I love trying new sewing projects but always feel a little stressed out about selling them in my shop. I get into this mentality that if I am sewing, it should be something to sell. My kids rarely wear clothes that I make them and not one member of my family has a handmade quilt on their bed. Terrible, I know! This is why I love testing patterns so much. Remember those cute Halloween treat bags I made a few months ago? Adorable and my kids got something fun out of it. This time I responded to a post by
Tikatuly Designs asking for people to test her patterns. Here's how it works... selling patterns on Etsy can be very successful and fun; especially ones that have lots of pictures. They are similar to tutorials and usually sell for a few dollars each. However, when you make a pattern, you need to know if other's can follow what you are saying. It's like proof reading for sewing. Here's where I come in! I test the pattern out and in turn get to spend a little free time making something that I am not focused on selling. This time, my little Sophie got a new skirt out of the deal!
Tikatuly Designs is owned by a super nice person from NY. She makes patterns for really fun, modern, children's clothing. Here is a peak at some of her designs...
Aren't they fun?! They are different than most of the other kids clothing patterns out there and I just love the fabrics that she uses.
So, she asked if people would test out the pattern for her asymmetrical skirt. Let me just remind you that I do NOT make clothing often and that is because I can not follow a traditional sewing pattern to save my life. That entire section of the fabric store is off limits to me. However, I love finding tutorials on-line or purchasing Etsy tutorials because they are so much easier to follow.
Well this pattern is no exception. It is PACKED with pictures. Every time you get a bit confused, there is a fantastic picture that shows you exactly what she is talking about. The other great thing, if you get confused at all, you just email her and she writes you back! Fantastic!
Well here is the skirt I made today. Please note that pictures turn out better in natural light so I had my poor little one outside in the snow with dress shoes on. Believe me, she didn't mind. She had a new, funky, skirt and she was in heaven.
So here are some great things about this pattern. Typically when you buy a pattern on-line, it is about 5 pages long. This pattern was 40+ pages. Not great for the ink/paper supply but you really don't have to print it if you don't want to. The reason why it is so long is because it has OPTIONS. And she explains each on in detail.
There were many variations on the waist but I chose to use elastic. I happened to have some extra so this did not require a store trip. I left some of the fabric at the top to make it ruffle a bit more to mimic the ruffly, flowy feel of the skirt.
Then there is the hem. She gives great instruction on how to make handmade fabric ruffle which I know I will try next time but I chose to use some left over large ric-rac I happened to have had on hand. I like it but I think I would change it up next time.
So there is it! I would definitely purchase a pattern from this seller in the future and I certainly hope she lets me test out future patterns.
Anyone else have any great patterns or tutorials out there? I love building my stash of ideas!
