Why I left blogging and came back

That's right. After five months away from blogging, I am back. But not at full speed. In fact, I am going to stay at one quarter speed permanently.  To recap, I was at one quarter speed for several years, amped up to full speed spring 2014, and then stopped blogging all together August 8, 2014. Are you wondering why? Well, here is my story.


Last spring, 2014, I thought I might like to try to earn some money with my blog. I had read many books and blogs about blogging and had experience as a guest blogger on other's blogs and I had been blogging for years.  None of that adequately prepared me for how much behind the scenes work is necessary to have a successful blog.  As with any business, and blogging for money means you have a business, most of the work is dull and not even slightly creative. And it got to where it wore me down. I hated looking at my google analytics (the statistical analysis of how my blog was reaching people). I hated looking at how much money I was making and trying to find ways to earn more. I was making money only through pattern affiliations and it was not enough for even a week of coffee beans. It was literally a pittance.  I hated having to think of new and exciting things to blog about that likely had already been blogged about before because, let's face it, nothing is new in the craft world.  And I hated seeing ads on my blog and the blogs of others. I hated the ads.  I don't want to be a brand. I don't want to sell myself.  I really just want to create and share!

I was part of a lovely Facebook blogging group and everyone was experiencing the same thing.   Unless you also have a product, like a pattern or book, there is not much money in blogging. Ad revenues are hard to come by with the market so saturated with blogs. The bigger blogs might earn a lot from ads but they have hundreds of thousands of visitors.  If you only have a few hundred a day, it is impossible to make money. So, you have to somehow get those hundreds of thousands a day to visit your blog and that means becoming a brand, making a product, and selling it and yourself. Which is my worst nightmare.

Do you remember the movie Say Anything? Well, I am like Lloyd Dobbler. " I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don't want to do that." The film came out in 1989 but I loved Lloyd most when he said that. I have always felt this way. I have never wanted any part of business, ever, even as a young child.

So, last August, I decided to just stop. Blogging was taking too much time away from family and friends. It was not earning me more than a few dollars a month and I know other bloggers who work even harder and still don't earn much. The blogging market is as saturated as the pdf pattern market. That is not to say that you, lovely reader, should think that you are being put down by me.  There are some of you who are vastly talented and are justifiably earning money for your work. Awesomesauce! I am proud of you! But it is not the career path for me. It sucked me dry. So, I stopped!

And now I am back. I missed sharing my work with others. I missed the connections I had made with others. I have some friends via blogging that I still want to connect with. So, I am going back to the original blogging plan, from back when this blog was called Too Many Hannas and I am just going to share my crafting and craft thoughts as I feel I have something to say.  There will be no ads. There will be selling of products. There will be no affiliations.  I will have time to volunteer in my children's school and do my vaccine advocacy work.  I will have time to make the crafts I want to make. I will have time to pattern test for my friends. I will have time to play Pet Rescue Saga, which I so dearly enjoy.   I will have time to read a book that is not related to crafting and I will have time to try new things.

So, dear reader, please look for more of Handmade Dress  Haven in the future, including a report tomorrow on a lovely set of Tie Dye Diva patterns I recently tested.  In the meantime, have a great day.

Kathy

Sewalong giveaway and linky party

For all Tie Dye Diva sewing pattern fans and sewalong participants, I have put together some great prizes.  Because the sewalong was not as big as I had hoped, I am opening up the prizes to anyone who has sewn the Tie Dye Diva sewing patterns Easy Peasant and Storybook Pinafore.

Here is how to enter: 

1.  You can share your sewing here, in the linky party, or you can share on the Tie Dye Diva Facebook page.  That sharing earns you one entry.

2. Go to the giveaway information post and visit the sponsor's stores and post back about what you like. This earns you another entry.

It's that simple! 

 

Note:  For the linkup, you can add a picture from instagram, a blog, photobucket, or another photo sharing site. It's that easy!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Tie Dye Diva Sewing Patterns - Storybook Pinafore Sewalong

It is week two for the TDD sewalong and now it is time to make the pinafores. 

