Bonnie Peterson embroiders text on the surface of her quilts and textiles, she uses thick wool and rayon thread in a large cursive style, using her hands to guide the sewing machine needle through many thicknesses of fabric. Bonnie uses her textiles to tell stories about what she sees and experiences and about social issues that she feels strongly about.

Caption: Wedding Party Massacre, 40″(L) x 60″- 83″(W), 2006, Embroidery with hand and machine stitching on satin wedding skirt with sheer fabric and netting, hand quilted. The text is from a May 2004 incident in which 45-47 civilians were killed at a wedding party in western Iraq.

I want the work to resemble early 20th century Victorian crazy quilts, or old tapestries I’ve seen in dark museum hallways. From far away, the viewer is drawn in by the texture, richness and color; by the fantasy of touching the work. Closer up, the viewer deciphers a message, sometimes poignant, and sometimes just another adventure story.

Caption: War Crimes, 46″(L) x 50″(W), 2005, Heat transfers of photos from the conflict are framed in 9 traditional log cabin blocks, embroidery, appliqué and stitching on silk, satin, brocade, and velvet. The boarders are embroidered with text from the US Constitution, Geneva Convention, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Nuremberg Charter.

Check out this thread at the forum and add your current project to the list.

my creativity journal made a patchwork apron

mary, jane and midge are making gruesome knitted eyeballs and have a pattern to go with.

Craft boom - all about marketing an art and craft business online - recent posts include a craft heroes column with Meg McElwee, tips on how to diversify your income as an online craft business - some tips include:

1. Make money off of your website or blog traffic (in addition to product sales!). You can very selectively and tastefully add a small amount of advertising to your site. And/or start your own podcast or video channel on YouTube.

2. Sell crafting kits: I know all too well that the reason that we craft is for the joy of the creative process. But sometimes it’s really hard to make enough money to justify the time spent on a piece. Sellling kits can free up your time to focus on what you are really good at - creating and designing.

3. Create and sell e-products: Write an eBook. Do a video tutorial series. Create a downloadable pattern. All of these things may take a little time to create, but then with a little savvy marketing, they can be an ongoing source of revenue that you don’t need to think about too often.

Another recent interesting article was about increasing traffic to your craft business website. first of all having a blog attached to your craft business is beneficial -

a busy blog is one of the best marketing tools your Craft Business can have. The larger the readership of your craft blog the more people know about you, and your craft products. Lot’s of craft business owners use their blog/s to promote their craft business as well write about the more personal side of their lives.

Advice on getting traffic to your blog includes doing tutorials, having good photography and including personal snippets about your life to personalize the blog.

Ernest the Elephant by Future Girl (pattern
from the book Sock and Glove)

Pear by Cherry Tomato

Pirate Kitty by Craftapalooza

… and a Pirate Bunny by Cheeky Beaks

Nan and Gom by Jess Hutch

A Stupid Sock Creature by Momma Pajama

A Wee Wonderfuls Hand Sewing for Fun Bird by I Knew That!

Bat by Soto Softies

And don’t miss the softie ingenuity going on over at the 2007 Holiday Softie Awards!

Natalie from CRAFT has some fun last minute halloween kids costumes - check them out here. (love the leggo block boy).

The evil mad scientist has a how-to for a very cool cardboard crocodile costume. Also check out kinderart for other cardboard costume ideas.

Mormon chic has some great ideas for last minute kids costumes.

the most fantastic diy bacon costume.

And if you missed it last year - catch it now MAKE’s 2006 amazing halloween costumes.

Pam RuBert makes the most delectable quilts with attitude, the quilts are based on a cartoon charactors adventures called Pamdora, and the stories that are woven into the quilt are based on the artists life and everyday experiences. They deal with big issues like worrying about global warming or small everyday dramas like being late for a date. They are fun and dramatic, but real too and make you think and laugh all at the same time. Website and blog.

Caption: The Vintage Purse, 2005, 36″ x 58″, I love cute little vintage purses, but there’s never enough room for everything. This quilt is currently on tour with the FiberArts International 2007 exhibition. Scroll down for detail photos.

