How DO you DO that?

 

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It's all in the making!

Last week, I was approached by a fellow fabric crafter who was keen to know more about how Doodlebroidery is created. Here's how it unfolded!

Doodlebroidery Cards

I received an email early last week from a lady who had seen some of my Doodlebroidery that was given as a Christmas gift to her friend and wanted more information about its creation. I explained to her, as I do to everyone who asks, that customers send me their child's drawing either by email or in the post, and I embroider an interpretation of the drawing onto fabric. Sometimes the fabric is for framing, sometimes it's an apron or a shopper, and more recently I've been preparing some small pieces to be mounted in cards. Then it's all gift wrapped and sent out.

PING PONG! No sooner had I sent my reply email than another popped into my inbox from the same lady. "Thank you very much for your reply," it read. "I don't think I was clear enough in my question, sorry. What I meant was which embroidery machine and software do you use?" Erm, software? Embroidery machine? Are these trick questions?

Framed Doodlebroidery

I was really, really flattered that she thought my work wasn't actually all mine, but that it was created by an automated machine; it felt good that she has such faith my translation of drawings. The thing is, it's not automated, not one stitch! Every part of every piece of Doodlebroidery is created using a simple domestic sewing machine. There's nothing complex or sophisticated about my machine - a bog-standard Brother JS-23 costing less than £70. In fact, although it was brand new when I got it, it was actually a gift from my sister to our Mum (who is an avid knitter) to get her started with machine sewing.  It certainly isn't a fancy, computerised embroidery machine! 

Stitching by numbers

All of my embroidery is done using a free motion embroidery foot, my two beady eyes and my two steady hands. A free foot works in much the same way as a standard presser foot, but instead of having the feed dogs move the fabric along in a straight line, it allows you to move your fabric around between stitches so that you can determine the direction and length of the stitch. Free motion machine embroidery has traditionally been used in quilting to create nice squiggly patterns rather than a traditional diamond shape, but it seems to have had an explosion in popularity in the last couple of years with many stitchy people using it as a way to "draw with thread". I begin by creating the outline of the image or drawing it with thread.  Then I do any "colouring in" and I usually finish by adding any necessary text. The last step is to frame if necessary then do a bit of labelling and gift wrapping before sending off the parcel. And ta-daaah! A unique piece of fabric art, done!

Thank you very much Friend Of Customer! You gave me a great chance to reflect on my work and a boost in confidence that was much needed in the post-Christmas lull!

Wrapped and ready

Tip
Fancy giving free motion embroidery a go? You might find it useful to have an embroidery hoop to hand to keep your fabric taut and either lower your feed dogs or cover them with a darning plate.  :o)

Out with the old and in with the new - the one with loads of bits and bobs to talk about!

 

Join us on Facebook at Hop Stitch Jump and at Sock Monsters :) 

Out with the old and in with the new - the one with loads of bits and bobs to talk about!

Well, it came and went - I trust you all had a peaceful Christmas and have had a happy start to the new year! 

Ours was lovely. We started on Christmas Eve with our (now traditional) trip to the panto with friends and a yummy lunch that I didn't cook; it was fabulous! The pantomime was a brilliantly entertaining version of Cinderella, performed by Far Out Theatre at Holmfirth Picturedrome. The stars of the show were without doubt Munter and Minger, Cinderella's ugly sisters, whose crazy flamboyance kept the kids giggling while their cheeky innuendo kept the adults entertained, too. There is something really special about a Christmas Eve performance that gets everyone ready for the festivities, and the offering from Far Out Theatre was so good that we will do our very best to get tickets for next year's show. Oh crikey, I mean this year's show don't I? Wowsers, 2012 already!  

An ugly sister, my best big girl, Prince Charming and Buttons.
Oh, yes they are!  :)

After the panto, we went next door to The Old Bridge for lunch. The party atmosphere in the theatre made for an extended show and we arrived for lunch much later than our reservation. Thankfully, the dining room was almost empty so the children were able to play and burn off some of the energy they'd be storing during Cinderella!  The last time we ate at The Old Bridge was the day after our wedding party and it was hard not to reflect on the differences between the two days: I seem to remember there being a great deal of sunshine, alcohol and grown-up conversations that moved smoothly and completely in the Summer of 2006, whereas the Winter of 2011 found me as sober as a judge, heavily pregnant with Number Three and scrabbling around on my hands and knees to play cars with kids while snatching snippets of conversation wherever I could!

