Make some money at home!

Mamma income alert!

I'm looking to pay 2 mammas to do some writing for me on a regular basis. This includes payment per article and free use of all of my patterns. :)
I am looking for 2-3 articles per week.

On a side note: I am also looking for someone to post these articles on various sites: blogger, squidoo, twitter, hub pages, linkedin, Delicious , google plus, pinterest (from the pictures), craftsy, stumbleupon, etc. This person will also get paid to put links on other websites and blogs that they use (or would use once they start doing this job for me) such as diaperswappers, mothering.com, general articles from others, etc... 

Below is a list of what I am looking for in an article.

Keywords: For a search, google looks for keywords in articles, on picture names (instead of your picture being named IMG_1234, name it something like, "onesie-pattern" ***Be sure to use the hyphen) and on picture tags (alt image tags and descriptions).
Choose your keywords carefully. You want to choose the keywords that are searched frequently. A great tool that I use is google adwords keyword search.
Each article should be based on 1-2 keywords. You can have multiple articles on the same pattern, but if you use different keywords for each article, it's better.

Meta data: when you write an article, include a meta description (what google will show with a google search result) as well as the keywords that you are aiming for.

Images: I don't know about you, but when I search for something on google, I almost ALWAYS click the images tab to SEE what I want, before anything else. Great images that are tagged with good keywords are a valuable asset to any article. To get great images, you can sprinkle in a few of mine from my website, but I am looking for someone who likes to sew and who will take great shots of their project in the works, and of the finished project. I'm also noticing a trend where writers are labeling their images (example like the one below). They are doing this for searchers of google images. The more traffic from images, is more sales on my website.

Content: What I am looking for in the way of content: 

• Personal experiences. Take pictures of your experience sewing a project. Talk about each step along the way and what you liked or tweaked to fit your needs. Take pictures of the finished project and talk about how it fits and what you love about it.
• Needs. Talk about why someone needs the product. Take pictures of before and after (example: before the nursing pillow hunched over and after the nursing pillow sitting up straight.). Show the reader why they need the product and sell it!
• A general theme. An example of a general theme would be, how to choose the right size for a baby dress pattern (baby dress pattern being the keyword). Take pictures of multiple baby dresses (whether they are mine or not) and show the fit of them on your baby. There are multiple "general theme" things that I can think of. 
• Choose my newest first. As I am adding new patterns, I need them to get out there...so please write articles on my newest patterns first.
• I'm looking for 700-1000 word articles

Video: If you make videos or want to make videos that would be a great way to take the place of an article. I am not very familiar with videos, but would be WAY willing to explore that option.

If you are interested in blogging/writing some articles to make some cash, Please send me an email with a sample of your photography and a sample article. You can pick anything on my website to write a sample article about.

Send your questions and articles to info@mammacandoit.com.

Update: I forgot to mention that I will wait for the articles and not make a decision until May 1st. :)

Woven Tank top pattern

This tank top pattern knocks my socks off. I love it. Tank tops are my favorite article of clothing by far. Yet, I always find that I don't have enough of them. What better project than to sew something that I need?
To top that off, I have a generous stash of woven designer fabric that is aching to be used to make something. I will frequently browse the sales on fabric.com or my local quilt shop and pick up a new stash of fabric when I get a creative itch. Then I forget what I bough the fabric for and it sits on my shelf....waiting patiently for the day when it will turn into an article of beautiful creativity.You'll notice that I like to get 1 yard or more, because I know that I might change my mind on the end product....so I'll need extra. Ha! Anyone with me yet?!

A small portion of my fabric stash

So here I am without enough tank tops and a stash of woven fabric that needs some attention. Light bulb moment: I should make a woven tank top pattern! Right? Well that was a great idea until I realized that I had never made anything for WOMEN before that would require sizing. I went to work. I worked and I worked to get the right arm holes, neck lines, dart placements, hip measurements....etc. You name it and it was a task to undertake. After a few attempts, I have the best, pull over woven tank top pattern on the market. It is beautiful.

