Fabulous Fun Free Pattern Downloads

Crafters are constantly on the prowl for free downloadable patterns. It isn’t enough to simply offer emailed PDF patterns anymore. Instant downloadable patterns are the latest rave for crafters who want their patterns NOW so they can start their projects NOW. If you’re a pattern designer who offers epatterns and you’ve been debating whether or not to offer a free epattern, below are a few reasons why you should indeed offer them.

1. Free patterns make great Thank You gifts for your regular customers as they return to make purchases.

2. This is a great way to introduce your talents to crafters who aren’t familiar with your designs. If they like your free pattern, more than likely they’ll be back to purchase the patterns that you sell.

3. People that want to learn new crafts will most likely look for free patterns at first rather than spend money on a pattern for a craft they aren’t sure that they’ll enjoy. Offering a wide variety of free patterns can be a positive effect on your pattern sales as this will draw in more customers. While they’re browsing, they may just find another crafting interest.

4. Adding free patterns on a regular basis is a great way to keep patrons returning to your site.

Many of the designers at Pattern Mart offer free patterns. Visit www.patternmart.com to see all of those FREE patterns.

Saltbox House Patterns

Below are a few SALTBOX patterns offered at www.patternmart.com. Be sure to drop by to see all of the saltbox patterns. These are fun to add to any primitive decor.



Primitive Saltbox House Lamp and Ornies! PM
Price: US$7.00






PRIMITIVE SHEEP SALTBOX CLOCK PM
Price: US$8.00






Prim Cookie Ornies
Price: US$5.95

Rusty Stuff

Today, we're featuring rusty stuff. Below are a few rusty supplies along with a rusting recipe. Find more rusty supplies, rusty recipes, rusty ingredients and patterns to use your rusty stuff on in this RUSTY search at www.patternmart.com.



Rusty Pin and Bell Instructions
Price: US$3.00






Rusty Tin 1 in Flags PM
Price: US$1.50






Rusty Wire 30 Ft. 22 Gauge
Price: US$2.60

How to Prevent Thread Loops

Do you ever get those annoying thread loops on the bottom of your sewing projects when you're using your sewing machine? When this happens, you can spend hours ripping out and re-doing stitches. In most cases, cleaning the lint from the bobbin area or changing the needle will prevent the looping. To avoid possible electrical shock, be sure your machine is turned off and unplugged before removing the lint or changing needles. Most manufacturers recommend changing the needles about every 8 hours which is about once every 2 or 3 small sewing projects that you work on. Clean the lint from the bobbin area about every other time (depending on the lint build up you see) when you change your bobbins. More advice is given below for lint removal. Following this advice and the steps below may save you an unnecessary trip to the sewing machine repair shop.


1. When the loops appear, you need to get scrap pieces from your project and layer the scraps exactly as you have your project layered. Include batting if you are using batting in your project. You’re going to use these scraps to place practice stitches on so you won’t have to rip out the stitches and re-do them as you would on your real project.

2. Quick bobbin checks:

a. Is your bobbin wound correctly? Is the bobbin in the holder correctly? To be sure, follow step 2b.

b. Remove the bobbin and the spool of thread. Completely re-thread the machine. Place a few practice stitches onto the scraps. If you still have loops, see 2c.

c. If the bobbin thread is running low (especially on plastic bobbins), replace with a fully threaded bobbin. Place a few practice stitches onto the scraps. If you still have loops, see number 3.

3. UNPLUG YOUR SEWING MACHINE. Refer to your machine manual and remove the cover from the bobbin case and remove the bobbin.

a. Use a small artist’s paint brush to remove lint from the bobbin area. The long handle on the paint brush has more reach than the brush that the machine manufacturer supplies, therefore you can easily get into those hard-to-reach areas. Plus the lint will stick to the bristles of the paint brush better.

b. Twirl the paint brush around to remove lint from the smooth surfaces inside the bobbin casing. Remove lint from the brush often.

c. Gently brush any lint from the gears. Slowly turn the hand crank to be sure you clean all the way around the gears. Any dust trapped in the gears will cause loops. Again, remove lint from the brush often.


Visit http://www.patternmart.com/ to find your next sewing project.



Click on the picture above for a larger view to see the loops on the top right side of the stitches on this project.






The gear on this sewing machine is behind the bobbin holder as seen in the picture above.

Raggedy Doll Patterns

It seems like we never outgrow our rag dolls, no matter how old we get. Below are a few RAGGEDY doll patterns offered at Pattern Mart. Visit www.patternmart.com to see the large variety of patterns available.




Bundle of Joy HHCK100
Price: US$8.50







How Many Frogs PM
Price: US$5.50







Mama Raggedy Ann and her Baby
Price: US$8.50

Featured Patterns

With Easter on the way, I was thinking about baskets this morning. Below are a few patterns that showed up in my BASKET search. Many of us use baskets for many occasions, not just for Easter. Enjoy the search for new decorating ideas. To search for more patterns, please go to www.patternmart.com.



