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Thursday, May 31, 2012

Tips and Tricks Thursday: Modifying Sizes Part 1

If you're like Tiff and I your children are not the "average" size for their age, which means when you use one of our patterns and make it the "average" size it may not fit properly. We're here to show you how to properly adjust our patterns for the perfect fit!

If you're a seasoned seamstress, you are probably very familiar with how to modify your patterns properly, but if you are still somewhat new to sewing then this may be all new to you and is *hopefully* something you will be excited to learn about!

 

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Behind the "Seams" with CKC

Welcome to our new segment Behind the "Seams". Cute play-on-words, huh? Normally, its probably more witty to not get all excited and point it out and to just let you catch it like we're cool and hip. Buuuuuut....we're neither of those things SO do you like our play-on-words? lol.

In this new blog segment we're gonna be discussing and sharing things about ourselves so all our awesome fans can get to know us more. Hopefully you won't laugh at us too much! Actually, I'm hoping you'll find us boring at quit reading....like right now. Because I really don't want to have to show you what our fans on Facebook requested to see: our sewing rooms. Tiffany's isn't so bad--although maybe its because her pics are 2 months old and everything was nice and organized--not that I'm calling her out or anything. 

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Skirted Pillowcase Romper Tutorial

As you all know, we have been working with Fabric.com creating free patterns that can be found on their website. May's free pattern was Hannah's Pillowcase Bubble Romper.


 It seems to be a huge hit! If you've been a fan of ours for awhile now you probably saw some pics of a skirted pillowcase bubble romper that we were going to come out with. Genius, right? We gladly offered up our pillowcase bubble romper pattern to fabric.com though and it just didn't feel right adding a skirt and charging people for it as a new pattern. Instead, we've decided to offer the skirt addition as a Free Tutorial Tuesday for all our fans!


The Tester Process

As many of you may have noticed the way we choose testers has now changed. We've been getting quite a few messages and emails about it so we feel we should probably write a blog about it!  Hopefully, everyone reads it now...lol.

Up until last month, we were choosing testers from a database that we had created. It was a great system in the beginning. Everyone's info was accurate and up-to-date, people were prompt in responding, and it was nice and organized. However, there were some flaws that we were not taking into consideration: sizes change, emails change, people's willingness to test (also, apparently) change. 

Needless to say, everything quickly became a big mix-up of information with wrong sizes, people with multiple entries in our database, and even out-of-date emails. It was a mess! So, we scrapped our database--well, technically, I guess its still there, we just don't use it--and decided to go the Facebook route. From now on, it will be chosen by chance. Whoever happens to be online when we feel like posting an outfit that needs testing can respond to the post and pray we pick them to test. That's all there is to it. 

Now, some of you, may notice that you have been one of the first people to respond to one such post and yet, you weren't chosen. There are lots of reasons for this. First, we don't necessarily go on first come, first serve basis. We may see a tester who tested well for us before and decide to use them again. We do TRY and enjoy using new testers, however, we do need to choose a couple previous testers every pattern so we know we are at least getting some reliable results. Another reason could be because we already had it tested in that size. Tiffany and I like to sometimes test each other's patterns and we also have a couple testers that we work with regularly so we sometimes ask them first. Again, these go hand-in-hand with needing reliable information from trusted testers. This testing process has not always gone as smoothly as Tiffany and I have liked so when we find awesome, reliable, hard-working testers, we like to stick with them! 

So what exactly does being a tester entail? 
Well, that's a good question! You have one week to complete the garment, return our questionnaire, and send a full length photo of the front and back. We do charge the cost of the pattern to test it, however, once the results are received in the time frame allotted, you receive a full refund for the price of the pattern. When all is said and done you end up with the pattern for free! Woohoo!

