Off to Australia

Phoebe is off to Australia to start a new adventure and maybe escape this endless winter. 

Sneak peak at some new dolls

I've been hard at work on some new dolls, both custom and for my Etsy shop. I should have four new dolls for the Etsy shop--Tuesday I'm hoping. Here's a sneak peak. 

Waiting for faces.

Just what is it about handmade?

In 2007, I made my first Etsy purchase. It was a paisley padded laptop cover for my oldest daughter, who was going off to college. It was about $70 and I knew from the description we would need to wait for it to be made. A month later, when it arrived, we could see it was cushy, perfectly constructed, beautiful and different from the usual. We loved it.

In the intervening seven years, the laptop cover grew a little less vibrant, but I can hardly say the same of Etsy, or the handmade marketplace. The past seven years has been a bit of a handmade renaissance. Last year was Etsy’s biggest year with well over a billion dollars of sales. Although there were sales of vintage items and craft supplies, a bulk of those sales were items made by hand.

Etsy alone cannot take the credit for creating this thriving handmade marketplace. And although some credit goes to the thousands of artisans whose efforts and shops populate Etsy, this renaissance would not be happening if there was not a growing demand for handmade goods.

Why? Why are more of us deliberately buying handmade? It isn’t cheaper. It is often less expedient. And it is a bit of a gamble. And inventories are always low, many items having an inventory of one.

I asked some Etsy shoppers why they buy handmade.  

And this is what I heard:

The care that went into making the item was the answer that rose to the top of the list. With this care and attention to detail, buyers felt handmade things can claim more value than store bought.

Many people said they enjoy the connection to the buyer. As a seller and a buyer, I love that connection. This connection brings me to the next two reasons—the item can be customized and it has a back story. Etsy buyers are a more holistic bunch. They like the idea that the seller also has a story. The product isn’t merely plucked from the shelves of a store. The product comes with a creator, a why and a how. Many buyers thought the story and the connection gave the item more value.

People like the ability to customize. They like talking to the seller, gauging how the seller thinks and creates and then seeing how they can respond to their needs. And the communication that leads to the customized item is an experience that has value. This is the flip side of expedient. We don't always want Amazon Prime.

The uniqueness of the item was another common reason. Low inventory becomes a positive.

A few people felt buying handmade was voting with their wallet. You are supporting small business. Sometimes even micro business or a specific cause.

This is not the first handmade movement to emerge. The first was the Arts and Crafts movement. This push toward the hand crafted was driven by a group of artists at the end of the nineteenth century in industrializing Britain in an attempt to preserve craftsmanship in a world that seemed to be moving in the opposite direction.

Maybe we are experiencing something similar. So many of our daily activities are now conducted on phones and laptops, including shopping. Maybe we crave the human element in our lives, and specifically in our non-tech products. Handmade gives us that in so many ways, even if we are reaching for handmade through our laptop.

Earrings from FiberBungalow.

Bag from MondayMorningStudios

Slow is Good

I had a great day.

I took the day off from my day job today. That means I had the school day to sew, stuff, blog, knit, clean, catch up, there were many possibilities.

I spent the seven hours turning, stuffing and ladder stitching two and a half dolls. Two and half dolls that were already stitched together yesterday. For those of you who make dolls, you are familiar with turning, stuffing and ladder stitching.

They are slow--these activities cannot be rushed.  But that is part of their attraction. Although to those who don't create, it would appear that creativity propels this process. Creativity is one ingredient. But those who make things by hand, the main attraction is the actual making. The slow, often methodical, process of carefully putting bits together, whether it is stitches in a hand knit sock or the meticulously threaded hair on a doll's head, is what we love. And it is often these slower more mundane activities that allow the time for our more creative ideas to percolate. 

To those who aren't into it, it probably sounds painstaking. For those of you who craft, most likely you feel as I do, this is relaxing, joyful, and why you do what you do. 

It is the zen of crafting. 

I love my slow days.

Off to Michigan

Phoebe is excited to finally be off to meet her new family in Michigan. 

Would you like to sew for Phoebe?

Here is a sneak peek at the Phoebe and Egg Learn to Sew sewing kits. Each kit will come with almost everything you need to sew a simple (but cute) wrap dress for Phoebe. The kit will be designed for beginning sewists, adult or a child 7 and over. The kits will include almost everything you need except the sewing machine, scissors and iron. 

The dress, despite being very easy to sew, is very cute and can be embellished in so many ways. The first version is with a fabric yo-yo and button (which of course will be included in your kit) along with pattern pieces printed on freezer paper that can be ironed directly onto your fabric (no pinning).

Check in later, I'll post a few photos of the dress. Also the last photo below gives you some idea what goes into creating a pattern for a simple dress. Not so simple.

What goes into creating a simple dress is not so simple.

NYC finds and fun

My Egg, now 12, my husband and I went to NYC for a long weekend to visit my older two children (aka Phoebe and Ging), who now live, work and play there.

I wandered again into the garment district. A bit overwhelming-- rooms and rooms, floors and floors, and blots and bolts of fabric, AND trims and threads and sewing tools to the ceiling everywhere. I loved it and it made me want to flee. Next time I go, I'll have some specific idea of what I want.

Anyone else making this trip, Mood Fabrics is a must see.

Now we are home just in time for the next snow storm and some cozy sewing.

In the end, I left with a very small loot (DMC floss), but I really didn't need anything anyway.

The Doll Book

I learned to sew at age eight and started right away making people clothes. I made a dress for my little sister. She was not as appreciative as I hoped she would be and so I moved on to sewing my own clothes. But I spotted this book somewhere, somehow (without an internet) and begged for it. It is called "The Doll Book" and it really was the THE doll book, since I knew of no others. I loved it and made many of the dolls and the clothes. I still have it and I still think it is cool .

It gives you the patterns for a family of dolls--parents, older siblings, younger siblings and a baby. I made them all. The patterns are Barbie sized and I love the way old Barbies are inter-mingled in the photos. It also gives you hundreds of period clothing patterns. You could historically dress your little dolls in outfits from the early 1800s on through to the early 1900s. 

The book would be fun for any child who wants to try doll-making. The dolls are simple and flat and the instructions for the clothing are amazing.

Used copies are still available on Amazon. Starting at about a dollar.

Quietly working

I haven't been posting much this week to the blog. I've been thinking about it, but have not had time. I've been working on a couple of things. All good. 

So here's what's happening:

1. A few custom dolls and a few custom clothing sets.
2. A pattern for a dress that is simple, but can be customized. I will be selling the pattern and maybe kits on Etsy.
3. Some Phoebe play clothes, simpler and a bit more fun than the current line of Phoebe clothing.
4. And a few new dolls

All fun and all good (I hope).

Now on Facebook

Phoebe&Egg are now on Facebook. Click the Facebook icon below to find their page.