The first tank top pattern that I designed is a simple one. In fact, that's why I named it The Woven Simple Tank Pattern.
You can see the Woven Simple Tank pattern here.
It is incredibly easy and fast to make. I show you step by step on how to finish the neckline and arm holes with bias tape. Don't worry – it's a snap, even for a beginner! The hem sits at the perfect hip length so that if you have wider hips, you don't have to worry about adjusting the sides of the shirt to fit you. The bust fits beautifully with the perfectly placed side darts. My favorite part about the Simple Tank is that it hides the tummy. I have had a few babies and need some extra tummy coverage and this tank top pattern does it for me! Now I can look adorable without worrying about my flab ruining a great outfit!

The Woven Simple Tank Top pattern

The second tank top pattern that I designed is very similar to the simple tank top pattern, but it has a bit more class. I call it The Woven Classy Tank Pattern. You can see the Woven Classy Tank Pattern here.

The Woven Classy Tank has the same great neckline and bodice, but the length extends a bit more. There are slits on the sides as well for the wider hips. The slits make the tank flow freely. The body is extended, has more curves to it and gives an elongated and curvy torso look. This is my favorite tank pattern. I can wear it in the garden with a pair of capris, I can wear it on date night with a pair of jeans and pumps, or I can even wear it to bed with a pair of shorts.

The Woven Classy Tank Top Pattern

Compare tank top patterns
Left is CLASSY - Right is SIMPLE

Overall this tank top pattern was entirely fun to design. I loved trying them on and making them for friends. I loved the challenge of making clothing for women instead of babies and kids (which has been my specialty until now). I love wearing the clothes that I make! 

These tank top patterns include some great features that I want to clarify with my readers. 

1. There are no zippers or buttons to worry about. The tank slips on over the head.

2. There are side darts to keep the tank shapely.

3. The neckline is modest. There's nothing that frustrates me more than to find an adorable shirt that I have to wear something under because it's inappropriate on its own. You won't find that issue with this tank top pattern. 

4. The arms are perfectly sized to fit, yet without gaping holes that show too much skin. Again, we want to be modest and comfortable.

5. This pattern is sized from 0-20. Don't worry if you don't know your "number". I've included an incredible size chart that helps you determine what size to make.

A screen capture of the pattern piece with the size chart

6. The pattern comes with printable pattern pieces. Print them from your home printer, tape together and cut out your size. Don't ever worry about sizing up or down. They are perfectly sized with real dimensions from real women.

7. You'll never find an easier pattern line than Mamma Can Do It designs. My tutorials all have easy to read instructions with crisp images for each step. I explain everything for beginner level.

8. If you are a beginner and can't wrap your head around the project, I offer help on all projects. I answer all questions within 24 hours (unless it's Sunday) and if you aren't pleased, I'll refund you for the pattern.

 Now you know how I feel about my new patterns for women. I'm planning on making a whole collection with this great neckline. I love that I can fit it over my head and yet it's completely appropriate and comfortable. The collection is called, The Victoria Collection. Make sure you check it out on my website from time to time. There will be some swing dresses in the near future!

The Simple Tank Top pattern - The Victoria Collection

Soaked Whole Wheat, Applesauce, Oatmeal Muffins Recipe

I realize that it's been a while since I've posted any recipes. A busy mom here during awake time and a busy working woman during nap time has got me to where I can't write about both.
However, I have been learning about the value of wholesome cooking/baking and I wanted to share this recipe that I have been working on. It's been a work in progress for ages, so I hope you enjoy it!

Soaked Whole grain, applesauce oatmeal muffins (115 cals each)
Makes 12 muffins

-1 C cooked oatmeal (leftovers) or 1/3 C raw old fashioned oats & 2/3 C milk
-1 C unsweetened applesauce
-1 tsp vanilla
-2 T olive oil or melted coconut oil
-1/4 C milk/whey/buttermilk
-splash of apple cider vinegar
-1 1/2 C whole wheat flour
-1/4 C Raisins (optional)

Mix all ingredients and let them soak for 6-24 hours. The longer, the better.
Then add

-1 T baking soda
-1 T cinnamon
-2 large eggs
-Stevia to taste (Trader Joe's brand is about 1/8 tsp)

Butter muffin tins and bake at 375 until toothpick is almost clean.

