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We talk with designers and makers about what it really takes to build a creative business. Then we recommend great stuff we're loving right now.
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LATEST EPISODE

Podcast Episode #261: Karla Overland of Cherrywood Fabrics

On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about hand-dyed fabrics with my guest Karla Overland.

Karla is the owner of Cherrywood Hand Dyed Fabrics in Baxter, Minnesota. She is the “colorist” who creates all the dye formulas and gradations of the gorgeous trademark bundles.  Karla has been sewing since she was a little girl and holds a degree in graphic design. She applies her combined passions to all aspects of Cherrywood; web and print design, color theory, marketing, pattern design, and The Cherrywood Challenge. She has self-published nine exhibit books and over a dozen patterns. Cherrywood travels all over the U.S. vending at quilt shows where Karla also gives presentations and teaches classes. She has taught at the Australasian Quilt Festival in Melbourne, Australia, and hosted a bus tour of The Netherlands, Belgium and France for The Van Gogh Cherrywood Challenge.

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THE HOST

Find out what it takes to build a business in the crafts industry. In each episode host, and Craft Industry Alliance co-founder, Abby Glassenberg, interviews a creative entrepreneur to learn about their journey to success. Hear their stories and find out how to earn a living through a love of craft.

FEATURED EPISODES

BROWSE ALL EPISODES

Please note that this show was previously called the While She Naps podcast. On October 1, 2019, it was renamed the Craft Industry Alliance podcast. The name has changed, but the mission of the show, the host, and the style are the same.

Podcast Episode #212: Craig Swanson

Podcast Episode #212: Craig Swanson

In this podcast interview, Craig Swanson talks about his journey building a tech support business that included video training sessions and how that led him to co-found CreativeLive.

Podcast Episode #211: e Bond

Podcast Episode #211: e Bond

In this podcast interview, artist and graphic designer e Bond talks about how she fell in love with making artist books, the combination of type and images, and her new fabric line with Free Spirit called Glyphs.

Podcast Episode #210: Heidi Parkes

Podcast Episode #210: Heidi Parkes

In this podcast interview, artist Heidi Parkes talks about her career as an art teacher and how she transitioned to an art practice creating quilts and teaching quilting.

Podcast Episode #209: Safiyyah Talley

Podcast Episode #209: Safiyyah Talley

In this podcast interview, knitwear designer and podcaster Safiyyah Talley talks about the development of her multi-faceted craft business. Safiyyah’s interests in writing, marketing, and fashion design came together when she realized she could make a business of designing knitwear patterns.

Episode #206: Jill Wiseman

Episode #206: Jill Wiseman

In this podcast episode, Jill Wiseman traces the development of her career as a beading teacher both in-person and on YouTube, as well as the growth of her online bead store.

Podcast Episode #205: Tian Connaughton

Podcast Episode #205: Tian Connaughton

In this podcast episode, designer and tech editor Tian Connaughton traces the development of her career from learning to crochet from a co-worker while at her corporate job, to designing and publishing patterns in magazines, to teaching others how to get published.

Podcast Episode #204: Zak Foster

Podcast Episode #204: Zak Foster

In this podcast episode, improvisational quilter Zak Foster talks about building a community of creativity online, creating memorial and burial quilts, and his commission for the Met Gala.

Powering the Creative Economy with Spoonflower

Powering the Creative Economy with Spoonflower

In this limited series of the Craft Industry Alliance called Powering the Creative Economy with Spoonflower, we’re talking with five artists about how they propelled their business forward using Spoonflower’s print-on-demand capabilities. In the sixth episode, we go behind the scenes at this fast-growing business.

Podcast Episode #203: Jenny Doan

Podcast Episode #203: Jenny Doan

In this podcast interview, Jenny Doan of Missouri Star Quilt Co. discusses how she and her family built one of the largest retailers for quilting fabrics and pre-cuts in the US through the power of YouTube.

Podcast Episode #202: Wendy Ward

Podcast Episode #202: Wendy Ward

In this podcast episode, sewing pattern designer and teacher Wendy Ward talks about her career path from working for a fast fashion brand to learning about sustainable sewing practices to teaching and authoring sewing books.

Podcast Episode #201: Schacht Spindle

Podcast Episode #201: Schacht Spindle

In this podcast interview, Jane Patrick and Barry Schacht of Schacht Spindle Company talk about how they created this successful, family-owned business that’s a leading supplier of looms and spindles in the US.

