Wednesday, November 11, 2015

November's Guest: Danielle from My Sparkle

Today we are happy to welcome back Danielle from My Sparkle as our November guest of the month!

Tomorrow she will give you the challenge for the month but today we get to find out what she has been up to since being on Project Run and Play!



Hello! It's great to be back here at Project Run and Play! It's been so long since I participated that I am sure most of you will have no idea who I am.  I'm Danielle Wilson, and this "Every Color in the Box" dress is probably the most memorable thing I made while participating in PR&P season 3.  I grew up sewing with my mother and have always had an interest in clothing design and love being able to create the things that I imagine in my head! I have been a pretty terrible blogger, but I really love this online creative and sewing community. Things in my personal life have made it hard to participate as fully as I would have liked to throughout the past few years, but I really love the connections with amazing people and opportunities that I've had because of it. I used to blog at My Sparkle, which I started like many people as a way to post photos of my kids and projects, but was never super serious about it. I recently launched a new more streamlined website, Danielle Wilson Design.



I hope it will be an avenue to stay connected and share more of the upcoming projects I hope to put out into the world! Through the years I have taken pattern making classes at a local college and several different online classes to learn Adobe Illustrator and PDF pattern making. I really love learning new things, and appreciate a new challenge, so it's hard to for me to focus! In the years since I was on Project Run and Play I have dabbled in many sewing and design related things. Here are a few that I'm most proud of:

Photo courtesy of Merrilee Liddiard

A couple years ago I got to help Merrilee Liddiard with a few of her sewing projects for her Children's craft book "Playful". Merrilee is quite a good seamstress herself and one of the most creative people I've met, but when you are writing a book you don't have time to do everything!  So I helped her develop sewing patterns and directions for a couple of her designs, and sewed a few of the photographed samples (like these dolls and their clothes) for the book. It's a gorgeously creative book with clever ideas and beautiful styling and though I helped in a tiny way, I am really proud to have had any part in it!

Photos by Chaunté Vaughn

Through working with Merrilee, I met Brittany Watson Jepsen, the creative genius behind The House That Lars Built, who was one of the stylists for the book. I was able to collaborate with her and photographer Chaunté Vaughn on an editorial project for Milk Magazine, and create 4 custom dresses inspired by birds! It was a fun and crazy experience and the kind of creative project that gets me really excited.  Milk Magazine is such a huge inspiration for me so contributing there was a dream! You can read more about it here.


I also recently worked with my friend and the mastermind behind kids' clothing brand Rags to Raches, Rachel Nilsson. Rachel worked super hard on her own to develop the adorable and unique romper that has made her brand so successful. I had the opportunity to do some pattern work for her and take her original pattern and remake it into a cropped, tank top version with some added fold-over elastic details. It was such a great experience to take some of my pattern-making and digital drafting knowledge, and work back and forth with her to ensure I was getting the exact fit and detail that she envisioned for her design, and then see it translated into her actual factory produced good. The behind-the-scenes education was so valuable and Rachel was so generous in sharing her knowledge and experience about the process.


I have so many ideas and such a strong desire to put some kind of creative product out into the world, but haven't been able to narrow down exactly what I want to do. I have dabbled in PDF pattern making over the years, and have a few in my very neglected Etsy shop. I'd love to revamp it and really explore this avenue more when I get the time.


Also, I recently launched a little handmade kid's clothing shop called Wandercraft, selling hand-dyed pom-pom trimmed skirts, through Instagram. I am kind of dipping my toe in the waters of my own clothing line, and though sewing everything myself is not sustainable, I am currently exploring having things manufactured. Working with, and having the support and trust of other people who are putting themselves out there creatively has been a boost to my confidence. When the time is right for me and my family, I hope to start a company of my own! We will see what form it takes. I currently spend a lot of time reading books and listening to podcasts about business and entrepreneurship, and sewing the occasional outfit for my kids.



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5 comments :

  1. hahaha Reading through this I felt exactly how you feel with everything! I love challenges and being creative but I can't put my finger on exactly ONE thing to do! I'm so excited for you and wish you the best success in everything!!!!

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  2. Oh thanks so much for your support and kindness!

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