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An interview show for creative entrepreneurs.
Episodes
Tuesday Nov 14, 2017
Tuesday Nov 14, 2017
On today’s special episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast I’m so saddened by this morning’s news that Nancy Zieman has passed away. Nancy was a huge inspiration to me, and to so many of us. As a woman, a business person, and a working mom, Nancy lived her life with grace. She worked hard, had an excellent moral compass, and set a high bar for all of us to reach when it comes to being a participant in the sewing and quilting industry.
In May, a few months before she got sick with cancer again, I had the privilege of interviewing Nancy Zieman about her work and her life. It was truly an honor and I have to say it was also a highlight of my professional career. I wanted to replay that interview for you today as a way of honoring Nancy’s memory which I know lives on so strongly in all of us. This episode orignally aired on May 15, 2017. Here it is again.
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Please note that this show used to be called the While She Naps podcast. The name has changed, but the content and host have stayed the same.
To get the full show notes for this episode, visit Craft Industry Alliance where you can learn more about becoming a member of our supportive trade association. Strengthen your creative business, stay up to date on industry news, and build connections with forward-thinking craft professionals. Meet with show host, Abby Glassenberg, each month for our Craft Business Roundtable, get access to courses and webinars taught by industry leaders, and much more.
Monday Nov 06, 2017
Monday Nov 06, 2017
On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast I recorded my time at Quilt Market in Houston last week. We had a discussion about the state of the quilting industry with three quilt shop owners: Janet Lutz, Karen Montgomery, and Kris Thurgood.
Janet Lutz is the owner of Calico Gals, a quilt shop located in Syracuse, NY. Janet is also the founder of Row by Row Experience, a program which reaches over 3,000 quilt shops worldwide.
Karen Montgomery has owned The Quilt Company, a full service, brick and mortar quilt shop just outside Pittsburgh, PA, for 25 years. Industry insiders might know Karen from her Savvy Buying column published in FabShop News. Most recently Karen has joined with Janet to create Sewposium a popular creative business retreat for shop owners.
Kris Thurgood is the owner of My Girlfriend's Quilt Shoppe located in Logan, Utah. Two years ago she organized My Girlfriend's Quilt Shoppe as a franchise and is now opening a 2nd location in Midway, Utah. Kris, along with her identical twin sister Kim, have been featured on national television shows including The Rachael Ray Show and The Nate Berkus Show. They co-hosted a weekly craft and sewing webshow called, The DIY Dish for several years as well.
Together we discussed a wide range of topics including:
- What makes some quilt shops succeed while others fail
- The ups and downs of relationships with fabric manufacturers
- Competition from Massdrop, Craftsy, and Fabric.com, plus Etsy shops and Facebook groups that sell fabric
- Quilt Market and how it's changed over time (Karen has been to over 50 Quilt Markets), how much it costs a shop to attend and whether it's worthwhile
- Ecommerce
- Digital fabric printing and how it might affect the industry in the future
- What would happen if fabric companies began selling direct to consumer
- Adding yarn to the mix
- The complexities and rewards of selling sewing machines
I learned a tremendous amount from talking with these three women and I'm really hoping you'll find the conversation equally interesting. Running a brick-and-mortar quilt shop requires a lot of hard work and they are doing it and succeeding.
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Today's episode is sponsored by Handmade Rebellion. Handmade Rebellion offers a wide variety of creative shirts, hoodies, pins, and other swag for fiber artists of all shapes, ages, and sizes. Let the world know that you are part of the maker movement with style! Remember to use coupon code WHILESHENAPS on handmaderebellion.com to save 15% off your next order, with free domestic shipping over $35. Join the rebellion!
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Please note that this show used to be called the While She Naps podcast. The name has changed, but the content and host have stayed the same.
To get the full show notes for this episode, visit Craft Industry Alliance where you can learn more about becoming a member of our supportive trade association. Strengthen your creative business, stay up to date on industry news, and build connections with forward-thinking craft professionals. Meet with show host, Abby Glassenberg, each month for our Craft Business Roundtable, get access to courses and webinars taught by industry leaders, and much more.
Monday Oct 16, 2017
Monday Oct 16, 2017
On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about building a successful career in quilting with my guest, Eleanor Burns.
Eleanor Burns is truly a star in the quilting industry. She entered the field in 1978 with a self-published book, "Make a Quilt in a Day-Log Cabin Pattern.” Her innovative techniques in "strip piecing" made quilting possible for busy sewers and remains popular today. Eleanor’s signature technique is to take time treasured patterns and make them quick and easy to sew with new methods.
In 1990, Eleanor pioneered the way people view quiltmaking with her Quilt in a Day television series, which still broadcasts nationwide. She continues to be a highly sought after teacher and demonstrates her patterns and techniques on the Quilt in a Day website, live streaming webinars, and on YouTube.
