This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Jones Soda. All opinions are 100% mine.

Above is a picture of my daughter posing with her new turkey hat. The hat was a free thank you gift from IZEA, a company I have done a couple of sewing related posts for. They had emailed me a week ago asking me if I would like to get the hat along with a bottle of Jones soda. My daughter happened to be with me at the time when I was looking at a picture of the hat and said she wanted it. To be honest with you I had no intention of getting the hat or the soda but my daughter changed my mind.

Today the packaged arrived and I surprised my daughter with the hat when she got home from school. She loved it. In the box with the soda and hat was an offer to write a post with my reaction to the free gift. At first I thought no, but then my business side took over and I realized that someone not only had to design and sew the original hat but is probably making out like a bandit selling these things to IZEA. Of course IZEA is also having their logo embroidered on the front. An embroidery company got that job. Top that with the fact it looks goofy enough to be loved by my very picky daughter.

The soda will be heading to school with my daughter as she wants to give all of her friends a sip of the Tofurky and Gravy Jones Soda . She has tasted Jones' broccoli flavored soda and the one word she used was - yuck. She wants to see her friends reaction to this soda. She has tasted the Jones soda called Sweet Victory and loves that one so she is not unfamiliar with Jones.

I would again like to thank IZEA for the free stuff, It made a stir at our house today.

Here is something for those of you wanting some fresh ideas for Halloween decoration. The video below shows an interesting way to "sew" your pumpkins.

Did you know that you can use your regular sewing machine to create fantastic embroidery creations? I bet you didn't. I had known this since I was little but apparently it is not common knowledge. There was a discussion on this message forum that went into some detail about it. They even mentioned a book. I found the book they were all talking about and here it is:

Since I do lots of machine embroidery I love to decorate t-shirts. My daughter has one that is decorated with buttons. She has also stenciled one with several rows of hearts, one the front, all the same color and one odd ball colored one with a crazy face on it.

I buy many different t shirt shapes since not everyone wants the straight mens, baggy look. The french cut ones with the narrow waist and the small capped sleeves are a favorite of young women.

If you decorate t-shirts then try to obtain the different styles of t-shirts. You might find your sales could go up.

Here is a list of Halloween costumes that you can get some design ideas from. There are about 5+ pages to browse through. I am sure you can find something that appeals to your sewing talent. All of the costumes are ready made but you can get a good idea of colors and shape.

Edited to add: I just checked Google Trends and found out that one of the top 50 searches today on Google was for Halloween costumes for couples. It looks like people plan on spending some money this Halloween, even in a tight economy.

As a crafter I am sure you are well aware that the pet industry is flourishing right now. Even in this depressing economy, stores like Petsmart are opening up new stores. I find it ironic that people are spending as much as they do on dogs when times are hard. That is great news for us who want to cater to the pet business.

Just looking at all the opportunities there are to make and market that you can whip up on your sewing machine. Check the company that is offering these dog costumes, they have done a fantastic job of designing their own costumes. The taco dog costume below is on the page that I just put the link to. The detail of the lettuce sticking up and the fact it was modeled on Chihuahua was brilliant.
As you can tell, presentation of a product or design will make or break a sale. If those costumes were just presented on a coat hanger or some other way that the customer could not get a good idea of what it looked like without handling it then they might lose a sale. They took the extra step to photograph a dog wearing what they make.

Halloween is now one of the biggest celebrations in the USA and Canada. What use to be a night of mischief making 40 years ago is now a big dress-up party. Not only are the costumes becoming more and more elaborate but pets are now joining in on the fun. This little guy below is wearing a ready made costume found at this site where they have 11 other equally cute and idea generating dog costumes.


So after seeing that page I decided it was time to look around for some pet costume patterns for you to sew. I found a few and added them to my sewing supplies store. You can find them here. McCall's, Simplicity and a few others also make dog costume sewing patterns. What I can tell you is the difference between the mediocre and great pet costume is the accessories that are added to them. Let your imagination run wild.

I would just like to share the video below. It is a quick 2 minute video showing the fundamentals of how to measure yourself and how to apply those measurements to a paper pattern.

Are you ready for Halloween? How about the local Renaissance Fair, which normally takes place in the autumn. Could you sew or design an outfit like the ones pictured above? You probably could with a little practice. Many of the major sewing pattern companies make such elaborate patterns with very detailed instructions. I have also run across an online store that has 3 pages of period costume patterns for women. It is called Ladies of the Realm and they even have Japanese noble costume patterns.

Here is another round of ideas for items to make and sell. Have you thought about going small? I don't mean the size of your business but the size of your items. We all know it takes many hours if not days to make large items like quilts or even tailored wedding dresses so why not go small?

Make custom designed quilts for dollhouse furniture. Better yet get a miniature dress form for a doll house and design and make an elaborate wedding dress to go on the form and display it in the doll house. Or how about this little cutie below. A miniature doll that has baby clothes and the lined bassinet.


For someone that wants to take their time designing and making items like this there will be a market for them. If you put your mind to it you could even make items for the retailer of miniature doll house items and you would not have to do much selling anymore. You would become the wholesale manufacturer.

Of course you are going to need some ideas so I recommend you go and visit this dollhouse miniatures online retailer. Take a look around and see if a light bulb goes off in your head. Off of the top of my head I could think of wall hangings that depict family trees and personalized welcome mats. They have a wonderful selection of bathroom fixtures that got me thinking about miniature personalized bath towels. It adds a bit more charm to a doll house when it has a link to the real world with personalization.

Think in the terms of making items that can be personalized with names, dates or places on them. In the example I gave above about the wedding dress, it could be a true miniature reproduction of an actual dress.