The surprise for me was that turning one of my drawings into a quilt is not just a matter of copying symbols and shapes into another medium. Each fabric I use has its own personality and brings something new to the story. The raw scissor-cut edges have a spontaneous energy that would be lost if those edges were hidden or altered by seaming or sewing. The quilted line creates three-dimensional texture and structure and at the same time, communicates two-dimensional information in the form of symbolic or decorative motifs. Quilting is a meditative process, and I like to think of the stitched line as a thread of thought wandering over the surface of the entire quilt. As I sew, my mind holds images to guide my hands and needle—images of grass, wind, water, leaves, kneecaps, noses….

Caption: Yoga 101: The Crab Dip Pose, 2006, 36″ x 50″, This quilt is currently on exhibit at Grounds for Sculpture.

Caption: Whine & Dine at Sushi Zen, 2004, 50″ x 40″, Has watching all those food shows on tv made us all a little more crazy? Who knows, but I love Asian fusion food and watching people at restuarants.

Hannah’s recent exhibition: “An ordinary kind of ornament” which is currently at Westspace gallery in Melbourne, (hurry the exhibition closes 3 November) focuses on Preciousness, the poetry of transformation through ornamentation. Hannah’s work looks at preciousness within transient moments, her work is temporary, making elaborate and ornate ephemeral installations that defy the traditional ideas of what is valuable. Her work is subtle and quietly exquisite. There is a big element of process rather than end result in her work - hours of work can be swept up in moments - that is what makes this work so amazing.

Hannah Bertram An Ordinary Kind of Ornament

12 October – 3 November 2007, opens Thursday 11 October 6-8pm
Free Artist Floor Talk: Thursday 1 November, 12.30-1.30pm

An Ordinary Kind of Ornament is an installation which transforms dust into an ornamental carpet. At the end of the exhibition, visitors can watch the work being swept away. Its fragile and temporary existence, seeks to shift the value of the work from the concrete object, to the transient realm of experience. Hannah Bertram is represented by Dianne Tanzer Gallery, Melbourne.

Umbrella collective - delightful things for christmas sale.

Chronicle books Contest : Design a Pattern for Our Next Knitting Book [via craft] They are looking for the five most creative, most dream-worthy intarsia knitting patterns. It could be anything, from a jaunty anchor to a geek-chic argyle pattern to a killer alphabet. Whatever pattern you would want to see in a knitting book. Five winners will have their name and pattern printed in the book and be promoted here on our Handmade Thursdays. Winners will also receive a free copy of the book when it comes out next fall. details here.

Also designers have until 5 November to submit their application for Chronicle books Design Fellowships for the Winter-Spring 2008. Four fellowships will provide six-months of hands-on experience to graduates interested in embarking on a career in either book, publication, package, or product design. See info here.

Alice Beasley is a quilt artist who uses quiltmaking to tell narratives, she tells of the joys and the sorrows that she comes across in her life. This quilt is titled ‘home street home’.

Over the next few weeks I will be posting on quilts with attitude, many of these are fun and contemporary dealing with social issues and metaphors, but there are also lots of political artist quilts coming to my attention. I am not surprised about this, artists are often at the front of the line when it comes to political protest and speaking up about their social beliefs. And women in particular have a long history of protesting against the government through quilts. Yes, political quilts have a long history.

This quilt is by Carolyn L. Mazloomi, and is titled “strange fruit” she says My quilts are visual stories layered with historical, political and social conditions that call attention to the circumstances of people around the world, especially women. My intention is to invite the viewer into contemplation, raise awareness and feel the spirit of the cloth.

As long as quilt making has been around, women have used this traditional craft to tell stories, to capture life’s joys and sorrows, and often part of this means to express their political convictions. Many generations of women weren’t allowed to express their thoughts in print, in public, or in the voting booth, but they could express them through cloth, they used their needle to tell the world what they thought. Just imagine those genteel gatherings of Victorian ladies stitching over a cup of tea, while really they were plotting strategy for the suffrage movement.