In 1998 Eleanor designed her first fabric collection, "Anniversary Florals," with Benartex. She’s designed several more since then and has also collaborated in designing several special edition sewing machines. To date, Eleanor has published over 150 books and patterns and created numerous quilt rulers, templates and tools.
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This episode is sponsored by GlassEyesOnline. GlassEyesOnLine is your go to source for Glass Eyes, Plastic Safety Eyes and Noses, Joints and Insertion Tools for your creative projects. Use their eyes, noses and joints in Sewing, Crochet, Needle Felting, Amigurumi, Knitting, Sculpture, Wood Carving, Puppetry, Teddy Bear and Doll Making and many other arts and crafts projects. GlassEyesOnLine is a family owned and operated business located in the Low Country, South Carolina that ships World Wide. Jerry hand crafts the insertion tools and paints the iridescent and sparkle eyes. Use Code ABBY1017 to get Free Shipping on your $25.00 order in October.
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Please note that this show used to be called the While She Naps podcast. The name has changed, but the content and host have stayed the same.
To get the full show notes for this episode, visit Craft Industry Alliance where you can learn more about becoming a member of our supportive trade association. Strengthen your creative business, stay up to date on industry news, and build connections with forward-thinking craft professionals. Meet with show host, Abby Glassenberg, each month for our Craft Business Roundtable, get access to courses and webinars taught by industry leaders, and much more.
Monday Oct 02, 2017
Monday Oct 02, 2017
On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about building a fabric company with my guest, Arvin Pairavi.
Arvin is the President and Co-Owner of Shannon Fabrics, a family owned importer and distributor of plush fabrics. Arvin joined the company in 2000 to work with his father and has helped grow Shannon Fabrics from a small business to a team of more than 50 employees.
In this interview we trace the Pairavi family's history in the fabric business. Arvin's grandfather and father had fabric stores in Iran before the family fled to the United States as refugees in the late 1980s. Once settled in Los Angeles, his father went into the fabric business again, opening a retail and wholesale fabric shop focusing on garment fabrics.
When the family hit hard times due to the stock market crash in late 1999, Arvin left his job in the electronics business to help his father. They began importing fabrics, expanding their wholesale business significantly. On a buying trip Arvin discovered a new, exceptionally soft polyester fabric that was different from anything currently on the market at that time. He placed a small order for what Shannon Fabrics called Cuddle fabric and was thrilled when this new substrate became an immediate success. Today, it's one of Shannon's premier products and is available in nearly 100 colors.
A few years later Shannon Fabrics entered the quilting industry, attending Quilt Market for the first time. Later, a licensing partnership with Robert Kaufman led to more popularity among local quilt shops.
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This episode is sponsored by Okan Arts. Okan Arts offers vintage Japanese fabrics for adventuresome sewists and quilters. The shop specializes in high-quality yukata cottons that are hand-dyed and traditionally used to make summer kimonos. The fabric patterns range from classic geometrics in indigo and white, to bold, lyrical motifs in vivid colors. Be sure to visit Okan Arts when you are in Seattle, or online at okanarts.com.
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Please note that this show used to be called the While She Naps podcast. The name has changed, but the content and host have stayed the same.
To get the full show notes for this episode, visit Craft Industry Alliance where you can learn more about becoming a member of our supportive trade association. Strengthen your creative business, stay up to date on industry news, and build connections with forward-thinking craft professionals. Meet with show host, Abby Glassenberg, each month for our Craft Business Roundtable, get access to courses and webinars taught by industry leaders, and much more.
Monday Sep 25, 2017
Monday Sep 25, 2017
On today’s special episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're celebrating the second anniversary of Craft Industry Alliance, the trade association for makers, designers, suppliers, and content creators in all areas of craft. Founded in October of 2015 by myself and Kristin Link (of Sew Mama Sew) Craft Industry Alliance now has over 1,300 members!
For this episode we're bringing five of those members onto the show to talk about their businesses and their relationship to the organization. Plus, we ask each of them to recommend great stuff they're enjoying right now. Kristin and I co-host these conversations. We talk to Kate McKean, Kara Gott Warner, Ann Martin, and Traci Vaspol and Karen Katin.
Join Craft Industry Alliance today at http://www.craftindustryalliance.org.
Please note that this show used to be called the While She Naps podcast. The name has changed, but the content and host have stayed the same.
To get the full show notes for this episode, visit Craft Industry Alliance where you can learn more about becoming a member of our supportive trade association. Strengthen your creative business, stay up to date on industry news, and build connections with forward-thinking craft professionals. Meet with show host, Abby Glassenberg, each month for our Craft Business Roundtable, get access to courses and webinars taught by industry leaders, and much more.