Now here are some tips for things that we personally look for in testers:
  • Results turned in on time. This is bar none the top thing. In fact, the earlier the better! Just because we give you one week, doesn't mean we actually like waiting the week. LOL. Seriously though, we completely understand and do not actually mark it against you when you take the full 7 days, but when you are early, we notice :)
  •  Actually answering the questions with some thought. We really wish that every garment could be "perfect" or have "no problems" but we know this is not actually possible! If you don't care for the width of the bodice, tell us, we will NOT reprimand you. We don't want to hear that it is perfect with one word answers throughout. Please, take time to answer the questions thoroughly and thoughtfully. This isn't just about getting a free pattern; we want to offer a quality product that we can stand behind and be proud of! That being said, if it is actually perfect and you love it, then be sure to blab on and on about how awesome it is so we believe you. LOL!
  • Clear pictures. What? ::gasp:: You mean your kids are professional models like ours? lol. Again, we completely understand how hard it is to photograph children sometimes, but it is really hard to distinguish the length of a dress when you're standing up, looking down on your 3 year old in your dark living room. Just saying.... Head on, outside (if the weather is right for it, we live in Michigan for goodness sake, we totally sympathize with you on the weather situations) pics are best!
 

  •  The simple understanding that you are a tester and it may NOT turn out and there WILL be issues. Nothing is worse than a tester who is mad because the outfit she spent all this time working on didn't turn out right due to an error/miscalculation in the pattern. Again, this is why you are testing. This is NOT to get a free pattern. 
Its a pretty short and simple list. Nothing crazy or fancy you have to do. If you tested for us before and feel that you did all this and we haven't asked you to test again, please don't feel bad! Honestly, we have SOOOOOOOOOOOOO SOOOOOOOOOOOOO many people that want to test it really is hard to use a lot of the same people over and over again, it just isn't fair to everyone. So don't take it personally and please no one email us about what you did wrong! lol. 

If you haven't been a tester yet, then please take these suggestions to heart! If you have tested for us before, rest assured, you will test for us again! It just may take a little bit. lol.

Happy Sewing Testing!
Shannon and Tiffany

Monday, May 21, 2012

Half Off Monday???

Since I went on vacation this past Friday I completely forgot about
Half Off Friday!!!
So today, we are trying out Half Off Monday. Doesn't quite have the same ring to it, but whatever....half off is half off, right?!?
For this installment, we are doing the Cienna's Newly Revised Pants at half off. Although, the sizing is still 12-18 months to 6, we got some new pattern pieces for the pants that are awesome and so easy to line up! Did we mention we now included measurements for capris too? Oh yeah! This one will take you through the entire year! And they are cute to boot!
  

From now until May 22nd at 9 am you can pick up Cienna's Stripwork Ruffle Pants and Capris for just $4. And believe me ya'll its worth it! Especially if you own any of the Mix-and-Match line that it was intended to go with. OMG! Can you imagine these with the Jewel's Stripwork Dress? I bet that would be SO adorable!

Also, in case you missed it last week, we released two new patterns: Felicity's Simple Peasant Top and Anna's Sweetheart Halter Top and Dress. These are two of the cutest and easiest tops we have! Just perfect for upcoming summer!

Don't forget we have tiered pricing on our website so if you purchase all 3 of these patterns you will get 15% off your entire order!  
Happy Sewing!
Shannon and Tiffany


Thursday, May 17, 2012

Quilt Market Contest!!!!

In honor of some of our patterns and outfits making it to the International Quilt Market this weekend, we are having a contest for all you fabric/pattern shops out there that will be attending Quilt Market!


If you haven't heard, there is going be a Twitter Wall with all of the latest tweets and news from everyone at (or tweeting about) Quilt Market. 

So what does this have to do with you? As you *may* know, we are coming out with our very first paper patterns! 4 of them to be exact! They will be featured at the Quilt Market in Riley Blake Designs booth as they are our official distributor! We are very excited! So excited that we thought it might be cool to have a contest! 


