The very talented Beth from Sew DIY has nominated me to be next in the Blog Hop. It’s aim is to share a little bit about the creative process and what inspires us to share and create. It’s been wonderful thinking over why and how I create. I highly recommended if you are feeling a little chaotic or down, take some time to reflect on your makes. It will lift your spirits and give you a renewed sense of accomplishment!
Why do I write?
I write because it’s one of the easiest ways to communicate. I wish I could talk to everyone in person and explain all my ideas and designs. That however would take a lot of time and involve a lot of travel. So while that would be awesome, I can’t afford that much travel.
Instead I write and try and communicate my ideas and design philosophy that way. I love to share ideas and knowledge so I’m trying to communicate as much “stuff” as I think is interesting to people. Sometimes I get stuck, in that I have too many ideas and no way of knowing if people would find it deadly dull or really interesting? When that happens if I find it interesting, then it goes up.
What am I working on?
I’m working on new patterns, so many ideas and plans happening there. I have 2 new patterns releasing tomorrow!
So far I’ve been working at releasing patterns as mini style ranges and this idea is going to continue. I want everything to co ordinate together so it becomes part of a larger more cohesive brand philosophy. I’m big with planning and from working as a designer we tend to plan out our collections 12 to 18 months in advance. I’ve been taking this approach with Measure Twice Cut Once and have a release schedule planned out. This helps me to be organised and allows me to slow down a little too. Sometimes I want to rush and get it all out there. Then I sit back and look at the schedule and say to myself “no there is a plan here, stick with it”. I want the business itself to be sustainable but also fun. Sewing is enjoyable and I want to encourage people to sew and create their own styles in a way that is difficult to do when you have to rely on ready to wear.
Personally I’m also working on some sewing of my own. I want to be ready for summer so I’m trying to add in some pieces that were missing last summer. Sewing for myself goes in cycles and it seems so much of my summer garments have just worn out, am looking forward to replacing loved pieces and finding new styles to try.
This year I also set myself some sewing challenges. One of which was making my own underwear, so I’m looking forward to finishing up some bras very soon. I’m also stash busting and have found some truly wonderful pieces that I have loved adding to my wardrobe. I’ve really liked setting myself a challenge this year, am thinking over what I should challenge myself to sew next year already.
How does it differ from others of its genre?
I hope it does? I’m trying to share my knowledge of working within the fashion industry and how I mix that with my own sewing and of course, developing patterns.
I think I’m still finding my voice. Working on what I am trying to communicate. Long term I’d like to have the blog contain informative posts about the patterns, new release’s and hacks/DIY’s you can do with the patterns. Plus I’d like it to have more series and articles covering design and how things are approached from an industry viewpoint. I tend to pull inspiration from everywhere and feel like sewers could learn from industry in the same way knowing how to sew influences my design and industry practices. It’s not a case of one being better than the other, more of a collaborative duo that can benefit from each other.
I also want to show more of my own makes, I’m terribly behind on my own makes as I keep putting them aside for more sample testing or patterns. In looking back over the blog for the Blog Hop it’s the one thing that is glaringly obvious to me. I need to show more of my own pieces, not only to show the person behind the brand but also I genuinely enjoy the comment and feedback from the sewing community. So that’s a big challenge I am setting myself and have the determination to make sure I don’t fall behind on it again.
How does my writing process work?
I open a post and write? I try to write like I talk, but I also like to be organised so there are plenty of pre written posts that get scheduled in advance. I want to try and share knowledge as much as possible so I try to write in a way of sharing and I hope that comes across?
I have lists and lists of topics I want to write about, so I write a list and then try and add it to a plan. Sometimes people will ask a question or mention something in passing and that sparks an idea so it all goes on the list and then I filter it out later when I sit down to write.
To keep myself on track I have an iCal colour co ordinated schedule so I know what posts are going live on what dates. This way if work or life gets in the way there is always something happening on the blog. I deliberately leave gaps though as I want to be spontaneous and celebrate things as they happen too. I work as a freelance designer a lot, so I will go from weeks of non stop to to a break of a few days or a week and then back again. It can be tiring but it also forces you to be organised about everything. From buying groceries to getting the washing done. So in the quiet work times I like to bank as much work as I can here on the blog so that the creativity of my day job feeds the blog and vice versa.
As part of the Blog Hop I get to nominate the next creative person to join in. I’m choosing the lovely Erin from Dog Under My Desk, not only does she do the most amazing bag patterns, she is soon to take the big leap and come to live in Sydney! I can’t wait to finally meet her in person.