Don't forget that the pinafore pattern is on sale in the Tie Dye Diva Store for $6.50.  The Peasant patterns are already at a very low price, $5.95, and you can use the code BUNDLE when you buy three or more patterns, so this is an awesome deal!!  You can buy baby or girl sizes for this sewalong.  Or all four!

In case you missed it, here are the posts for last week.

Monday, June 16 - Introduction

Tuesday, June 19 - Giveaway info!

Wednesday, June 18 - Put patterns together and cut them out. Begin sewing Peasant dress.

And here is this week's schedule:

Monday, June 23

• Begin Pinafore

Wednesday, June 25

• Finish Pinafore
• Start sharing!

Friday, June 27

• Share your finished dresses! You can share on my blog's linky party and/or TDD sewing group on Facebook. Both sites will make you eligible for the prizes 

Saturday, June 28

• Keep sharing!

Monday,  June 30

• Giveaway day!  Two winners will be announced.

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 Before we get started on the pinafores, I need to let you know that I originally made my pinafore in two fabrics. Some photos will show strap and sash in a navy print. I ended up ripping out seams and removing that print because it was just too busy and the print placement did not look good. I redid the pinafore in the raindrop fabric.  

I highly recommend you use one fabric for your pinafore, to avoid such problems. 

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Pinafore Sewing tips - the pattern is great but here are a few tips to help you.

1.      Tip: Cut a ruffle pattern piece as a guide to iron the first ¼ inch down. Cut out a new one so you don’t iron the ink or tape on your first one. Turn off steam as it will dampen the paper. 

2.      The secret to turning little pockets easily is ric rac! You will need 12 inches of ric rac, medium size is best.  Sew ric rac to one half of each pocket pair, the side that will be your inside. Sew so the bumps are mostly inside and sew just the humps, as shown in this picture. Pin each pair together and sew along the same seam you just made.  Turn right side out. Use ric rac to pull pockets into shape. Iron and proceed.

3.      Tip: If you are using a print, fussy cut your pockets so they show something fun.  My print is whales. One whale fit perfectly into one pocket but I had to make it a tad wider than Jen’s pattern.  For another pocket, I used the same size but I appliqued on the tail.  I didn’t want to have two of the same whale as pockets!

4.      Here is how I center pockets. Iron the skirt in half side to side.  Fold in half again, side to side.  Fold top to bottom. Iron really well. Open it up flat and now have a grid ironed onto your skirt. Center the pockets either just below the middle line or right smack in the middle.  You can also iron the pockets in half one-way and then half the other way to make a grid on them. Helps in lining things up!  You can see the marks in the photo above. 

5.  Pay attention to fussing cutting so your print isn't going sideways, like I did here.  

 6.  Bodice tip: for straps, after you sew all four strap pieces on, but before you attach ruffle, fold all four outer edges ½ inch and iron. This will give you a mark for where to sew your ruffle and then where to sew inner strap.  Use your iron in between each step to make sure the strap is flat before you sew. And don’t worry about visible gathering stitches because they are easy to remove. Just gently rip them out and steam iron and your bodice will look great. It will look beautiful inside and out. 

7.  When you attach the skirt, use lots of pins. Don't worry so much about the gathering stitches showing. It is more important to get it all pinned and sewn down neatly.  Go slowly and use a lot of pins.  Remove gathering stitches with your stitch rippers when you are all done. 

 

And now you should be done! I will be on Facebook a lot this week, so let me know if you have any questions. You can post them in the Tie Dye Diva sewing patterns facebook group or here on the blog.

 

Tie Dye Diva Easy Peasant and Storybook Pinafore Sewalong - Begin the peasant dress

 Today is day three. We've already talked about the project and the prizes but here are the links if you need to catch up. It's not too late to join. 

Monday, June 16 - introduction

Tuesday, June 19 - the giveaway prizes

A few tips  before we put the pattern together

1. It is important that  pay attention to Jen’s directions in the pattern if this is your first time making these patterns. She writes the best directions in the pdf pattern world. You can trust her and follow them to the letter. If, however, you have made a pattern before and have a more comfortable way of sewing, by all means do it your way.

