Crafts
**Pattern Shift**

Pattern Shift is for creatives building a business on their own terms. I’m Saskia de Feijter — creative business & life coach, Bullet Journal Practitioner, and host. Each episode, we work on what actually moves things forward: your direction, your structure, or getting your work out into the world.

Latest Episodes:

#57 - Maaike van Geijn's Rocket Launch: insights from a successful beginning knitwear designer Mar 24, 2023

Show notes

In this podcast episode upcoming knitwear designer Maaike van Geijn, shares her ideas, processes, hiccups, and successes as a designer like how her first three designs were immediately published by Laine Magazine, Kate Davies and la Bien Aimée. We’re discussing topics such as her daily routine, submitting patterns to magazines, designing for multiple sizes, pattern writing, and the importance of testing. She also talks about the impact of working with a publisher and her plans for the future. The unique perspective of a beginner designer and some valuable insights and advice for anyone interested in pursuing a career in the needle craft industry, an episode jam-packed with answers to questions you’ve had for ages.

FULL SHOWNOTES

https://www.asmallerlife.com/blogs/podcast/57

BEST QUOTES FROM THE EPISODE

"It all starts with yarn for me, the texture and the colours of the yarn. Then I start sketching and trying out ideas. All my designs came from swatching. It's like sketching, a slow process."

Maaike van Geijn, knitwear designer

" If you have to make only one decision as an upcoming business... collect people that are interested in your work and direct them to a space that is yours, like a website or an email list, you want to connect with them directly. And once you have a new pattern or product, send it to your friends so they can buy it with one click of the button. .”

Saskia de Feijter, small business mentor

LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

Anything that comes up in the conversation, other businesses, blogposts, episodes

Maaike’s three published patterns:

Kate Davies' project "My Place" - 00:16:09
Laine’s "52 Weeks of Easy Knits" - 00:17:09
Neons & Neutrals: A Knitwear Collection Curated by Aimée Gille of La Bien Aimée
Maaike’s designs on Ravelry

More links in the full show-notes https://www.asmallerlife.com/blogs/podcast/57.

CONNECT WITH MAAIKE

Instagram @Breielaar
Maaike van Geijn on Ravelry

CONNECT WITH SASKIA @ A SMALLER LIFE + JA, WOL

website
www.asmallerlife.com

community
https://community.ja-wol.com

e-mail
info@ja-wol.com

SUBSCRIBE TO A SMALLER LIFE

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If you appreciate the free content and the work we put into this podcast, consider showing your support in a way that feels right to you. This could be by sharing episodes with friends, signing up for our newsletter, or making a small monthly contribution by clicking the Support the Show link. Your support keeps the podcast going and aligns with the values we share. Thank you for being a part of this movement!

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Have a question? Want to offer your opinion? Do you have an idea for a guest or topic? info@ja-wol.com or leave me a voice message!

#56 - Pockets and Planet: a conversation about inclusivity and denim innovation with Marshall Conley Mar 10, 2023

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In this episode of A Smaller Life, Marshall Conley of Slø Jeans, joins the show to discuss how this sustainable fashion brand started. The values and steps they had to make before they could start selling inclusive and sustainable jeans. Marshall discusses the challenges of starting a sustainable fashion brand and the importance of creating a positive impact in the fashion industry. He emphasizes the role of education and awareness in driving sustainable fashion forward and encourages listeners to think more critically about their clothing choices. He also shares some tips for small businesses looking to incorporate sustainability into their practices and explains the way they used social media and how they build a brand using ‘community’. In addition to discussing sustainability, Marshall highlights Slø Jeans' commitment to inclusivity, with a range of sizes and styles available for all body types. Overall, this episode provides valuable insights for listeners interested in sustainable fashion and highlights the importance of creating a more sustainable and inclusive fashion brand.

FULL SHOWNOTES

https://www.asmallerlife.com/blog/podcast/56

BEST QUOTE FROM THE EPISODE

"We're about creating real, inclusive fashion that everybody can wear." - Marshal Cohen
"Sustainable fashion isn't just a trend, it's a necessity for the future of our planet." - Marshall Conley
"Inclusivity is at the core of Slø Jeans because fashion should be for everyone, not just a select few." - Marshall Conley
"Pockets are essential for functionality and practicality in fashion. It's important to prioritize practical design." - Marshall Conley
"We want people to feel comfortable and confident in their jeans, and that means having pockets that actually work for them." - Marshal Cohen

CONNECT WITH SLØ JEANS

Website

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slojeans/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Slojeans/
Website: https://slojeans.com/
Tick Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kristianfrommntn?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc
also mentioned: fakepocketssuck.com

CONNECT WITH SASKIA @ A SMALLER LIFE + JA, WOL

website: www.asmallerlife.com

community: http://jawolcommunity.com

e-mail: info@ja-wol.com

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Have a question? Want to offer your opinion? Do you have an idea for a guest or topic? info@ja-wol.com or leave me a voice message!

#55 - Leigh Metcalf @ Top Stitch Makers on starting a business with no formal business education and pivoting from sewing studio to online community Feb 24, 2023

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In this episode, Saskia and Leigh Metcalf, founder of Top Stitch Makers Social Community, discuss the importance of building a safe and valuable space for garment sewers.

Leigh shares her journey of finding her ideal customer, reaching them through various channels, and how she puts aside the financial treadmill of retail to focus on what really matters to her customers.