Monday Sep 18, 2017
Monday Sep 18, 2017
On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we’re talking about building a career as a designer with my guest, Christine Ricks.
Christine is the Creative Director for Missouri Star Quilt Company’s publishing department, working with a team to design and produce their magazines, Block and Modblock. She’s trained as a graphic designer and has taken up quilting as another medium to express her creative self. Christine spent the 10 years prior to her current position working in surface pattern design and contributing to several fabric lines for BasicGrey produced by Moda. She also contributes to the Modern Quilt Guild’s Quilt of the month and served as president of the Salt Lake Modern Quilt Guild last year.
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This episode is sponsored by Craft Industry Alliance, a trade association for makers, designers, suppliers, and content creators in all sectors of craft from knitting and crochet to quilting, sewing, paper crafting, polymer clay, embroidery, cross stitch and more. Founded by myself and Kristin Link in 2015, Craft Industry Alliance now has 1,300 members. Get a professionally written digital journal twice a month with up-to-date information on what's happening in the industry, tune in to webinars taught by experts in their field, and join a supportive community of fellow creative business owners. Check it out at craftindustryalliance.org.
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Please note that this show used to be called the While She Naps podcast. The name has changed, but the content and host have stayed the same.
To get the full show notes for this episode, visit Craft Industry Alliance where you can learn more about becoming a member of our supportive trade association. Strengthen your creative business, stay up to date on industry news, and build connections with forward-thinking craft professionals. Meet with show host, Abby Glassenberg, each month for our Craft Business Roundtable, get access to courses and webinars taught by industry leaders, and much more.
Monday Sep 04, 2017
Monday Sep 04, 2017
On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we’re talking about building an innovative company in the sewing industry with my guest, Fred Drexler.
Fred, along with his wife, Joyce, founded Sulky of America, a premier thread and stabilizer company. Fred began his career in the sewing industry in 1965 at age 23 as a salesman for the Singer Company in Akron Ohio. In 1969, he opened his own Singer dealership in Punta Gorda, Florida and met Joyce in 1974. She founded Speed Stitch, the company that popularized free motion embroidery using a domestic sewing machine. In 1987 Speed Stitch partnered with a German thread manufacturer to form Sulky of America.
We trace the history of the company from Fred’s early days selling Singer sewing machines, a job he took on a whim, to building one of the most significant companies in the home sewing and quilting industries today. Hear how Joyce stumbled upon water soluble stabilizer at a time when it was non-existent on the American market and how she and Fred went about making that product a massive commercial success. Sulky continues to partner and innovate today. This year they released an exclusive thread collection with Cotton+Steel.
In 2009 Fred passed the role of president of Sulky onto Jason Prater, an employee who had worked at the company since 1995. We talk about the particular challenges of selling Sulky and how Fred is thinking about the future.
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Today’s episode is sponsored by Girl Charlee Fabrics. Girl Charlee Fabrics is your online source for knit fabrics, carrying a wide selection of unique cotton jersey, cotton lycra, brushed poly spandex, french terry, and more. Girl Charlee Fabrics also stocks all the best indie sewing patterns from designers around the world. New customers save 10% on their first order, and always $7.99 flat rate shipping on any order, any size! Shop now at girlcharlee.com.
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Please note that this show used to be called the While She Naps podcast. The name has changed, but the content and host have stayed the same.
To get the full show notes for this episode, visit Craft Industry Alliance where you can learn more about becoming a member of our supportive trade association. Strengthen your creative business, stay up to date on industry news, and build connections with forward-thinking craft professionals. Meet with show host, Abby Glassenberg, each month for our Craft Business Roundtable, get access to courses and webinars taught by industry leaders, and much more.
Sunday Aug 20, 2017
Sunday Aug 20, 2017
On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about cross stitch with my guest, Jamie Chalmers, also known as Mr X Stitch. Jamie took up cross stitching fifteen years ago and he’s never looked back. Since establishing the Mr X Stitch website in 2008, he has been showcasing new talent in the world of textiles and stitch and has curated a number of stitch-based exhibitions in the UK and Ireland. Jamie is an accomplished and internationally exhibited artist in his own right, and the curator of PUSH Stitchery (affiliate link), part of a series of books published by Lark showcasing the work of contemporary embroidery artists from around the world.
Jamie is an active leader in the online stitch community and what he has dubbed ‘the new embroidery movement’. He loves introducing new people to the benefits of embroidery from a creative and wellbeing standpoint and is proud to be an ambassador for the craft.
Hear how Jamie first got interested in cross stitch and what it is about needlecraft in general that continues to enthrall him. Jamie has run a successful crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to launch his new magazine and he talks about how he approached that project. He also has over 30,000 followers on Instagram and gives us the details of his Instagram strategy. Mr X Stitch is a multi-contributor blog and Jamie explains how he runs a site like this. The site often features artwork with racy or politically controversial themes and Jamie explains how he filters what to include and what to reject.