Podcast Episode #200: Karen Barbé

Podcast Episode #200: Karen Barbé

In this podcast interview, artist Karen Barbé talks about the development of her career in embroidery. Raised in Santiago, Karen’s popular blog, Instagram account, and book have inspired thousands of people to learn about color and thread.

Podcast Episode #197: Kristi Schroeder Larson

Podcast Episode #197: Kristi Schroeder Larson

In this podcast episode, artist Kristi Schroeder Larson talks about her career as a graphic designer and how she pivoted to become a quilter and quilting pattern designer, and then pivoted again to designing needlepoint canvases.

Podcast Episode #196: Leigh Metcalf of Topstitch Studio

Podcast Episode #196: Leigh Metcalf of Topstitch Studio

In this podcast interview, Leigh Metcalf talks about how she opened her fabric and yarn shop, Topstitch Studio. After writing a book covering craft shops all over London, Leigh opened one of her own with the intent of building community and curating a beautiful selection of special goods.

Podcast Episode #194: Tisa Jackson

Podcast Episode #194: Tisa Jackson

In this podcast interview, Tisa Jackson talks about how she has secured multiple brand collaborations within the crafts industry, designing creative projects to share with her audience.

Podcast Episode #193: Christi Johnson

Podcast Episode #193: Christi Johnson

In this podcast episode, artist Christi Johnson talks about her journey from working in the fashion industry to starting her own clothing brand, creating embroidery patterns and classes, and writing a book with Storey Publishing.

Podcast Episode #191: Cecilia Nelson-Hurt

Podcast Episode #191: Cecilia Nelson-Hurt

In this podcast episode, Cecilia Neslon-Hurt talks about the development of her career working in diversity, equity, and inclusion both for national corporations and in the fiber arts community.

Episode #190: Making Stories

Episode #190: Making Stories

In this podcast episode, Hanna Lisa Haferkamp and Claire Walls explain how they create and publish Making Stories, an independent knitting magazine with a focus on sustainability.

Podcast Episode #189: Mou Saha

Podcast Episode #189: Mou Saha

In this podcast episode, mixed media artist Mou Saha talks about her life as an artist first as a child growing up in India where she took a variety of art training courses, but studied psychology and then in the US where she encountered frustration with the inability to complete her PhD and, instead, pivoted her career to pursue mixed media art.

Podcast Episode #188: Tricia Brancolini-Foley of Handmade Arcade

Podcast Episode #188: Tricia Brancolini-Foley of Handmade Arcade

In this podcast interview, Tricia Brancolini-Foley, the Executive Director of Handmade Arcade in Pittsburgh, talks about the evolution of that indie craft show including becoming a non-profit, working with the Pittsburgh arts community, and pivoting to a virtual show during COVID.

Podcast Episode #187: Shelley Brander

Podcast Episode #187: Shelley Brander

In this podcast episode, Shelley Brander talks about her career founding Loops Yarn Shop in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Knit Stars as well as writing her new memoir.

Podcast Episode #186: Azzari Jarrett

Podcast Episode #186: Azzari Jarrett

In this podcast episode, photographer and memory keeper Azzari Jarrett talks about how she came to develop a creative career for herself, discovering a love of film photography and scrapbooking when she became a mother and turning her talent for design into a small business.

Podcast Episode #185: Anne Butera

Podcast Episode #185: Anne Butera

In this podcast episode, watercolor artist Anne Butera traces her creative journey learning to become an artist, teaching on Skillshare, blogging, and building a following through her newsletter.

Podcast Episode #184: Polly Leonard of Selvedge Magazine

Podcast Episode #184: Polly Leonard of Selvedge Magazine

In this podcast episode, Polly Leonard, the founder and publisher of Selvedge Magazine, talks about how she created this premier publication devoted to textiles, how she expanded the business to include a shop and events, and her future plans for the magazine.

Podcast Episode #183: Kathy Elkins of WEBS

Podcast Episode #183: Kathy Elkins of WEBS

In this podcast episode, Kathy Elkins, the owner of WEBS, talks about how her husband’s family founded the business and how she and her husband took it over and built it into what it is today – one of the largest online retailers of yarn in the industry.

