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Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Boutique Basics: Compliance


You have a passion for sewing and love to create super cute outfits for your kids. You are good at it! Then your friends begin requesting that you sew for their kids too, and your family suggests that you could open a boutique and start selling. It's so exciting!  

Does this sound familiar at all? 


That's exactly how it was for me, and we hear it often in our patterns group too. So...

If you could do your favorite hobby every day and get paid to do it, why not go for it?  It sounds like a dream job!  And it very well can be. If you're like I was, though, it can be hard to know how to get started. For that reason, I'm excited to help point you in the right direction; not by telling you to run to the store and buy five bolts of all your favorite fabrics (although that can come later), but by giving you the basics on how to get started as a legitimate boutique. You deserve it! Whether you're hoping to sell one order a month out of your home, or several outfits per day online, you will want to take the proper steps to keep your customers happy and yourself protected. 



We are going to refer to this topic as "compliance." Compliance basically means that you are following the rules. (Learning the rules isn't as fun as sewing, I admit, but it is important to keep you sewing for a long time.) I learned most of what I know about compliance from the US Safety Compliance Group on Facebook, which you are very welcome to join, and I highly recommend you do. They started out as a discussion group for cloth diapers but it has expanded to include all sorts of handmade items. There are helpful discussions going on there every day. Misty Henry is the head admin on the page and she seems to know everything there is to know about compliance. She has provided a lot of the info for today's blog post and you will soon be a huge fan of hers. (Trust me.) So let's get down to business! 

Friday, April 24, 2015

Exposed Lace Zipper, Lace Hems, and Over-sized Sash Bow


 


Adding embellishments to an outfit is one of my favorite parts of creating.  Even when I'm using my own patterns, I like to personalize each item here and there by adding details. We've had a lot of interest in our patterns group lately on how to to add embellishments, and I am super excited about our guest blog post for today!  Merav Ruthman, from Baby Hobbes Design, is here to show us how she put her own embellishment ideas into our new Melody's Dress. It turned out gorgeous, don't you think?   

Here's Merav:

I am so excited to be guest blogging at CKC, especially since a year ago I would not have imagined I would be testing new patterns and altering them too. Mind that, I still consider myself a beginner (well, maybe an advance beginner) because while testing the Melody's dress, I installed my very first zipper.



 It turned out great! While zipper shopping for my first Melody's, I came across these 'exposed' lacy zippers:



They got me thinking: How great would the Melody look with the zipper being incorporated into the design rather then hidden? Also, how neat would it look to add lace to the sleeves and hem, to match the zipper? So I had to try it!



 Today I am going to show you, step by step, how to add these fun lacy details to your Melody's pattern. And as a bonus, I will also include how I achieved the bigger bow look too. Happy Sewing! 

Monday, April 20, 2015

Types of Elastic



Today we're going to talk about elastic!  There are a variety of types, widths, and uses for elastic and it's helpful to be familiar with all of them so you can choose the perfect one for the job. For example, you might want non-roll elastic for a waistband, clear elastic for knit seams, and braided elastic for faux shirring. (We will talk more about those in a bit!) The good news is that the packages are usually clearly labeled so you know exactly what you're getting. Many of the types of elastic can be found in your local shops, but I also thought it would be helpful to provide links to an online store I find reliable. Nancy's Notions is one of our blog sponsors and I love how easy their website is to find what I'm looking for! All of today's pictures come from their website, and I will link to the listings to give them credit and also to help you read more details about each one that you're interested in. Some of these elastics are super cute too! Let's get started!

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Fabric Covered Buttons



I love the look of fabric covered buttons! They can add formality to a fancy satin dress or create a whimsical look with bright prints. Sarafina's dress (shown above) is really cute with regular buttons, but the fabric covered ones definitely take it up a notch! Fabric covered buttons also save you the trouble of searching for the perfectly coordinating buttons -- you can use any of the fabrics from your project to make them match! I also like to use covered buttons for the centers of my fabric flowers. It gives them a soft, natural look. 

And they're so easy to make!  For today's tutorial, I will show you how. 

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Free In-The-Hoop Embroidery Dog Bone Tutorial

Have you seen the six new embroidery designs available we released today on our website from Bobbin for Appliques?  They're super cute!  I think this one is my favorite: 


What a perfect design to pair with her favorite skirt or shorts, or even add right onto the bodice of her dress! In fact, I wouldn't mind making a cute CKC-dedicated top for myself. 

And to go along with today's new embroidery files, we wanted to share one with you that is completely FREE, including the tutorial on how to make it.  Take a look! 


How fun is that?!  It is our In-The-Hoop Dog Bone Toy from Bobbin for Appliques and we know you (and your furry friends) are going to love it!  Everything you need to know is included in the tutorial and you can download that here: 




And you can download the embroidery file here:  






We hope you enjoy this free design! We have many other creative designs available on our website as well, so don't forget to check them out and be watching for new ones in the future!  

Let's Create! ~ Kristen