Gwendolyn Magee, is another artist whose work is a dramatic narrative telling the story of the African American experience. This work is from her ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing series’. The image of a chained woman being cruelly whipped even though her womb is heavy with child graphically illustrates the dehumanization of slaves.

Today political quilts or quilts with a social conscience are not that common, much of today’s quilting revolves around beautiful fabrics and interesting patterns - however there are many artists who use the quilt medium to express their thoughts on todays big issues.

Marion Coleman creates work that addresses family, history, nature, culture traditions and social themes. These pieces utilize color and figurative imagery to educate, entertain, inspire and stimulate ideas and discussion. this quilt is titled ‘Angry Young Men’ and is a social commentary on violence, criminal justice system, community ambivalence to the loss of a generation of young adults.

You may have noticed that many of these quilts mentioned are by African-American quilters. While I was searching for political and narrative quilts, I kept coming across the African-American story being told in quilt making. I think that because their story/history has been a struggle for survival, they are perhaps more aware of the struggle of others, while many African American quilt artists work deals with their own history, there is also a large proportion who are moved by others stories too, that of the homeless, youth, immigrants and the aged. Looking into the history of African American quilting I found that their quilt making traditions are long and serve as visual records of patterns of migration and settlement and are linked to textile traditions found in West Africa. Quilts are also used to document family history, and relationships and events.

Penny Sisto, Immigrant Series 2007 :: THEY CAME BY SEA, The images, the beings on my work haunt and whisper to me as I make them live. I learn sometimes things that only they can tell, as I sew the edges of their world.

online article resources

(full article).
(full article here)
black threads

related:

Be sure to go and see (if you can) Will the Circle Be Unbroken August 11, 2007 – November 25, 2007 at Brattleboro Museum & Art CenterFour Generations of African-American Quiltmakers Improvisational quilts made by four generations of African-American women in one Texas family—Gladys Henry, Laverne Brackens, Sherry Byrd, and Bara Byrd.

Something Pertaining to God: The Patchwork Art of Rosie Lee Tompkins May 20 – October 28, 2007 20 Shelburne Museumquilts and several smaller quilted pieces are exhibited in this first solo museum exhibition for the acclaimed quiltmaker Rosie Lee Tompkins.

Bend-the-Rules Sewing: The Essential Guide to a Whole New Way to Sew by Amy Karol (website here) published by Potter Craft (June 19, 2007)

The popularity of the patterns in the book speak well for just how cool this book is. I think the philosophy behind this book has come at a perfect time. Many people new to sewing or even old hands like to improvise and adjust and change and that is what this book is about. How to bend the rules and when it is appropriate to do so and when it is better not to. As well as those important bits this book has good instructions and illustrations as well as fun and varied projects to try out your new found sewing skills if you are a newbie, or nice and easy projects to get some instant gratification if you are a more experienced sewer.

The patterns are fresh, a new take old ideas, lot of variations and neat ideas, tricks and tips to get you sewing. Lots of people out there have been making these patterns (over 1000 entries in the flickr group) it seems that lots of other people thought these patterns for great for the same reasons as me - simple and clever designs with good outcomes. My particular faves are these three patterns - what were your faves?

Cathy Cullis from November moon makes the most detailed mixed media dolls, little paper, fabric and yarn dolls with exquisite details and personality. check them out.

This one is (red shoes)’ is a mixed media artwork with fine handmade detailing - much of the papier mache unpainted as I really wanted it to be about the use of old pages from a book … Manipulating the page into a dress is an interesting process. One I’ve only just started to explore, really. I’m stitching the paper on to the doll, rather than using glue. I try to not use glue on my work, unless absolutely necessary (papier mache is an exception of course).

Miranda and Morton ‘arrived’ over the past few days. No matter how many dolls I make, I still like to take my time over them, adding the details so they are just so. …

‘grey girl house’ - I started on a doll - inspired by a beautiful grey linen I have in my fabric collection/stash. I knew I wanted her all grey, something enigmatic about that, … Grey is not a dull hue, I love how it works by itself and with different shades.

Jade Pegler’s work with paper and textiles combines a range of techniques including papiermache, bookbinding, hand and machine stitching, collage and origami - she lives in Wollongong, Australia - which is by the sea and not far from the big city.