Podcast Episode #182: Alexis Bailey

Podcast Episode #182: Alexis Bailey

In this podcast interview, sewing blogger Alexis Bailey traces her journey learning to sew, finding her voice online, and starting a successful small business selling hand-sewing kits.

Podcast Episode #181: Anne Oliver of Lolli and Grace

Podcast Episode #181: Anne Oliver of Lolli and Grace

In this podcast episode, Anne Oliver of Lolli and Grace talks about how she built her embroidery pattern and kit business. Anne’s English degree, experience working in a retail craft store, and love of photography all contributed to her success.

Podcast Episode #180: Louis Boria

Podcast Episode #180: Louis Boria

In this podcast episode, knitwear designer Louis Boria of Brooklyn Boy Knits talks about his career in the industry including a viral photo of him knitting on the subway, his Tedx talk, and channeling the attention he’s gotten into introducing young people to the fiber arts.

Podcast Episode #179: Twinkie Chan

Podcast Episode #179: Twinkie Chan

In this podcast episode, crochet designer Twinkie Chan talks about her career in craft including her licensing deal that led to YummyYou, her book deals, teaching with CreativeBug, and more.

Podcast Episode #178: Kathy Cano-Murillo of The Crafty Chica

Podcast Episode #178: Kathy Cano-Murillo of The Crafty Chica

In this podcast episode, Kathy Cano-Murillo of The Craft Chica traces her impressive career path in the crafts industry from making handmade goods to licensing designs, to working with major national brands, Kathy has truly done it all and has so much wisdom to share.

Podcast Episode #177: Clara Nartey

Podcast Episode #177: Clara Nartey

In this podcast episode, artist and creativity coach Clara Nartey talks about her life growing up in Ghana, then moving to the US, discovering quilts, and becoming a textile artist.

Episode #176: Courtney Cerruti

Episode #176: Courtney Cerruti

In this podcast episode, Courtney Cerruti, the editor-in-chief of Creativebug, talks about her career at the company as well as her life as an artist, author, and maker.

Podcast Episode #175: Gaye Glasspie

Podcast Episode #175: Gaye Glasspie

In this podcast episode, Gaye Glasspie talks about her journey to becoming a knitting celebrity. Gaye (also known as GG) explains how she discovered knitting at a particularly challenging time in her life and how it transformed her world.

Podcast Episode #173: Ellie Lum of Klum House

Podcast Episode #173: Ellie Lum of Klum House

In this podcast episode, Ellie Lum of Klum House talks about how she built her business teaching bag making classes in person and online and offering kits and patterns for makers at all levels.

Podcast Episode #172: Stitch People

Podcast Episode #172: Stitch People

On this podcast episode, Spencer and Lizzy Bean of Stitch People talk about how they built their business creating cross stitch portraits including pivoting from custom one-of-kind products to patterns and a 100+ page book, plus offering events to the Stitch People community.

Podcast Episode #171: Amy Oxford

Podcast Episode #171: Amy Oxford

In this podcast interview, Amy Oxford talks about her long career in rug hooking including how she developed her signature tool, the Oxford punch needle, and how she began teaching and created a teacher certification program.

Podcast Episode #170: Allison Hoffman

Podcast Episode #170: Allison Hoffman

In this podcast interview with amigurumi designer Allison Hoffman, we talk about how she got into crocheting life-like dolls of famous people, how she’s been able to write 5 craft books, and the controversy she ran into recently due to creating a Baby Yoda doll and crochet pattern.

Podcast Episode #169: Amy Smart

Podcast Episode #169: Amy Smart

In this podcast episode, quilt designer Amy Smart talks about how she’s built her business including self-publishing patterns, writing books, teaching nationally, and writing a highly successful blog for over a decade.

Podcast Episode #168: Toni Lipsey

Podcast Episode #168: Toni Lipsey

In this podcast interview, Toni Lipsey of TL Yarncrafts talks about how she’s built her crochet design business including selling finished goods at craft fairs and then selling patterns on Ravelry and collaborating with other designers via YouTube.

Podcast Episode #167: Heather Ross

Podcast Episode #167: Heather Ross

In this podcast episode with illustrator Heather Ross she discusses how she’s built her business designing fabric for Windham Fabrics and illustrating children’s books and how she feels the quilting industry needs to change and adapt to better compensate women.

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