Have you ever seen Platform Beds like the ones pictured above? What makes them different than a regular bed it the fact they don't have a box spring. The mattress just lays straight on the platform. I predict that these types of beds will become more popular than they are right now. I can sight one main reason why:

• They would attract less dust than a box spring bed

If my prediction comes true then it will change how bedding is designed and made. Are you designing and sewing for platform beds?

In honor of the 233th celebration of the 4th of July I have designed a red, white and blue horse. You can purchase the DST file format here or just visit my embroidery designs website at the link at the top of the blog.

If you really want to have your sewing business grow then you should stop thinking about catering to just regular families and people in general and start aiming your business to an industry. I sew for the horse, farm and ranch industries. I know the trends of those industries and keep up with them. Some well known small companies cater to camping or the outdoors. There is one small company in the Northwest that makes water proof shopping bags for stores. Another company, carhartt clothing makes protective clothing for industries that need protective gear for their employees.

Take a look at industry trends and see if you can come up with something that you can sew and sell to those industries. Use your own knowledge of a trend or talk to your family that works in an industry and listen to what they say their company needs.

The last craft fair I was at was just over a few months ago. I had a small line waiting at my table for custom embroidery but next to me was an artist that had a waiting line that was almost 6 people long at all times. What that person was doing was Airbrush Tattoos. If people were not in line for a painted on tattoo then they were there watching. Of course we are all fascinated with artists that do work in front of others, it simply makes for good business. My daughter was with me a begged for a tattoo and I told her only if she paid for it. She asked how much a tattoo was and found out she did not have enough money for one. They were charging $12 and up for a non-permanent tattoo!

It got me to thinking about what that person was doing. I had always been fascinated by airbrush painting and once in awhile I would see an airbrush t-shirt artist at the state fair. So far I had seen airbrush work done on people and T-shirts but no where else. The possibilities I was thinking of were airbrush quilt squares or airbrush decorated dresses.

Of course the paint for fabric would be different from the paint used on people. It would need to be colorfast, non-toxic and non-irritating. Also a person would need to have lots of practice with the airbrush before going public with it but it might be worth a try. Start up costs would be very low on that type of business. If you love to paint and want an outlet for your creative side then airbrush art might be for you.

I have always lived in an area that has been visited by hummingbirds. This year they even showed up early after their annual migration. They migrate from north America to south America around the equator each year. They usually return in early spring to the Northwest but this year they showed up at the end of February which is almost mid-winter here.

We have big sliding glass doors that overlook our backyard. Right next to the glass doors on the outside I usually hang my prettiest and best hummingbird feeders. I was just a tad late in getting the feeders up. Several hummingbirds hung around the glass doors until I got the message "where's the food?"

This year I plan on making a side drape with hummingbirds either appliquéd or embroidered on it. A side drape is what I describe as a narrow drape that merely frames a window without covering the glass. Since there are a wide variety of different colors of hummingbirds I might either stick with the traditional ruby throated ones or mix up the colors to blend in with the colors in the living room.

If you are thinking that sewing projects are limited to sun dresses and weddings during the summer you are mistaken. Just think of all the kids that need special clothing for their summertime activities. I am not talking about swimming suits but clothes needed for classes and clubs. Take for example dancewear, I am not suggesting you sew leotards but how about the accessories for the dancewear? Flowing light weight wrap-around skirts or even fancy dance class tote bags.

Contact a local dance studio and find out if they have a dance wear supplier for those things, if not then maybe you can become that supplier.

June is here next week. Did you have any bridal gown business? Here is a video on bridal gown do's and dont's for those of you that need that kind of information. The woman in the video is a world famous wedding gown designer.

Many of you design or sew for the medical industry. From designing or fitting those stylish scrubs to embroidering clinic names on the lab coats, the medical industry needs us. If you happen to get a job that requires you to supply scrubs with embroidery on them there are a few things you ought to know first. Number one is find out if there is a particular color that they must wear. For example in some hospitals hunter green is reserved for physical therapists while baby blue might be reserved for respiratory therapists. Next is to go over the actual scrub designs and fit. Certain professionals require different pockets for their instruments so you need to know the differences between the different styles of scrubs. There are so many styles of scrubs nowadays and you don't want to pick the wrong style for your client.

There is a wonderful online magazine called Scrubs that gives you an inside view of the medical industry from the people that live it day to day. One of their articles deals with fashion and style while working in scrubs, you can read it here.

Keep in mind that you want to stay way from those cheap type of scrubs for your client that are full of static cling. Medical personnel work around lots of electronic devices and you don't want the actual scrub to cause a static discharge that might affect the equipment.

If you are not catering to the medical industry with your sewing maybe you should think about it

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The morning before Mother's Day I filled my mug with hot water to make some hot chocolate. After stirring the hot liquid I noticed that some was leaking out the side of the mug. Upon closer inspection I found a hairline crack that ran from the top of the mug to the bottom.

The mug was a special mug, it was my "mom" mug that was presented to me at my baby shower over 15 years ago.


It was with a heavy heart that I placed the mug in the trash that morning. A few hours later my husband was putting something in the kitchen trash when he asked me why I was throwing out the mug. I told him it was cracked and added that the mug held a lot of memories besides hot liquids. He then asked me why I didn't think of making it into something like a holder for fake flowers or something like that. I then remembered that a good friend had made pincushions out of small dishes and knick knack items. I removed the mug from the trash, washed it and so began the "mom" mug's life as a large pincushion.

Follow me as I show you what I did to my mug:

First I filled it with packing "peanuts".


Notice the other side of the mug reads " If I start to rant and rave and babble, don't be alarmed..."
Next I added some cotton batting.


I then cut a piece of coordinating fabric and put it over the top. I hot glued the fabric in place on the inside of the mug. Here is the finished pincushion:


I am so thankful for my husband for reminding me to think more artistically before I throw something so special out.