She has a wide range of work - from fabric and mixed media, to wonderful whimsical drawings, to altered books and paper sculptures. There is something in her work that speaks of nature, the environment - is it her unbleached fabrics, worn and weathered papers, and organic forms.

these are stuffed drawings - more textiles

this is an inside out book

sculptural piece from a series titled desolation row made of papier mache, wood, wire, more paper, fabric and threads, in a show in Sydney titled IT”S PAINTING SO IT MUST BE GERMAN.

Also the drawings in her sketchbook as so wonderful - check out all her work at flickr and on her site here and here.

Whip Up is now taking article and tutorial submissions.

We are looking for tutorials and submissions that fit within Whip Up’s feel - read our Manifesto for more information. We are looking for thematic articles and tutorials to fit within the months themes - see monthly themes below - but also timely articles outside of these themes will be considered , such as exhibition and pattern reviews, craft memes, fun, frivolous and extreme ideas, etc that cannot wait and do not fit within the theme.

Submissions now being accepted for November, December and january

To learn more about how to submit an article read the submission guidelines here

the missability radio show is once again hosting a walking stick cosy competition - The Knitted Walking Stick Cosy Competition #1 was so successful that there will be a second round! There are instructions for making the cosy and patterns too. (caption Oxford Kitchen Yarns cosy from cosy comp #1)

independent craft show Bazaar Bizarre San Francisco 90+Vendors ✪ Workshops ✪ Local Music ✪ Free Goodie Bags for the first 300 customers | When: December 15th 2007 from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm | Where: San Francisco County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco (Lincoln Way at 9th Avenue) | Admission: $1.00

Once again the sampler has arrived on my doorstop, chock full of great indie craft products. This really is a great promotion tool for up and coming indie craft businesses.

Flora and Fauna Press is located in downtown Los Angeles. Christine Brandt, the owner, printer, and designer founded the press in 2006. I love the story of how Christine salvaged a rusty old letter press from a desert salvage yard and brought it back to life.

my kids were really impressed with maustudio and their notecards and badges - really super cute.

My kids also really loved jumble bugs - these are so fun - cards and badges with images of the the bugs were in the sampler but you can buy the bugs themselves too. very cool.

Check out this thread at the forum and add your current project to the list.

Towhee says: I just finished a vinyl totebag yesterday with Kaffe Fassett lining. No pattern, just improvisational sewing. It was like painting with scissors.

tatting my doilies made a softie knitted squid and now is working on a sea monster … beware the kraken from the deep!

mveian - I made a bread bag out of linen this week, - and love it already! Guess I have to make a few more when a change is needed. (with tutorial)

meggymac says I’ve fallen for Built By Wendy patterns. My first attempt was inspired by the shirt pattern in her book, Sew U. I’ve called it the Heather Ross Cowgirl Shirt

Aussie patches is a great artist blog with lots of interesting information, art and advice. check out this post where she discusses how to package your art/craft/designs to sell at craft fairs and stores.

First of all why package at all?

1. Professional appearance. I wanted people to focus on my items rather then be put off by the fact there was no packaging. Most people buying products expect to have some sort of packaging for the item - that is the day and age we live in. A consumer society where some things are just in our subconscious and we don’t often think of them.
2. People won’t buy gifts without packaging.
3. Protection of the item. Protection during shipment was very important as well as protection when the items are in stores. Just image how many fingers will touch your works. For me it was important that my mirrors and badges were protected as dirty fingers can really impact negatively on the items.

And some points to consider when packaging (read the full article here)

1. Your packaging should reflect and enhance your work without distracting from it. The items should ‘match’ and remain consistent as a way of reinforcing your brand image.
2. If you sell clothing or plush toys do you want your brand to be recognised with a sewn in label? Do you need to invest in ribbon labels? What about iron on labels, or sewn in labels?
3. Can the buyer see the product without needing a display item? I found that when people were looking at my magnets and mirrors they always wanted to see the back of them, so I needed packaging that could be see through.