Delish alone or smothered in homemade strawberry jam.

Pregnancy Pillow Sewing Pattern

Emma Flower Pattern Tutorial #1

When I put together the Emma Collection, I made a couple flower headbands that I wanted to share the patterns with you! The flower headband pattern is available on my website for free in pdf format. There are printable pattern pieces for the flower pieces as well as an elastic size chart. The free flower headband pattern pdf can be found here.

Also in the Emma collection are the Fitted baby shirt pattern

and the Baby Leggings Pattern

and the long sleeve a line baby dress pattern

Okay, on to the free flower pattern. :)

1. Using Pattern, Cut one circle and one rectangle.
The pattern pieces can be found here.

2. Use the hand needle and thread to sew around entire perimeter of the circle piece. Sew each stitch about 1/2” long and about 1/8” from the edge of the fabric. Do not tie the ends of the thread.

Another shot of step 2.

3.Pull the ends of the thread to ‘cinch’ the circle into a “puff”.

4. Tie the thread ends together while they are still tightly cinched.

5. Adjust the puff so that the cinched section is on the top center of the puff. 

6. Cut one rectangle using pattern piece. Fold in half as shown and sew the open ends together.  Knot the ends.

7.Fold the strip inside of itself like above. Make sure that the sewn ends are hidden on the inside.

8. Sew the open edge closed. Sew with 1/2” stitches that are about 1/8” from the edge. Don’t knot the ends.

9. Cut slits on the folded edge. Cut them about 1/2” apart. Be careful not to cut the thread.

10. Pull the threads tight to cinch the strip into a flower.

11. Tie the ends of thread and adjust the flower to lay flat.

12. Place a dab of hot glue onto the center of the “puff”.

13. Place the flower on top of the hot glue. Allow the glue to cool, then sew one or two stitches through both pieces and tie securely. (I’m sorry there isn’t a photo of this).

14. Place a dab of hot glue into the center of the flower.

15. Fold a couple loops (petals) over the hot glue to hide the center. This is optional depending on your preference.

16. If you are making a headband, cut the elastic to appropriate length. Find elastic measurements on pattern piece.
The headband measurements can be found here.

17. Overlap the ends of elastic 1/2” and sew them together.

18. Turn the entire piece upside down. Place a strip of glue where the elastic will lay if you are making a headband.

19. Put the elastic on top of the glue. Press it firmly into place.

20. Cut a strip of scrap fabric that is approx 1 x 2”. 

21. Carefully place the hot glue onto the elastic strip. Press firmly into place and trim the edges of the scrap piece to fit the head piece.

Make a few more to match more outfits, then check out the rest of the Emma Collection

Easy peasy free flower pattern.

Long sleeve baby dress pattern - just in time for winter!

Can a long sleeve baby dress pattern save your baby from freezing at the holidays? Yes it can! 

There is nothing that is more irritating than walking around the stores or sewing pattern isle while looking for a Christmas dress for my baby. Seriously, don't clothing manufacturers know that it is WINTER time? Yes, baby arms are cute, but they are much cuter when they aren't blue. Does anyone actually take the cardigan off of their baby at Christmas time? Or the undershirt? I think not. Yet, I am still finding mostly short sleeves or sleeveless Christmas baby dress patterns.

If you would like to skip reading about my design process 

of the long sleeve baby dress pattern, please click here.

After deep thought and a smidge of frustration, I decided that I wanted to make a new baby dress pattern so that my baby would have something decent to wear this holiday season. There were many options that I considered with the a-line baby dress pattern, but the main focus was long sleeves. I knew that if this dress was a hit, that I would want to have short sleeves too, so I added those as well to the design. I completely omitted the thought of having the dress be sleeveless. If I have people who ask about it though, I might make a knit sleeveless dress in the summertime.

