Learn to cross stitch with Satsuma Street!

I hear from people all the time who tell me that they love my designs and wish they could make them, but they don't know how to cross stitch. I do my best to help beginners through emails, but for some folks the best way to learn is through hands-on, personal instruction. That's why I'm so excited to be teaching a Cross Stitch Basics workshop on May 2nd in Los Angeles at French General!

The class will be five hours long, and we will learn to make the lovely pincushions you see here, which I designed based on an old French motif. You probably won't have time to finish a pincushion in the class, but you will learn all the basics of counted cross stitch: how to read a chart, measure out fabric, divide your floss, start and end your stitching properly, and begin working on one of the charts. I'll give tips for finishing the projects, including how to clean and press your stitching when you're done with it, and how to sew it into a pincushion. I'll also share lots of other tips and tricks that I've picked up for making your stitching as smooth and easy as possible.

The workshop is $65, and the fee includes the pattern and all the materials to make your pincushions. If you've never been to French General, it's a wonderful and inspiring place to spend an afternoon with lots of other creative people, so I hope you'll join us! Space is limited, so sign up as soon as possible!

Visit French General's website and click on "Workshops" to sign up, and do be sure to check their workshop cancellation policy before you commit. Hope to see you there!

Quit Your Day Job: I did!

Back when I was first thinking of starting my Etsy shop, and I wasn't sure exactly whether I should go for it, I started reading the Etsy Blog for the courage and inspiration to follow my dreams. The stories and advice I found there gave me the push I needed to go ahead and open the doors on Satsuma Street and list those first few cross stitch patterns, hoping that maybe this crazy idea would work out. So two years later when I was contacted by Etsy and told that they wanted to feature me as one of their "Quit Your Day Job" stories, I was so honored and thrilled, I can't even tell you!

I was happy to be able to share any little bits of advice I could with new or aspiring Etsy sellers, and what was most important to me was to share the message that everyone has to find a unique product to offer and a way of working that suits them, rather than trying to follow someone else's path to success. If you're interested in hearing how I turned cross stitch design into a full time career, I encourage you to go read it, and while you're at it, there are lots of other inspiring stories there too!

Satsuma Street wouldn't be anything at all today without the support of all the wonderful people I've connected with through Instagram, Facebook, and all over the world, so most of all thank you to everyone who has supported the shop and reached out to say hello and let me know you like the patterns! It means so much to know that people like what I'm doing, and inspires me to keep going and making more happy cross stitch patterns for everyone to enjoy!

Photos by Erik Valind Photography

Garden Cat!

It's crazy that it took an avowed cat lady like myself so long to do a cat pattern! I suppose it just had to be the right time and I needed the muse to hit me…I was thinking about doing something Spring-y and flower inspired, and I do wish my kitties could spend their Spring days exploring a garden, but alas they are city cats and have to watch the seasons change from inside the apartment windows.

This cool cat gets to spend all his time under a magical sun, chilling with his friend the bee, smelling the amazing flowers and never worrying about a thing. Seems like a pretty good deal, Garden Cat!

Of course my apartment cat doesn't have it so bad either. I only put him to work filling orders on the rare occasion that I take a day off… if you ever get an email from me and it's full of typos, don't blame me…it's probably my assistant:

Head on over to Satsuma Street to find the Garden Cat cross stitch pattern (along with lots of other fun designs). All the cool cats are cross stitching these days!

xoxo Jody (and Stoli)

2015 Limited Edition Tea Towel Calendar

One of my favorite things to collect is vintage Vera Neumann scarves, I try to find them in every thrift store and flea market I go into, but the one thing I've never found found is one of her classic linen tea towel calendars.  So this year, I decided that I needed to design a Satsuma Street calendar and have it printed on fabric and stitched into a tea towel, just like the vintage Vera ones I covet!

I really enjoyed designing this calendar, and building the little cityscape around each month in my colorful, Mary Blair and Small World inspired style!

In a Vera inspired touch, I added a little signature to the bottom corner of the towel with a little satsuma orange.  I guess that's becoming my trademark!

I've decided to make these tea towel calendars a limited edition, so I'm only making 100 of them.  They're already selling pretty fast, so if you want one, get yours now!  You can find them in my etsy shop here.

coming soon...

Though the weather is still in the 90's here in Los Angeles and we haven't even started carving pumpkins yet, I'm busy working on Christmas patterns for Satsuma Street! I've been wanting to do a set of cross stitched ornaments for a while now, so these little cuties will be part of a set of six, and I'm really enjoying how they're turning out! They stitch up so fast, you'll be able to make several in a weekend. A set to give away, and one to keep! Look for them in the shop in a couple of weeks!

Satsuma on the Radio!

I was profiled this weekend on the NPR show Marketplace Weekend as an example of "the new normal"… how people are making money in this economy in new and different ways. Though it might seem strange, the internet is actually making it easier for some handmade artisans to make a living selling their work. Platforms like Etsy have made it really simple to connect with people all over the world who are interested in buying from small sellers like me.

I hope you'll take a few minutes to listen to the story, it's really well produced and gives a nice little glimpse into a day in my studio. You even get to meet one of my cats! And a big thank you to the lovely people at Etsy and Marketplace who put it together, I'm honored to have been featured!

Satsuma Street Giveaway!

Who doesn't love a giveaway?? I've teamed up with the super awesome craft magazine Mollie Makes to do a little end-of-summer contest and the lucky winner will get FOUR free patterns from my Etsy shop! (And that's any patterns, not just the city designs.) The contest ends September 9th, 2014…so run on over to the Satsuma Street or Mollie Makes Facebook pages to enter or…go right here!