[as one commenter said - please be aware of the environment when considering packaging - don't over package and please try and use recyclable or recycled materials in your packaging]

first annual Great American Craft Off! It will start Nov. 1 - This unique contest calls for American crafters to present a one-of-a-kind creation that exemplifies their personal vision of what America is all about – whatever that may be. The winner will be awarded a prize package valued at over $6000!

4th Handmade market next Saturday Nov 3rd in Raleigh, NC. - The Handmade Market: Because “MALL” Is a Four-letter Word
Shop for unique handcrafted goods and support independent designers at The Handmade Market in Raleigh, NC.

The Holiday Softie Awards - entries close October 31st!. check out the current entries and enter yours under one of these categories (make sure you check out the rules about entering) Categories are: Deck the Halls, Animals Dressed for the Holidays, Nightmare Before Christmas and Let it snow - other categories that need your entries are: Holiday Smorgasboard (food) (come on guys - where are all those soft food makers, Under the Tree (toys) - more toys - come on - come on, The Worst Gift I Ever Got (this could be really funny and fun), Doll Dress Up (come on you know you want to) Holiday version of a Softie from the Softies Book.

This month’s whiplash them is fibre & mixed media inspired jewellery - to find out more about how to enter - go to the whiplash page - to post your link go this forum thread and also see and comment on the other entries.

We are offering some prizes for this months Whiplash (last day to enter is NOV 15) one copy of French inspired jewelry: creating with vintage beads, buttons & baubles by Kaari Meng, Published by Lark Books and kindly donated for this whiplash series by the author Kaari Meng and to go with the book a really beautiful bracelet kit from Kaari’s store at french general.

I am really excited that Kaari Meng has generously agreed to give one of our whiplash entrants one of these books and this is what inspired the current whiplash theme. Mixed media jewelry, found jewelry, fibre and textured and free form jewelry. I love all that - so get your thinking caps on and let your creative juices flow to be in the running to get your hands on this great book.

Kaari has a store in Hollywood, where she sells vintage buttons and notions, French fabrics and linens and textiles as well as bath products and other romantic and vintage inspired homewares. Her shop, books and style have been featured in Martha Stewart Magazine, on Oprah and she has designed jewelry for Anthropologie. Has anyone been to her store - it looks just wonderful and her online site is pretty too.

This first image is a page layout from this new book French inspired jewelry (the last three photos are taken from the jewelry kits on the website but the first two of these are also in the book), while Kaari does not live in France (she lives in California) she travels a great deal and picks up wonderful finds from flea markets and out of the way village stores in France - what a wonderful lifestyle that would be. And this book reflects that romance and mystery and history of Europe. In the very last chapter of this book Kaari says that when in France she visits lots of churchyards and is inspired by the feeling of history in these places, the churches often have collections of old handwork and she is interested in the women and their quiet industrious lives from times gone past. This last chapter was inspired by recollections of these women with jewelry using religious iconography, mother of pearl, vintage beads, lace and old photographs. I really love the page layout of these pages too, with the jewelry and beads and buttons photographed with paper ephemera, textured linens and fading photographs.

Other chapters focus on flowers, gardens, vineyard, fancy court ladies, the orchard and the flea market. One of the other chapters though that really captured my imagination was Le Circe (the circus), with the page layouts consisting of various old circus memorabilia like magic cards, and tickets and advertising postcards, as well as the amazing array of fancy buttons and beads with comedic and colourful combinations. Most of the jewelry in this section is centred on the eclectic menagerie of the charm bracelet.

Technically speaking the instructions are pretty clear. Even for a jewelry gumby like me, no experience needed, just a keen eye for detail and a steady hand. There are lots of technical instructions in the front of the book, as well as explanations of all the materials needed - what sort of adhesives and stringing materials, advice on design, beads, findings and tools to use.

When I began to look into selling my sewing patterns, I was swimming in murky waters. I knew absolutely nothing, and I couldn’t find any straightforward advice on the web. Such were the questions that were piling up in my mind: How do I make the layout look professional? How do I print those large sheets? How much should I charge? How and where should I sell my patterns? How do I get the word out?