Unfortunately, Tiffany and I can't be there in person, meaning we can't see the amazing set-up that Riley Blake has for our new patterns. We're relying on all of YOU to show us how cute our stuff looks. Tweet us (@Cre8KidsCouture) a pic of your favorite outfit/pattern of ours from the Riley Blake booth and be sure when you tweet to also use the hash tag so it reads #quiltmarket. For an extra entries check out the RuffleFabric.com booth and tweet us a picture of one of our outfits displayed there! AND you may tweet us a pic once a day but it cannot be the same pics as the day before. New day, new pic!


How easy is that? Now onto the GOODIES that you can win! We're offering up 15 FREE paper patterns of your choice for your shop! That's a minimum wholesale order to ONE lucky shop! We want everyone to check out our patterns and outfits; become familiar with us and our style and hopefully you will see how well they will fit in with your shop and your customer base. We hope you see the hard work and love we put into each and every one of our patterns!
Be sure to place your order with Riley Blake Designs while you're there so you can be one of the first shops to start carrying our patterns.


We have plans to turn many of our 61 PDF patterns in to paper patterns in the upcoming months so be sure to  Follow us on Twitter and Fan us on Facebook to stay up-to-date on whats coming out next!
Now, go on, get to tweeting! lol.

Happy Sewing  Tweeting!
Shannon and Tiffany

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Help Is On the Way....

Hehe...that title reminds me of Mrs. Doubtfire. You may remember it. If not. Oh well. lol. I loved that movie as a little girl.


Anyways.....on to my original point of this blog.
I'm sure many of you have wondered how Tiffany and I am able to do so much and still take care of our families--since we are both SAHMs. I'm not one for cleaning--thank god my husband is so helpful!--but I do try to have dinner on the table most nights. Before I joined eMeals this was a HARD goal honestly. In case you haven't picked up on it, I'm a workaholic. I love what I do and I enjoy working...for now, lol, so having to stop to figure out what to make for dinner is a pain. Especially, because most of the time I suck at making a decision about what to eat. Hopefully, a few of you can relate to that...I know Tiffany can! lol. When I found out about eMeals I took a gamble because it almost sounded too good to be true. If you aren't familiar with eMeals, they email you a weekly menu complete with recipes and a shopping list. That right there takes care of figuring out what to eat that week and half the shopping list! Best of all, they cater it to the sales of your local grocery store chain!


My husband and I have been trying to eat healthier so I've been getting the lo-carb menu. I wasn't thrilled with some of the dinners that have been given to us but we have tried everyone no matter how odd it sounded and they have all been excellent! For example Turkey and Spinach Enchiladas? Ewwww. From my husband who is a Mexican food connoisseur this was almost sacrilege. I made him eat it though and I gotta tell ya, we were impressed! It tasted JUST like chicken enchiladas and there were no leftovers! One more example, was the Pizza Quiche. Eggs AND pizza? You may not think they mix, but it tasted JUST like pizza. My 4 year old proclaimed me the best pizza maker ever! Did I mention he's picky? Again, these recipes are from the lo-carb menu, I assume that the regular menus are not this crazy. lol.

Sample of their holiday menus!
So anyways, I just wanted to share ONE of my secret weapons with you. I'm not getting paid for this and they're not sponsoring this. I wrote this of my own free will! Now you know this is worth checking in to. Here is a link to their website. You DO have to pay a small fee, but I'm telling you it is WORTH it!!!

Happy Sewing Cooking!!!
Shannon and Tiffany

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

May's BOTM

You ever see pictures of an outfit and you just have to see where it came from? Well, that's how it was for me with Kinder Kouture. So much so, in fact, that I just KNEW she had to be our May Boutique of the Month and I am so glad we chose her! Read her amazing interview below and then go check out her Facebook page and be completely inspired by her clean and simple photos and her gorgeous designs.


May's Fabric.com Free Pattern!!!

It's up! It's up! In case you missed it last night on facebook we sneaky-peeked May's Fabric.com free pattern.... And then a customer informed us that it's actually already up so I guess it was a not-so-sneaky-peek after all. lol.