Cate Anevski

Love Cloud

It's always so much fun for me when I get to see one of my Blythe creations complete. The designs begin their lives as barely comprehensible sketches. I try to show them off to friends in a flurry of excitement, expecting that my loved ones can somehow translate my loose pencil lines into the completed image I have in my mind. Of course, all I have to show is my messy sketchbook.

And so I trudge along, digitizing my concept so that I can upload the appropriate file to Spoonflower for printing. Once that's ready, I shout it from the rooftops, asking my friends their opinion on my latest design. Admittedly, it's a bit more advanced, but still not quite in its final form.

By this point, I begin the waiting game. I have all my fabric delivered to my office. It's so nice to expect fun mail at work, and I love being able to share with my coworkers what I do when I'm not doing taxes. Once it arrives, I still have more processing to do before I get to the finished product. I prewash all my fabric to ensure that my customers' beloved Blythes won't be stained by the fabric inks, and then I get down to the business of sewing.

When all is said and done, I get to see how well my little sketch works as a three-dimensional object. Usually, it's even better than I expected, thanks to the wonderful work of Spoonflower and their constant commitment to quality products. Of course, there have been a number of dresses that just don't turn out, meaning it's back to the drawing board for me. I try not to be disappointed by these, though, since each misstep teaches me invaluable lessons in fashion manufacturing and dimensional thinking, and I love being able to see the improvement as I move along.

And there you have it.

Hy Heartfelt Thanks

I cannot say how much it warms my heart to have received so many kind and thoughtful comments regarding my career change. It's a great reminder as to why I'll never exit the crafting world, no matter how many other things I have in my life.

I have successfully completed my move, which is such a relief. However, it does bring up a confession I must make: This is the first time I've lived in Portland. I've spent the past three and a half years living in Beaverton, which any Portlander will tell you is most certainly not the same as living in Portland (despite the fact that it's a mere eight miles away from Downtown Portland).

My stupendous boyfriend happened to find me a great (cheap!) apartment in Portland proper, and, best of all, it's only a mile away from my tax firm, so I get to walk to work every day.

Yep, my life is shaping up to be pretty awesome, and the crafting community that I have been lovingly welcomed into is a huge part of the awe. Thanks, guys!

Well, look at that!

Thanks to the generousest friends ever, Maggie & Kyle Ruth, I have a couple of dolly visitors to help me out with my Blythe fashion design. I can certainly see why this becomes so addictive...

I'm not late, I'm early.

Yep, that's right. I'm very prepared for the 2012 holiday season. It has nothing to do with the fact that I didn't order my holiday-themed Blythe dress fabric early enough, or that I didn't get a chance to sew them together until after the new year.

I'm just thinking ahead.

And, if you're as forward-minded as me (or if you like to celebrate the yuletide season all year like me), you can obtain your very own DIY holiday Blythe dress kits in my shop.

Bunnies, and Fuzzies, and Bears! Oh, My!

Here are a couple of my new Blythe dresses. They're both very silly and pointless, but isn't that how doll clothes are supposed to be? In fact, isn't that how all clothes are supposed to be? And perhaps I have just stumbled on the reason I have difficulties with traditional job interviews. Isn't my suit supposed to be covered with pink bunnies? Hmm...

At any rate, you can find these DIY kits in my shop.

A Project for a Rainy Day

As usual around this time of year, I have found inspiration in the constant rainy days of the lovely Pacific Northwest. This year's Christmas wasn't exactly white, but there were quite a few lovely rainbows. And so, as is becoming usual, I have turned that inspiration into Blythe dresses.

When I started this tiny adventure, I had no idea how much it might consume me. I tend to sketch only in tiny dresses, which makes for an interesting sketchbook. Of course, that means that I have quite a few more dresses to come, especially now that my itty-bitty sewing skills are improving daily.

These dresses are available as DIY kits in my shop.

More Fabric

Sachets or Pincushions. Your choice!

For the next round of "What to Do with that Massive Stack of Spoonflower Swatches," I'm going to show you how to make a super-simple sachet or pincushion. The only difference is the stuffing. These make great gifts for your friends who are either crafty or smelly, or maybe even both.

Materials: Spoonflower swatch (or 8 inch square of fabric), ribbon (optional), thread, stuffing (polyfill for a pincushion or lavender for a sachet)

Tools: Pinking shears, needle or sewing machine, pins

Step 1:

Cut your fabric swatch in quarters using pinking shears. Also cut along the edges of the fabric so that all sides are pinked in order to avoid fraying.

Step 2: Cut a 3 inch piece of ribbon if you want a hanging loop for your pin-sachet-cushion.