Assorted Printable Easter Stamp Ornies
Price: US$6.00






Easter Basket Pattern PM
Price: US$5.50






Saltbox Basket Tie Ons Primitive Painting Pattern SNR
Price: US$6.00

Plastic Bobbins or Metal Bobbins?

Each type of bobbin has its own pros and cons. Below is a list of some pros and cons for each type.

Plastic Bobbins
Plastic Pro
1. With plastic bobbins, you can see when your thread is running low. However, it’s only a pro if you have a sewing machine that loads the bobbin from the top rather than from the bottom AND if you remember to check for thread remaining on the bobbin. A picture is provided below to show you how easily you can see the amount of thread available on the plastic bobbin.

Plastic Cons
1. Plastic bobbins are fragile and break easily.
2. Plastic bobbins are too light to hold themselves in place when the wound thread runs low. This may create a thread jam as the needle tries to pull the thread through the top of the work area resulting in unsightly thread knots on the fabric.

Metal Bobbins
Metal Pros
1. Metal bobbins are strong and last virtually forever.
2. They are heavy enough to hold themselves in place when the wound thread runs low thus you aren’t wasting thread and precious time ripping out seams due to knotted thread jams.

Metal Con
1. You will probably run out of bobbin thread at an inconvenient time because you can’t see when it’s running low. But at least you get to use all the thread that you wound so perhaps this can be considered a metal bobbin pro if you don’t mind the inconvenient timing of thread run-out.

www.patternmart.com

Animal Patterns

Today I've selected a few animal patterns to feature. I hope you enjoy them. You'll find animal patterns and more at www.patternmart.com.



Puppy Dog Pattern PM
Price: US$3.95






Purr-fect Kitty
Price: US$4.50






Rabbit Brothers Paper pattern
Price: US$7.99

New Patterns

Below is a sampling of a few of the newest patterns at Pattern Mart. Drop by and find yourself a NEW pattern today.



Angel Valentine Art Doll Cat with Heart Wings
Price: US$9.00






BPP26 Easter SPRING CHICK Egg Primitive Folk Art Doll e Pattern
Price: US$10.00






Love Letters Valentine Bowl Filler - Pattern
Price: US$5.50

Free - January/February Issue of Creative Times Magazine

It's time for more creative reading. What better way to get inspired than grabbing your free copy of the newest Creative Times Magazine issue. The January/February issue is one I think you'll really enjoy. So grab your copy, sit back and let the creative juices start to flow.

http://www.creativetimesmagazine.com/

Fabric Cuts Part 3

Fabric Cuts Part 3

Today we’ll discuss how to calculate the number of squares you’ll need to make both traditional and rag quilts. To cut numerous squares in a short amount of time, be sure to read “Quick Cuts (Squares)” at the Creative Times Magazine website.

When you make a traditional quilt, you will piece your squares together using a ¼” seam allowance. Therefore, you will lose ½” from the size of each of square as you piece them together. For instance, if you piece 6 ½” squares together, you will count only 6” to help you determine the amount of squares you’ll need to complete your quilt. A 48” x 66” lap quilt would require 8 squares across by 11 rows down.

Most rag quilts are pieced together using a ½” seam allowance. You’ll lose 1” from the size of your squares because of this. For example, if you piece 6” squares together, you will count 5” to determine the amount of squares you’ll need to make your rag quilt. A 50” x 65” rag quilt would require 10 squares across by 13 rows down.

Due to possible sewing errors and shrinkage from washing & drying, you may want to add an additional row of squares across and down to be sure you get no less than the desired width and length you want for your quilt.

Bug Patterns

Spring isn't very far away now. With spring, we expect the arrival of bugs. It only makes sense to add a few home made ones to the spring and summer projects you're working on now. Below are a few of these patterns that are available at Pattern Mart. Find more fun bug patterns HERE.



5 Primitive Bugs SCB
Price: US$7.50






Prim Bugs Pattern PM
Price: US$5.50






Bug Trio Bowl Fillers/Ornaments PM
Price: US$5.50

Quilt Patterns

Below are a few patterns to make beautiful quilts for the upcoming spring holidays. As you can see, quilts aren't just for winter snuggling and bed covers. You'll want to check out all of our QUILT patterns at Pattern Mart to see the different ideas our designers have for quilts. Of course, if you want to make the quilts for snuggling and bedding, we have those patterns too.



Flowers For Mother Quilted Table Runner
Price: US$5.00






Mady's Quilt
Price: US$6.00






Rag Quilted Wall Quilt Celebration of Love Pattern PM
Price: US$5.00