Did you know? Have you heard? Kid’s Clothes Week is coming up! Yes, it might feel like winter KCW just happened, but spring KCW means that spring is really actually truly coming! This spring KCW week falls on the week before Easter, so I might just get some Easter outfits sewn (for once).
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This is post I did last month on Crafterhours for The Twill Tape Guy.
I am brand new to the world of knitting. This tote is my second knitting project ever! And to be honest, my first project was just a warm up to get to this one. Because you see, when I discovered the book Simple Knitting by Erika Knight I wanted to make almost every project in it, but I had to learn how to knit first!
The book is full of lovely projects, all accessible to the beginner knitter, and presented beautifully. The instructions are clear and very well illustrated–a very rare thing indeed!
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Today the Small Fry Skinny Jean pattern tour is stopping here at elsie marley. I didn’t make hot pink pants or harlequin pants or floral skinnies for the tour. I just made plain old gray pants. Well they might look like plain old gray pants, but to me they are a bit of a masterpiece.
I think I’ve made my fair share of pants at this point, but I learned so many new things making these pants! I sewed belt loops for the first time, I made a little coin pocket (you know that little tiny pocket on your jeans), and a full on half fly.
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This is the Stellar Tunic from the new Heavenly Collection by Figgy’s. I have sewn a fair bit of Figgy’s patterns. Actually when I look back, I’ve sewn a ton of Figgy’s patterns:
1. tee for two 2. ayashe blouse 3. sunki leggings 4. sunki dress 5. nintuna jacket 6. tee for two dress 7. banyan tee 8. robes 9. tee for two
Why have I sewn so many? Because Figgy’s patterns are fun to sew! The designs are very modern, but designed with real kids in mind. They are constructed in interesting ways, but not impossible to sew. I usually learn a new technique when I sew with Figgy’s patterns. Most importantly they are comfy and my kids like wearing them.
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It’s been just about a month since the Alt Design Summit. I came back excited, inspired, and lucky to have met such an amazing group of bloggers. But I also came back feeling conflicted. Blogging is an odd thing: everyone seems to be doing it, a large percentage of people claim to be experts at it, but no one is sure where is going or what it means.
On the plane home, I wrote up a list of what I heard the most at Alt.
be authentic, but focus on what your readers want
be authentic, but focus on making money
be authentic, but tell everyone you have the GREATEST BLOG EVER!
blog 3 times a week, but say no to being overwhelmed
focus on one social media outlet, but rule them all
sponsorship is not a dirty word, but sell yourself to make a lot of money
find your niche, but don’t get niched–you must appeal to wide variety of brands
do everything for free, until some point, then charge a lot for everything you do.
video is the future, but no one knows if video is really the future.
do all of this yourself, even though most profitable blogs have teams running them.
1. dana 2. jessica 3. me looking like it’s the first day of school 4. melissa 5. andrea 6. kate 7. delia
It’s confusing and conflicting but still all true. Oddly, it’s a lot like the advice new parents get. Maybe blogging is like parenting: you stay up all hours doing it, you can’t explain to people who don’t have blogs why you have one, and you’re not sure how it’ll turn out in the end.
clockwise 1. me, again on the first day of school 2. carla 3. celina 4. andrea 5. bonnie 6. marigold 7. helen 8. stacy (kneeling)
I did learn one really good thing at Alt:
Blogging is weird. You talk to so, so many people everyday, but every interaction is planned, controlled, and/or edited. Not at lot of creativity bursts forth from controlled situations. We need other people to challenge us and show us new things–this coming from a tried and true introvert. So reach out to similar bloggers. Collaborate! Contribute! Talk–face to face even! Gossip! Bullshit! Just say something off the top of your head for once…