Step 3:

Pin together two quarters of your swatch with the wrong sides together. For the hanging loop, fold the ribbon in half and sandwich it between the two pieces of fabric along the side you'd like to be the top.

Step 4:

Sew three of the four sides of the fabric squares about half an inch from the edge.

Step 5:

To make a sachet, fill the pouch with lavender or another potpourri you enjoy. For the pincushion, fill with polyfill stuffing. You can fill the pincushion with lavender if you like, but I'd be afraid it would make me sleepy, which is never good when dealing with sharp, pointy objects (I speak from experience).

Step 6:

Pin the opening shut (to hold in the stuffing) and sew the last side of the fabric squares. You're all set!

I needed something bright and cheerful

So I created a new fabric design. Hooray, it works! I hardly notice how cold and gray and rainy it is outside.

Feathers... and more!

The latest Spoonflower contests have been pretty inspiring to me. This week's theme, feathers, immediately brought to mind images of peacock feathers. I've enjoyed playing with the scale pattern tile and am trying to come up with as many uses for it as possible. Now feathers have joined the ranks of rainbows, bears, and crocodiles in my portfolio.

You can vote for this pattern here.

While on the subject of green, I decided to create a lush landscape for a holiday-themed fabric as well.

This one reminds me of the first time I saw the Columbia river valley. Everything is so covered with evergreens it looks almost like green fur.

Let's Go Fly a Kite

This week's Spoonflower contest theme is "kites." I got an image of jewel kites in my mind, and I simply couldn't shake it until I had created a pattern. You can vote for this design here, and do be sure to check out all the other wonderful kite fabrics. I'm quite smitten with the adorable ideas that other designers created.

I have been thinking lately of the best way to share my patterns, and I've decided that I'd like to offer them as desktop pattern tiles from time to time. And so, I present this tile. Simply save it to your computer and set it as your desktop on the tile setting, and you can enjoy jeweled kites while you work. (Or while you check Facebook. I'm not here to judge.)

I have also realized that a Spoonflower swatch is just the right size to create a Blythe dress from this pattern, which I believe means I'll spend some time at my sewing machine during my holiday break.

When life gives you lemons...

...make tiny dresses!

I've had this dress idea in my mind for quite a while now, but I'm having a bear of a time with the construction. I swear the pattern I'm using shrinks and expands behind my back. The skirt simply refuses to fit onto the bodice.

I, of course, refuse to be beaten, so I'm going to keep plugging away at this one, but I just couldn't wait to share it in the meantime. Thank heavens for pins to tuck and hold a wayward dress in submission long enough to take a photo.

On the plus side, my tiny-sewing skills are improving daily. This is the first Blythe dress I've created without having to "pardon my French" an undue number of times while sitting at my sewing machine. I love the power of practice.

A Couple of Patterns

House Party

I've been having fun lately turning drawings I've made in the past into repeating patterns for fabrics, and here are a couple of them that I particularly like. I'm trying to figure out just the right project for this one:

Opinion

Tea Towel Contest

Every year, Spoonflower hosts a tea towel calendar contest, and every year, I'm too intimidated by the idea of creating a calendar to participate. This year, I decided to try my hand at making a calendar, and I came up with this simple design. Of course, now that I got my feet wet, I'm excited to make more calendars.

You can vote for this design and the many other wonderful designs in the upper right hand corner of the Spoonflower contest page.

From Swatch to Pouch in 9 Easy Steps

A while ago, I decided to find a use for all my Spoonflower swatches. I had to abandon the project for a little while when some other things got in the way, but I'm back on track now. This time, I created a tutorial to make a tiny drawstring pouch from your swatch. It's actually so itty bitty you can get two per swatch. Have fun!

Step 1:

Cut your swatch in half.

Step 2:

With right sides together, fold your fabric in half lengthwise and sew each side from the fold to approximately 1.5" from the top.

Step 3:

Flip your pouch right side out and press the seams. Stitch down the edges on both sides.

Step 4:

Press down the top edges and stitch down approximately 1/4".

Step 5:

Fold the top of the fabric all the way down the the sewn side seams. Press and stitch in place, as close to the folded edge as possible. This creates the channel for your drawstring.

Step 6:

Attach a safety pin to a ribbon or string. Feed the safety pin and ribbon through one of the channels.

Step 7:

Taking care not to twist the ribbon, feed the safety pin and ribbon back through the other channel.

Step 8:

Tie a knot in your drawstring ribbon to hold it in place.

Step 9:

Pull the drawstring to close the bag. Enjoy trying to find something small enough to fit into your new pouch.

I don't make tutorials often, so feel free to let me know if anything is unclear.