I wanted a dress that was fitted around the bodice, and flared out below the waist. I also knew that I wanted something longer than the average baby dress. I think it's interesting that dresses in the store are sleeveless AND too short. Leggings and tights are cute, but the main attraction should be the dress, so lets cover a bit more leg.

I had been working with knit fabrics a lot lately so I thought it would be fun to have a knit baby dress. You usually see woven dresses this time of year, so this would change up the norm a bit. Not only that, but when I started to imagine a neckline for this dress, I loved the idea of doing a pull-over style that had no buttons, zippers or snaps. In fact, you could almost call this dress a t-shirt baby dress (although a bit fancier).

Lets get started in the design process.

The first thing that did with this pattern was visit my onesie pattern and fitted shirt pattern. I pulled a great neckline from them and also my superb sleeve length. 

Then I looked at my baby jumper pattern to nab the length from, but quickly decided that it wasn't long enough for this long sleeve baby dress design. I love the baby jumper pattern, but it is meant to be worn with leggings and ruffled diaper covers. I wanted a dress that I could put on my baby over top of winter tights without worry about the crotch seams showing. So I made the length longer and made the width a tad wider. The length of the new long sleeve baby dress is about knee length on most babies.

A word about sleeve length. 

I love the length of my baby dress sleeves. Recently, I put a store bought shirt on Claire and she wore it to church. The whole time that she was wearing the shirt, I had to keep pulling the sleeves down because they were too short. Many people at church ask me each week if Claire's outfits are homemade (which they usually are), so I had to make sure to tell people that the shirt was NOT homemade. I was a bit embarrassed that she was wearing something that fit so terribly.

Moving on.

The hem of the long sleeve baby dress couldn't be easier or neater. Simply fold, press and sew.

A word about stitches. 

I have been reading a lot of tutorials that talk about using a double needle while sewing knits. It is a great idea. I did mention that in my tutorial in a few places. However, a standard zig-zag stitch works great. If you prefer the look of a single line, try to use an elastic stitch (which I also mention in the tutorial). I also love using my serger and use it for most of my knit projects, so I also included in the tutorial where would be appropriate to use the serger if you had one available.

Long sleeve baby dress pattern sizes.

The sizes in this pattern are so versatile. They are accurately sized from newborns up to 36 months based on current U.S. clothing size trends (in English, this means that the pattern is the same size as your baby's store bought clothes sizes). The reason that I say they are versatile is because of the 'knit factor'. Because knits are so stretchy and giving, your baby can wear the long sleeve baby dress for multiple sizes. Your baby can typically wear a size below and a size above their current size when working with this pattern. It has the flexibility to allow you to extend your baby's wardrobe for longer periods.

I really liked making this sewing pattern. 

It was the end of my Emma Collection (other than the free flower headband patterns that I still need to do) that I have been working on recently. Sometimes I am sad to be done with a project as I am having so much fun with it, but this one was not the case. I was very glad to be done and ready to give it to my customers. I have had multiple requests for an a-line baby dress pattern that featured long sleeves, so this was perfect for those that asked as well as for multiple mammas who are making holiday dresses for their little ones.

Soon to be added to the Emma collection will be free patterns of the flowers that I used for Claire's headbands. Isn't she a beautiful model?

Thank you for joining me to read about my design process for the long sleeve baby dress pattern. I hope that it inspires you to be creative! Check out the long sleeve baby dress pattern now!

Best Baby Leggings Pattern

The best baby leggings pattern is finally here. It features 8 sizes from newborn to 36 months. All of the pattern pieces are printable from a home printer. There is not any scaling necessary as the pattern pieces are drafted professionally to size. There are optional ruffles and a rear extender for cloth diapers. Sound too good to be true? It's here! Read on!!

If you don't want to read about my designing story

 feel free to click here to view the baby legging sewing pattern.