To those who have created a brilliant sewing pattern that they would like to sell, but have no clue where to begin, this little cheat sheet is for you. It’s not super detailed, but if I learned one thing during my journey into pattern publishing, it’s that other pattern designers are very kind, and will give you wonderful advice if you contact them. So please, feel free to contact me at montessorirevolution(at)gmail(dot)com if you have any questions. You might also look into Nancy Restuccia’s book, Publish Your Patterns!, which is jam-packed with useful information.

So you came up with a pattern – how do you get your instructions and pattern pieces on paper?

Guess what? Microsoft Word simply won’t cut it! You need to look into getting a page layout program such as Adobe InDesign. InDesign will allow you to design a page of any size (that includes those large, 22” x 34” full-sized pattern sheets.) You can make instruction sheets look top-notch, and can use their precise drawing tools to make your full-sized pattern pieces. Once you have your pattern designed, you can export it as a PDF file and send it to a professional printer. I highly suggest you download the following tutorial and become familiar with InDesign: here

Kinko’s costs an arm and a leg, and other reasons to get you patterns professionally printed.

Unless you want to pay a ridiculous sum per pattern to print off those oversized sheets at your local Kinko’s [aka - online ordering solution for digital print-on-demand - ed], you are much better off getting your patterns printed by a professional print shop. I ended up going with Tri-State Printing Co. by recommendation of a fellow pattern designer. They have a department that specializes in printing patterns for the sewing industry, so they know what they’re doing! Plus, folding is included – which I couldn’t imagine having to do myself, over and over and over … The down side of printing in this way is that you will need to order a minimum of 1000 patterns. This can be scary, but it’s worth it. The cost of your order will depend on the size of your sheets, if they are one-sided or two-sided, and if you want the pattern front printed in color.

Consider all of the hidden costs when setting the price for your patterns.

You will need to purchase zip-lock bags [or other sealed bags - paper bags perhaps - ed] for packaging (I use clearbags.com, model ZR69V), address labels, business cards, mailing supplies, etc. If you have your own website, that will cost a bit to set up and maintain. Also, don’t forget to factor in all of those big, start-up expenses, such as the purchase of Adobe InDesign. How much did you spend for fabric and notions when you were developing your pattern? In short, there are a lot more costs than just the printing of the patterns. Don’t sell yourself short because you think your patterns won’t sell for market price because you aren’t a “known” designer. The industry standard is to charge half your retail price for wholesale purchasers. The distributor price is then 70 percent of the wholesale price.

Thank heaven for Etsy – how to sell your sewing patterns

The easiest way to set up shop is through Etsy.com. Etsy is, hands down, the best way to get your products online without having to study web design. Plus – it has a built-in audience. I started up my Etsy shop in addition to my own website, just to tap into all of the crafty action over at Etsy.

Your Mom can’t be your only customer and other marketing tips.

Although I’m sure your mom, aunt and best friend would love to buy up all your inventory, you are probably better off extending your marketing reach past your family and friends! A good way to do this is to pitch your patterns to nationwide distributors, such as Brewer Sewing Supplies and Quilters’ Resource in the US, Quilt-Craft Distributors in Canada, and Highland Quilterworks in Australia. If one of them decided to carry your patterns, they do all of the marketing work for you! Finding wholesale customers is as easy as contacting your own favorite fabric and pattern shops to see if they would be interested in carrying your patterns. A bit of time on Google is all that it takes to locate the contact information of most online fabric stores.

Promoting your direct retail sales is a bit more work. If you have a blog, you should set up a mailing list (I use www.ymlp.com) to send out promotional mailings, offer discount coupons, etc. Get the word out in whatever way you can – set up a Flickr group where others can post photos of projects made using your patterns, participate in crafty forums like Whip Up’s, and don’t be afraid to promote yourself!

About the writer: Meg McElwee is a Montessori teacher who lives with her husband and two cats in rural Mexico. She spends most of her free time fiddling with fabric and keeping up her blog. She sells her Reading Pillow and Mei Tai Baby Carrier sewing patterns at montessori by hand.