for reading...

Static Guard

YEA!!!
I FINALLY found spray Static Guard at my local grocery store - in the laundry detergent section. Here in cold, DRY central Illinois it is a MUST HAVE when wearing anything but natural fibers. Whenever I wear my Slinky pants or any skirt - I spray it like mad on my legs to eliminate static cling.
By the Way - I NEVER use fabric softener. I have a drier that dings when clothes are dry - and the tech guy said using softener sheets would coat it and make it not work.

Oh - and the lint trap in your drier - you need to test it occassionally. If you put it under water - water should go right through. IF not - IT is coated, and not working properly. Wash it til water can go through. Also can get coated from fabric softeners...

Give me my Static Guard!

Sewing Patterns - What's happening?

Pattern Sales - What has happened??? What I'm writing here is just MY OPINION - and I invite your comments on this post!

I've been selling independent designers' patterns retail since 1990 when I first opened my retail store. (In fact, I also produced patterns for women in the heirloom sewing style/industry in the late 8o's and early 90's.)

I believe the designers seek to offer something different, and more 'interesting' than the 'Big' pattern companies. For myself, I also sought to 'teach' through my patterns with wonderful, COMPLETE directions. The main companies then included Vogue, Butterick, McCall's and Simplicity. Burda, Neue Mode, & Kwik Sew have now added to those major players in a significant way.

Price? Well - we all know that even though the Big companies have generous pricing, that they are ALWAYS on sale - everywhere from $.99 to 75% off the top Vogue pricing - and almost everyday. When they're not - well another SALE is just around the corner, and us prudent sewers await! Independent pattern pricing ranges everywhere from $8 (rare) to $20 and more. Sales from the designers are rare (with the exception of expo show specials).

Instructions? Well... of all of them, I can only personally 'brag' on two to three lines for better than normal instructions. In general, I see - and hear of problems with everything from pattern pieces that don't align, to lack of any uniform sizing, etc. In fact, these 'problems' led to my decision to add value and help insure success with this investment by adding my "Londa's 2 Cents Worth" - writing a review, and adding to the directions, clarifying, teaching, etc. to include with the patterns sold at my sites that I'd personally stitched up. This became the backbone of my Londa's Fashion Club.

Marketing? Regrettably, even as a 'seller' for the designers, usually I find out about a new pattern issue in a magazine ad. Hardly any support or merchandising exists on the part of the designers. But then - they like to sew and design, not market. I understand that. Regardless, a little help would be great. Only a handful do this at all! Makes it kinda hard as a retailer...
Also - with slow pattern sales, it is very, very hard to keep patterns that might be ordered in stock, as all have minimum orders that have to be placed - so where does that leave me if I get an order for a pattern I don't have - but really only need that ordered pattern, as I have the others in that designers' line well stocked??? Very few work with distributors - and the few that do, even their lines are not fully represented, so that is not a solution either. I'm sure you can see the problem that puts retailers like myself in...

Design? In general, the designs offered at what are really high priced patterns really aren't anything different from what can be found in the 'big' companies. If I'm going to spend some extra bucks on a pattern, it needs to be something DIFFERENT! IN fact, some of the better designers (Connie Crawford, Marcy Tilton, etc. are with one of the BIG companies now anyway.

I'm bored to tears with simple T-shirts, tops, simple skirts and endless 'perfect' pant patterns. Hey - for me, I BUY those boring garments! AND, I do so at prices that I can't afford to take my time sewing them instead. Just Dec. 24 I the "After Christmas" Sale at Chico's caught my eye. I dashed my hubby off to the coffee shop, and In I went. Half off of already reduced pricing........I left with a pair of velvet knit pull-ons for $19, black and grey poly/rayon fine, wonderful gabardine trousers with back tailored pocket, invisible zipper (nicely inserted, and stabilized, even with a ribbon around the bottom of it inside), and a great facing treatment ('interfaced' with slightly stretched firm elastic!) - LONG enough too! AND - golly gee - I'm a Size 2! (Would have been a 1.5 if they'd had them - but hey, I sew so I can take them in a bit! ) What did I pay for these $88 regularly priced (and worth that in my book!) trousers? $19 each!

Confessions: Over the last year, I've also become a big fan of 2nd hand ReSale Shops. Here in town, Karen's is just great. I've gotten like new pants, jeans, etc. for - sinfully LOW investment! It's great!!!!

Time is my issue! Running business and this Grandma Duty thing leaves me painfully little time to sew...so what time I do have must be spent to nourish my soul - and that is my own designing of FUN, CREATIVE JACKET sewing...whether it be my sweatshirt jacket variety, or other jackets. I must add, that I also took many of the Chico jackets into the dressing room - only to be pitifully disappointed! Lack of interfacing, pulled linings, etc.... VERY disappointing!
The truth is, I don't NEED many clothes - my lifestyle just doesn't support that. Hey- I work from home! My game plan 3-4 years ago was to stitch away on great garments, testing patterns, and making great samples - then to sell them at my online website devoted to that, and at fine art fairs around. That worked for awhile - but comparatively, the sewing expos are far more monetarily successful than these types of shows! Also - business has grown to the extent that it is often 3 or 4 pm before I'm done with business and would have time to sew anyway!

Just me? I really don't think so. I see fewer and fewer of the designers around at the expos - at least the ones I've attended. I know the expenses of doing these shows, and I can easily see that selling patterns alone in a booth would be a hard way to go to have a 'successful' show. The successful ones are selling great fabrics, or something else as well. I load up a cargo van to the hilt with a variety of different products to attract and keep buyers in my booth. I've lugged boxes of these patterns to the shows, only to lug most of them back home again.
I note some are not advertising in the print magazines any longer - understandable - you wouldn't believe the prices of those small ads!

Reviews? Rarely do I see the independent patterns reviewed at Pattern Review.com these days. Hummmmm....... I see more reviews for 'self drafted patterns' - the pattern-making software is definitely making inroads, and hurting these pattern sales - at least it appears so to me.

New Sewers? Yep - there's lots of them - and HOW EXCITING! Take a peak at http://www.threadbanger.com/. They are re-cycling, sewing by hand or on very inexpensive, basic machines, re-fashioning, and doing their own thing! I can't see this crowd spending $16 for a simple pant pattern - no way! 99 Cents - yea...

My Business Reaction/Decision is to sell out all in-stock patterns EXCEPT what I consider to be valuable, creative JACKET and VEST patterns.

All in stock pants, skirts, and dress patterns are at 40% SAVINGS - and this went into effect December 24, 2007 -

Have Fun Shopping!

http://www.londas-sewing.com/nl.asp?p=0&c=17
Your comments are most welcome. I'm anxious to know your feelings/experiences, etc. Women can always change their minds! In the end, good business practice rules where I invest my inventory dollars.