2. How to choose a size. This is probably the most commonly asked question in sewing. Trust the Tie Dye Diva size chart.  My mode's mother measured her chest at 20" and she is 35" tall. Since I want her to be able to wear this for a while, I am going to make her a 2T/3T in the girl's peasant dress pattern.  Remember that the chart is for body measurements, not age or finished garment measurements. 

3. On to style! I have decided to sew the short sleeves style for my first example but I will also cut out and start a flutter sleeve example in case you have questions about that style.  I am also doing the ruffled hem. There are so many options with this peasant, so choose the one that suits your style.

4. Fabric choices.  You can use any mid or light weight quilting cotton or anything that is about the same weight. Voile would be pretty and a tad more dressy. Batiste or swiss dot would also be pretty. Eyelet, gingham, light-weight linen, poplin, or seersucker would all also be darling.



Tip!  I recommend choosing two fabrics at most for the dress and two at most for the pinafore but watch for busyness. I initially had too many prints in my pinafore and it was way too busy. I took it apart and recreated it with just one, except pockets.  It looks much nicer!

Time to print out the pattern and start putting it together!

1.  Print out your pattern and make sure your 1" square measures 1." I like to lay out the pattern, as you see below, before I cut it out. That way, I make sure I have all the pieces and I know where they are going to go.  I don't have a large cutting area, so I then stack them up in rows and cut and paste one row at a time. Make sure the marks all line up correctly and the numbers are in order before you start cutting.

2. I like to cut off one side and then tape it to the other.  This is just my preferred way. You might have your own.

3.  After I put together the rows, I start attaching them to each other to make the whole pattern. Here is where mistakes might happen, in my experience, so use your scissors and recut and retape if need be. Get those marks all lined up nicely!!

4.   My secret weapon is my old school tape dispenser! It makes a great pattern weight.

Tip:  If you are going to this pattern over and over, consider keeping it all in one piece and using Swedish Tracing Paper to trace out just the size you need. Swedish Tracing Paper can be bought at Amazon (affiliate link in side bar).  I love the stuff!!

Time to cut out the pattern pieces!

I didn't take pictures of this part because my sewing area is so small but I want to remind you to make sure to note the notches for the front and back dress and sleeves. This is very important! The back of the dress is higher than the front, so you need these notches to line everything up correctly. Here are my pieces all lined up.

Time to sew!

The directions are awesome, so I will just mention a few tips and then you can ask me any questions YOU have about sewing this pattern together.

When you sew the hem of the sleeves, do you want to add trim?  Be aware of the shape of the sides. There is an indentation for ironing the hem properly.  Do some fussy cutting on the sleeves, like I did, so your print is featured!

I used white tailor's chalk, so it is hard to see, but my front sleeve notches line up with the front dress notch. Yay! Now my dress' sleeves will match the body of the dress.  Pay attention to this!

I have two specialty feet for my sewing machine, one gathers and one ruffles. I use one of them to gather my ruffle hem. But Jen's directions for gathering are also great! Before I got the specialty feet, I used fishing line and zig zag to gather.

A tip for the elastic - Safety pin the end to the opening so you don't lose it. 

Iron and admire your dress!

Tomorrow, we will learn more about the sponsors and continue to sew the peasant.  I will talk more about the flutter sleeves tomorrow.  Friday will be for finishing up the peasant. 

Thanks for joining!

Tie Dye Diva Easy Peasant and Storybook Pinafore Sewalong - Giveaway information

Did you read yesterday's post about the sewalong I am hosting?  For the next two weeks, I will be leading you in how to sew the Tie Dye Diva Easy Peasant and Storybook Pinafore. Yesterday was information day so please read the post to learn about what we will be doing, get sale information on the patterns, and more. 

Today is prize information day! Yes, there will be prizes for this sewalong. This is my first time hosting a giveaway and I jumped in the deep end and got sponsors to give us prizes. These prizes come from trusted stores I know and love so I hope you are excited about them!

First, I will show you the prizes and then I will tell you how you can win them.  Everyone who participates in the sewalong is eligible for all the prizes. All you have to do is share your finished pinafore, peasant, or both.  

Prizes

(these prizes are equal in value!)

 First Prize

Three yards of Blend Fabrics Maisie line, one yard of each fabric seen above.  Maisie was designed by Maude Asbury and is luxurious quilting cotton.