When I first decided that I wanted to make a legging pattern, it was after multiple people had asked me to design them. At the time of the first requests, I had an entire drawer filled with leggings and dresses. I wasn't about to make any more. However, this last box of baby clothes that I got out for Claire left me a little skimpy in the baby legging department. Actually, all of the departments were skimpy. In the 12 month size that I just pulled out, she had 3 onesies, 1 dress, 2 - one piece pajamas (this will be something on my to-do list I think), a couple pairs of socks and a couple stretched out pairs of pants. What was I thinking when I kept those?!

I got to work right away making shirts for Claire out of t-shirts that hubs brought home for me. He is a web designer and artist for a web company that is connected to a t-shirt design shop so he has unlimited supply of messed up shirts that need to be 'recycled'. Yay for me!

After I got a few onesies and long sleeve shirts done, I whipped up a few baby jumpers. After I got the baby jumpers done, I realized that IT IS WINTER. What was I thinking?

It was time to design some baby leggings.

Something that had been irritating me about baby leggings in the previous size, was the lack of room in the 'rear' area. I exclusively cloth diaper my babies, which makes it hard to find proper fitting attire in a 'disposable' world. I know that some of my customers are NOT cloth diaper mammas though, so I had to come up with a solution for both, cloth diapered and non-cloth diapered rumps. The “Rear Extender” was born. At first, I added WAY too much room for the cloth diaper. The leggings looked saggy at first. No thanks. Leggings are supposed to be form fitting. After a couple tries, I had it right. I love how the baby leggings fit over cloth diapers now. They are smooth and comfortable without adding any unnecessary room to the thigh area. The Rear Extender is of course an optional feature of the baby legging pattern, but it is necessary for us cloth diapering mammas to add to our baby's wardrobe.

Another thing that made me have to do a bit 'extra' designing, was the fact that t-shirts aren't always suitable for a one piece legging pattern. I needed side seams. That was a challenge for me as I hadn't incorporated side seams in any other pants or shorts pattern before. I love what I came up with though and you will too. The pattern piece that I designed has the option of being one piece OR two pieces so that you can have side seams. This is huge. If you have yardage fabric, just whip out a few one pattern piece leggings...but if you are recycling and need a bit more wiggle room, use the two piece pattern with side seams!

The other reason that I wanted side seams was that I wanted ruffles. Since winter was upon me, I wanted my darling to be outfitted adorably, so ruffles were necessary. Yet, to sew a ruffled diaper cover, would be more work and just another thing to add to her drawer. Why couldn't I simply add the ruffles to the rear of the leggings? I went to work pondering, measuring, drawing and sewing. Finally, I had the perfect solution for all sizes that are included in this sewing pattern. The side seams are perfect for adding ruffles and you'll love the placement of the ruffles on the baby leggings pattern.

As I was in the designing process and finally had my pieces drawn up, I did a quick search online for baby legging patterns. I was immediately overwhelmed with multiple patterns. They ranged anywhere from free to $20 a piece for the pattern. I was a little bit down after I saw all of the competition for a pattern. I felt like I had wasted my time to design something new when it had already been done. I left my computer and my designing for a few days. When I got out of the 'funk', I looked at the patterns online again. They were missing key components that mine was offering. 

The easiest and most obvious 'lack' in the patterns that I found online for baby leggings, was that there were few printable pattern pieces. I don't know about you, but when I want to sew something, it's because I don't already have it. I can't take apart a pair of pants that I don't have to make a new pair. That's silly. I also hate to 'resize' anything. It never blows up to the appropriate size as it should. Yet, many of those patterns suggested doing that. I am so proud to be able to offer you professionally drafted pattern pieces with all of my sewing patterns, especially my baby leggings sewing pattern.

Overall,  I had a great time designing these baby leggings. The sewing pattern rocks and I can't wait to share it. My love for dresses will extend into the winter months because of them. I want to try to make some fleece leggings too. Doesn't fleece baby leggings sound like the coziest things ever? I think it would end up pilling around the legs after a while if the baby is crawling or rolling. Either way, I might have to make a few before Christmas!

Thank you for joining me today to read about how I designed this pattern. I hope that my customers and readers enjoy my design stories. I love to design and it is so much fun to tell you about it.