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Today's episode is sponsored by Needle and Foot, Fine Fabrics. This on-line fabric shop opened in January of 2017 with an ever-growing collection of modern fabrics. You will find a delightful collection of fabrics produced by Art Gallery Fabric, Andover and Windham Fabrics among others. Specializing in curated fat quarter bundles, Needle and Foot makes it possible to collect your favorite lines without breaking the budget. Bernadine Kringel, owner of Needle and Foot, treasures her customers and welcomes inquiries and requests. Let her help you put together just the right bundle! Use the coupon code WhileSheNaps15 for a 15% discount on your purchase (valid through the end of September 2017).
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Please note that this show used to be called the While She Naps podcast. The name has changed, but the content and host have stayed the same.
To get the full show notes for this episode, visit Craft Industry Alliance where you can learn more about becoming a member of our supportive trade association. Strengthen your creative business, stay up to date on industry news, and build connections with forward-thinking craft professionals. Meet with show host, Abby Glassenberg, each month for our Craft Business Roundtable, get access to courses and webinars taught by industry leaders, and much more.
Monday Aug 07, 2017
Monday Aug 07, 2017
On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast I'm at Stitches United in Hartford, CT, talking with Benjamin Levisay, CEO of XRX, Inc., publishers of XRX Books as well as promoters of STITCHES Expos. Benjamin is a second-generation partner in this 31-year-old company originally started by his uncle, Alexis Xenakis, his father, David Xenakis, and their partner Elaine Rowley.
Benjamin has been a part of the fiber industry since his family opened a yarn shop in Sioux Falls, SD when he was a small boy, an enterprise that later evolved into XRX. We talk about the closure of Knitters Magazine last and the expansion of the STITCHES shows. Benjamin explains the friction that sometimes arises between STITCHES and local yarn shops and how that might be resolved. We also talk about Benjamin's former podcast, Fiber Hooligans, a new physical product for selling digital books, and more.
Learn more about the STITCHES shows on their website.
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This episode is sponsored by Sew Surprised. Sew Surprised is a learn-to-sew subscription box that is delivered to your door every month. Each box will contain all the materials needed to make a complete project, along with a link to a video showing you exactly how to complete the project. Sew Surprised is perfect for anyone who wants to learn how to sew, and we have boxes for boys, girls, and adults too! Visit us at Sew Surprised to get started.
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Please note that this show used to be called the While She Naps podcast. The name has changed, but the content and host have stayed the same.
To get the full show notes for this episode, visit Craft Industry Alliance where you can learn more about becoming a member of our supportive trade association. Strengthen your creative business, stay up to date on industry news, and build connections with forward-thinking craft professionals. Meet with show host, Abby Glassenberg, each month for our Craft Business Roundtable, get access to courses and webinars taught by industry leaders, and much more.
Monday Jul 17, 2017
Monday Jul 17, 2017
On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about building a career as a quilter with my guest, Sue Bleiweiss. I’m here visiting Sue in her home studio in Pepperell, Massachusetts which is about 45 minutes from my home and is a beautiful place to visit in July.
Sue creates vibrant colorful art quilts intended to delight the eye of the viewer and draw them in for a closer look. The author of several books, she has written numerous articles for Quilting Arts Magazine, appeared on The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims and Quilting Arts TV. She's currently working on her 3rd book due out in the fall of 2018. Sue’s award winning quilts have been exhibited internationally and reside in private collections all over the world.
Sue began her career in corporate America and transitioned to being a full-time artist shortly after September 11th, 2001. She talks about exploring a variety of art mediums, and even building a career in a few, before landing on quilting. Learn about hand dyeing fabric, fused applique, entering shows and writing books. Plus, most recently Sue has helped to curate and organize Threads of Resistance, a political quilt show that was recently installed at the New England Quilt Museum and will soon travel across the country.
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This episode is sponsored by Teresa Ascone. Teresa has created watercolor tutorials perfect for beginners! All tutorials include a framable print of the art, supply list, instructions and definitions. Teresa has taught art for more than 35 years, introducing hundreds of people to the marvelous world of watercolor - join her and access your own artistic expression!
www.etsy.com/shop/AsconeArtTutorials
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Please note that this show used to be called the While She Naps podcast. The name has changed, but the content and host have stayed the same.
To get the full show notes for this episode, visit Craft Industry Alliance where you can learn more about becoming a member of our supportive trade association. Strengthen your creative business, stay up to date on industry news, and build connections with forward-thinking craft professionals. Meet with show host, Abby Glassenberg, each month for our Craft Business Roundtable, get access to courses and webinars taught by industry leaders, and much more.