 Second Prize

 

 A $25 gift certificate from Banberry Place Fabrics and a selection of fold over elastic (FOE) from Elastic by the yard. 

Third Prize

A $25 gift certificate for Pink Chalk Fabrics and three sets of buttons from Lyanwood.

These are all fabulous prizes!  Here is how you can win.  UPDATED!

1. Share your TDD peasants and pinafores here, in the linky party, or you can share on the Tie Dye Diva Facebook page. That sharing earns you one entry.

2. Visiting all five stores above and commenting ON THIS BLOG POST about one item from each store that you like the most. That earns you another entry. You get one entry per comment, per store.

6.  On Monday morning June 30th, I will use the random number generator to choose the three winners! You can only win one prize each, even if you enter twice.  That's fair!  

Does that all make sense? I want to make these a fun sewalong and I want you to visit the sponsor's but I don't want to bog this down with liking pages or tweeting or anything else that really doesn't relate.  

So, sewalong and enjoy!  Please send me questions here or on Facebook!

Tie Dye Diva Easy Peasant and Storybook Pinafore Sewalong - Introduction

I am excited today to tell you about the sewalong I will be hosting over the next two weeks. We will be taking the Tie Dye Diva (TDD) Easy Peasant dress pattern and Storybook Pinafore Pattern and sewing them together!  It is going to be really fun. I have been planning this for a while but we timed it perfectly to happen after last week's very successful TDD Seaside Sailor Sewalong.  Now, I am not Rachel so this sewalong will be a bit different, but I will try to run mine as smoothly as she ran hers.  

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Today, I am going to start by having the pinafore patterns on sale in the Tie Dye Diva Store for $6.50.  The Peasant patterns are already at a very low price, $5.95, and you can use the code BUNDLE when you buy three or more patterns, so this is an awesome deal!!  You can buy baby or girl sizes for this sewalong.  Or all four!

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This sewalong will run for two weeks. This will give you time for both patterns, if you are sewing both. If you have already made an Easy Peasant and just want to add a Storybook Pinafore, that is great, too!  

Here is our schedule for the next two weeks:

Monday, June 16

• Buy the pattern
• read instructions

Tuesday, June 19

• Learn about the Giveaway prizes and sponsors! 
• Choose your styles, fabrics and notions, if you have not already done so.

Wednesday, June 18

•  Put patterns together and cut them out. Begin sewing Peasant dress.

Thursday, June 19

• Learn more about the sponsors

Friday, June 20

• Finish up Peasant dress.

Saturday, June 21

• Question day in the Facebook group. No blog post, but I will be online to help all weekend.

Monday, June 23

• Begin Pinafore

Wednesday, June 25

• Finish Pinafore
• Start sharing!

Friday, June 27

• Share your finished dresses! You can share on my blog's linky party and/or TDD sewing group on Facebook. Both sites will make you eligible for the prizes 

Saturday, June 28

• Keep sharing!

Monday,  June 30

• Giveaway day!  Two winners will be announced.

If you are not already a member of TDD's Facebook sewing group, please do join.  Daily chat will take place on this blog but also in the group.  While there, you can also look at the Easy Peasant photo album (all sizes) and the Storybook Pinafore photo album (all sizes).  These will give you great ideas for your own sewing.

And check out my versions. I made both in size 2/3 from the girls patterns. These are going to be worn by a lovely little blondie I know and I will share the modelled photos with you in a day or two.  I did some fussy cutting of this fabulous fabrics from Blend.  It is called True Blue and it was designed by Ana Davis. Blend was generous enough to give this fabric to me for use in this sewalong.

