December is an exciting time of year- especially for the knitterly/fibery kinds of people. To help you prep for the holidays, I have sponsor highlights lined up for the next couple weekends.
To kick off this season I am pleased to introduce the lovely ladies over at Adirondack Patterns.
Adirondack Patterns is a collaboration between identical twin sisters Laura and Julia who's love of sewing and crafting for their children expanded into the creation of a store. Over the past 2 years, Adirondack Patterns has grown to include over 60 patterns and tutorials; including those on cloth diaper sewing, complete instructions on several variations of Waldorf dolls, crochet and knitting, clothing tutorials, and accessories for little ones. All of the patterns and tutorials are very simple to follow and almost all of them have detailed photos for every step of the process.
"Our sole purpose in sharing our tutorials at reasonable prices is to inspire and make it possible for other Mama’s to create handmade goods and toys for their little ones. Because every wee one deserves to have something handmade with love."
Laura and Julia are identical twins who spend much of their time at their jobs as RNs. When they aren't working or playing with their boys, they are crafting for their Etsy shop where they feature Waldorf, sewing, crochet, and knitting patterns.
And with that, let me give you the chance to get to know the ladies of Adirondack Patterns:
Hello, Laura and Julia. Thanks so much for joining me today here at French Press Knits. When it comes to crafting, I find many people have a past with it- is this true with the two of you?
We both began crafting at an early age. Growing up being Identical Twins, we always had each other to play with. Our mom was always teaching us how to cook, bake, craft. From watching our mom make our many identical dresses/clothes, to helping her make the yearly Christmas ornaments that we would gift for presents to family and friends.
Our Maternal Grandmother was a knitting goddess. She taught us how to knit when we were about 9 or 10 years old. Many days were spent watching her little arthritic hands click the needles showing us how to knit and purl. Unfortunately the skill was lost in our teenage years, and we gravitated to sewing instead.
Our Paternal Grandmother, as well as our mom, showed us how to sew a few basic items. We started making "scrunchies" (you remember scrunchies, RIGHT????) as one of our first projects, and gave them out to anyone who wanted one. A few years ago we picked up sewing again, and whipped up a whole bunch of baby items to sell at the local craft fairs. We came up with our own designs, and patterns, and made booties, bibs, bags, blankets, dresses, coloring wraps, burp clothes, you name it, we made it! Unfortunately we closed up shop after the first year due to the huge amount of restrictions on selling handmade items, especially for babies.
Still having an itch to create, we decided to sell our patterns on ETSY, so people could make their own items for their babies. and loved ones. Over time it branched out to include over 60 patterns and tutorials for a variety of sewn, crochet, and knit goods.
What craft takes the largest portion of your time these days?
Julia has an affinity for making her Waldorf Inspired Dolls, and Laura tends to gravitate towards crochet. But we both are equal opportunity crafters. If we understand it, or someone can show us how to do it, we will try it, Julia is more broad in her craftiness, where as Laura is strictly Crochet and Sewing.
Besides crafty things, what other hobbies do you have?
Laura loves play with her boys, bake, to rearrange her furniture, and honestly a large amount of time is spent in front of her laptop/T.V. Julia likes to play with her boy, cook, read, listen to music, and enjoy the outdoors.
What inspires your creativity?
Babies....there we said it. We recently had a new baby (Laura's baby boy) join the family, and he is our main inspiration. We love making things for little ones to wear, or play with. We also find inspiration on Blogger, Etsy, and Pintrest is FULL of incredible ideas.
How did you decide to start a shop together?
I began with a few crochet items, and asked Julia if she wanted to add in her sewing tutorials. The rest is history.
What can we expect to see in the shop in the future?
More crochet patterns, including some items for little girls, and more Waldorf Inspired Dolls accessories and patterns.
Anything else new and exciting we should keep our toes for?
Giveaway
And now, for the stuff you've been waiting for. Laura and Julia have graciously offered gifts for 4 readers. The prizes are as follows:
1. Baby vest (in size 2-4 months)
2. Simple Baby Doll
3&4: Two winners will get to pick any pattern in their
Etsy shop.
Wanna get in on it? Here's what you need to do: Leave a comment in the comment section below. Give Laura and Julia a shout out, let them know what pattern you are itching to try your hand at, give them a word of encouragement, etc.
While you're at it- make sure you check them out at the following places:
For an extra entry, hop on over to their
facebook page and "like" them. Leave a separate comment in the section below to let us know you have done so.
The contest will be open until Thursday December 8th, 2011 at 11:59 EST when the winners will be chosen at random and announced on Friday.