My rascals with the bounty from their stockings <3

Christmas Day itself was the usual whirl of visitors and excited children, followed by dinner on our own for the first time since 2006. It was very strange to only be feeding four, but it was surprisingly peaceful and really lovely to have time to enjoy the day with our small people and the explosion of plastic that happened when we weren't looking! I didn't work at all in the week between Christmas and New Year, and so I brought in 2012 feeling quite refreshed and rejuvenated.We had a Noon Year's Eve party for the Small People and some close friends, followed by a lazy evening with a little sofa snooze while I waited for Jools Holland to do his stuff!

And here it is - 2012 in full throttle. Trimmings down, done! Back to school, done! Tying up the odds and ends for work, nearly done! Which just leaves the baby to get ready for. In four weeks, or thereabouts, we should be meeting Baby Number Three. It's so exciting for us all and although we have loads of stuff to get ready physically, we're definitely all looking forward to welcoming a new member of the family and ready to meet him/her.   I just have one little niggle...work.

Dinosaur hoody for a little man
who'sdelighted with it!

2011 was a great one for Hop Stitch Jump and Sock Monsters, and I even managed to do a little better than stay afloat. I learned some really cool stuff, launched some (I think) ace products, worked some ridiculous hours, and still got to spend loads of time with my Small People. I made at least 220 Sock Monsters (with some emergency last-minute help from some amazing people!), 40 superhero capes, about 80 pairs of hair clips, 21 hairclip holders, 15 dinosaur hoodies, 6 name plaques and 12 pieces of Doodlebroidery. Or close to that, anyway! All-in-all, it was harder than I expected but also more successful, so the balance was in my favour. Now my maternity leave is just around the corner though, I'm finding it tricky to stop all together.

An apron made for a Grandma
affectionately known as "Poppet!"

It's not that I've changed completely and want to work more than I want to be home with our new family, it's just that taking maternity leave from my own business feels really different from taking leave from another job. I've never lost track of the reason that I work nights or of the benefits of juggling fledgling humans and a fledgling business. When you are "employed," you know that your job will be held open while you're on maternity leave and that you are entitled to a proper break from work, but when you're "self-employed," and especially when you're a sole trader who has no employees to keep things ticking over in your absence, it's frightening to let go for a few months for fear of there being nothing to return to! Is it feasible that a business can be put on hold after a successful first year without there being serious detriment? For my tiny business that relies on social networking to communicate with customers and potential customers, how hard will it be to rebuild relationships with my followers and fans?

The Doodlebroidery created for the winner of my
December competition. Please see my FB page
for the original drawing and more examples.

The feedback I've received since Christmas from my customers and the people they gave gifts to has been phenomenal. It's so lovely to know that people like and enjoy my work.  Like most people I find it hard to sing my own praises and I pick over the tiniest imperfections in my work - the influx of positivity has come at a great time for me and Hop Stitch Jump. It's also given me a real boost and the confidence to think that maybe, just maybe, there might be a "proper" long-term future in this or something that evolves from this. I guess for that I'll have to wait and see! What I do know is that I'll be making the most of the days that I can work while on maternity leave (10 "Keeping In Touch" days as allowed by Government regulations) and hoping that when I return in the late Summer/Autumn I won't have to pick up from the very beginning all over again. Fingers crossed!

I've also had to do some serious rationalising and soul searching, and I know I'm going to have to consider the future of Sock Monsters.  It seems that since I first started making my favourite inanimate critters, their popularity has exploded exponentially.  Without eating too much into a topic broad enough for a blog entry of its own, there are so many "hobbyists" now who can make and sell sock creatures for prices much lower than I can charge. I am 100% confident that I source and use the very best materials. I am meticulous in my development and making and I pay for quality, from the socks to the super-safe stuffing, from the time I take to double-stitch by hand to colour-coordinated gift wrapping for every order. I run a legitimate business through proper channels and I incur expenses in line with that. Unfortunately, potential customers don't always see that and with times being as they are right now, price is often the only comparison that's made. Hmmm...food for thought for sure.

And there we have it - the end of one year and the start of a new one! Thanks to the great reception I've had so far, there is much promise for Hop Stitch Jump, but this year will bring its own, new challenges. Ooh-er missus, how will it all pan out? xx