The sewing schedule for the week will be as follows:

Monday, June 9

• Print and prepare pattern
• Read through instructions
• Select fabric

Sew

Tuesday, June 10

• Decide on dress options (more coming about this!)
• Cut out dress
• Choose collar trim
• Assemble collar

Wednesday, June 11

• Sew bodice

Thursday, June 12

• Prepare skirt
• Complete hem details

Friday, June 13

• Sew buttonholes and attach buttons
• Gather skirt and attach to bodice

Saturday, June 14

• Catch up
• Post photos

- See more at: http://tiedyedivadesigns.blogspot.com/2014/06/seaside-sailor-sew-long-introduction.html#sthash.4lQDxhmn.dpuf

The sewing schedule for the week will be as follows:

Monday, June 9

• Print and prepare pattern
• Read through instructions
• Select fabric

Sew

Tuesday, June 10

• Decide on dress options (more coming about this!)
• Cut out dress
• Choose collar trim
• Assemble collar

Wednesday, June 11

• Sew bodice

Thursday, June 12

• Prepare skirt
• Complete hem details

Friday, June 13

• Sew buttonholes and attach buttons
• Gather skirt and attach to bodice

Saturday, June 14

• Catch up
• Post photos

- See more at: http://tiedyedivadesigns.blogspot.com/2014/06/seaside-sailor-sew-long-introduction.html#sthash.4lQDxhmn.dpuf

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So, today your job is to read the TDD patterns Size chart and figure out which size you want to make and go purchase the patterns. Then, download the patterns and read the instructions.  Start thinking about what fabric you want to use.  My suggestion to you is to pick two or three (at most) fabrics for both items. I like busy and colorful, but if you do not, that is perfectly fine! Do what makes you happy. Read the pattern requirements for how much fabric you will need and a light to mid-weight cotton or a cotton-blend fabric. Quilting cotton works perfectly for these items but you could also choose apparel fabric that fits those requirements.

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Note: I am an affiliate for Tie Dye Diva Sewing patterns and I do earn a small commission of the sale of any patterns if you click through to TDD shop from the link in the sidebar of this blog or the links provided above. However, I do not take any money for reviewing patterns or for this sewalong idea. I love Jen and her patterns in and of themselves and have loved them long before I was an affiliate. Blend and the other sponsors of this sewalong sent their products in for free and I did not ask for nor receive any compensation for them.

Tie Dye Diva Perfect Party Dress Blog Hop - Day 5

It's day five of the Tie Dye Diva Perfect Party Dress Blog Hop!  This is the final day and the dresses are still amazing! 

Today's fabulous hoppers are
Deanna,   Kim, and  Zura 

(clockwise)

Don't forget the party dresses, baby size and girl size, are on sale at the Tie Dye Diva Sewing Patterns site. The sale price is $6 each, just thru us hoppers!  If you click on the affiliate link, in my side bar, you will get to Jen's store directly.  

In case you missed a post, here's a list of all the hoppers. Just click on their blog name to visit their fab version of the Perfect Party Dress. 

Tie Dye Diva Perfect Party Dress Blog Hop - Day 4

It's day four of the Tie Dye Diva Perfect Party Dress Blog Hop! This hop is so much fun.  I never imagined how creative mamas would get with this pattern.

Today's fabulous hoppers are 
Jenny and Meriel (top)

Victoria, and Nichole (bottom)

Don't forget the party dresses, baby size and girl size, are on sale at the Tie Dye Diva Sewing Patterns site. The sale price is $6 each, just thru us hoppers!  If you click on the affiliate link, in my side bar, you will get to Jen's store directly. 

And visit the rest of the hoppers all this week!

May 2 Deanna, Zura, Kim

And revisit  past posts.

April 28 Kathy, Amy, Michelle

April 29 Ren, Tasha, and Alyssa 

April 30 Sara Beth, Shelly, and Shawnta 

 

Tie Dye Diva Perfect Party Dress Blog Hop - Day 3

It's day three of the Tie Dye Diva Perfect Party Dress Blog Hop! The variations are amazing!

Today's awesome hoppers are  (counterclockwise from yellow ribbon cutie) 

Sara Beth, Shelly, and Shawnta

Don't forget the party dresses, baby size and girl size, are on sale at the Tie Dye Diva Sewing Patterns site. The sale price is $6 each, just thru us hoppers!  If you click on the affiliate link, in my side bar, you will get to Jen's store directly. 

And visit the rest of the hoppers all this week!

May 1 Jenny, Meriel, Victoria, Nichole
May 2 Deanna, Zura, Kim

And revisit  past posts.

April 28 Kathy, Amy, Michelle

April 29 Ren, Tasha, and Alyssa