They also talk about the importance of having a community of like-minded people, the value of community in newsletters, and the benefits of sharing knowledge and insights with each other instead of competing. Additionally, they touch on the conflict between values about stuff and business, the importance of choosing the things that give you energy, and the benefits of having a team.

If you're a business owner, especially in retail, looking to build a community and prioritize what matters most to your customers, this episode is for you.

MAIN TAKE-AWAYS

When discussing lease terms for your shop or studio, ask if you can sub-let, so you can get out early if you have to.
THE MOST BASIC BUSINESS PLAN consist of anwering these three questions 1. What are you going to do? 2. How are you going to do it? 3. How are you going to pay for it to start off with? (because not everyone wants to read a 50 page plan…)
LIFE LESSON: When you get cold feet: Just look at the step in front of you.

MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE
Go HERE if you want to attend the workshop Leigh's teaching in the Ja, Wol Community. (If you don't have a creditcard, you can go HERE)
FULL SHOW-NOTES & TAKE-AWAYS https://www.asmallerlife.com

CONNECT WITH LEIGH https://www.topstitchatl.com/

CONNECT WITH SASKIA @ A SMALLER LIFE + JA, WOL

website www.asmallerlife.com

community https://community.ja-wol.com

e-mail info@ja-wol.com

SUBSCRIBE TO A SMALLER LIFE

https://view.flodesk.com/pages/61487b3b337f1c2aacf521c2

Support the show

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☞ GET MAIL ☜☆ SIGN UP HERE! ☆

☞ FIND OTHER BUSINESS OWNERS IN OUR COMMUNITY SPACE ☜☆JOIN THE CONVERSATION☆

Have a question? Want to offer your opinion? Do you have an idea for a guest or topic? info@ja-wol.com or leave me a voice message!

#54 - Gillian Caughey @ Fearless Financials on how to be brave and fearless about your finances Feb 10, 2023

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In this amazing episode full of gold nuggets, you’ll hear from Gillian Caughey

Gillian is the founder of Fearless Financials, an accountancy business that offers life centered accounting for folks that dare to be themselves in business. They love to work with creatives businesses and help them achieve their financial goals.

I was quite nervous about this interview as I am about a smart as a pebble when it comes to

accounting and bookkeeping but Gillian was kind and hilarious and was able to explain so many things in such a good way.

In what might be my favorite episode so far, Gillian and me talk about

The difference between a bookkeeper and an accountant.
Money is not just about money.
How to choose the right accountant?
How to work smarter and not harder.
Transparency in working together with your accountant
Setting aside money for taxes.
Your accountant should be part of your team
Bookkeeping components and tasks.

MAIN TAKEAWAYS & LINKS in the SHOWNOTES

CONNECT TO GILLIAN @ FEARLESS FINANCIALS www.fearlessfinancials.co.uk

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Have a question? Want to offer your opinion? Do you have an idea for a guest or topic? info@ja-wol.com or leave me a voice message!

#53 - Zoe Edwards helps me with the foundation for a more sustainable sewing practice Jan 27, 2023

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Zoe Edwards joins us again! This time, we covered sustainable sewing and lots of things in between. I've asked Zoe to help me while I'm still quite new to sewing, to get a good foundation to a more sustainable sewing practice. From learning how to choose patterns to fit your body so you will get the most wear out of them -always the most sustainable option after not getting or making anything at all- and discussing different fabrics, you’ll learn a lot in this episode!

MAIN TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE on the show-notes page (link below)

LINKS

Sewing Patterns for Bigger Bodies, shared by Zoe:

Cashmerette - https://www.cashmerette.com/collections/cashmerette-patterns
Muna and Broad - https://www.munaandbroad.com/collections/patterns
GOTS Certification - stands for Global Organic Textile Standards, Learn More at https://global-standard.org/

QUOTES FROM THIS EPISODE

“Every company has its own “sample size”-- its own set of proportions that they work to. Some of them.. they’re not gunna fit so well to your body and you’re gunna have to do a bit of work to make it fit. So always, always, always measure yourself before you start a new project.” They’re just numbers. They don’t mean anything.

CONNECT WITH ZOE

Her podcast: https://checkyourthread.com/
Her blog: https://sozowhatdoyouknow.blogspot.com/
The first time she was on A Smaller Life: https://www.ja-wol.com/blogs/podcast/34-zoe-edwards-from-the-check-your-thread-podcast-on-me-made-may
About her annual 4-week challenge, Me Made May https://sozowhatdoyouknow.blogspot.com/p/about-me-made-may.html

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#52 - Kim Witten: Yarn Over-thinking, create succes with the help of coaching, mentoring and craft Jan 13, 2023

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My coach, Kim Witten, teaches us the difference between coaching, mentoring and therapy. Then, we move on to topics such as the struggle we creatives have balancing structure and freedom (for our craft), and also have an enlightening conversation about “imposter syndrome”. Kim shares a comforting perspective and cites the two psychologists who coined the term in the 1970’s.

Enjoy this incredible conversation with Kim Witten, transformational coach, for the first episode of A Smaller Life in the new year.

Take your own “JWC” Ja, Wol Community pledge to grow in our skills and make better choices for the environment, living creatures and ourselves. Visit www.community.ja-wol.com
Find the main takeaways and some GREAT GOODIES from Kim on the episode page.

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#51 - New Year's Shortie Episode - taking a pledge Dec 30, 2022

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In this episode I talk about the Ja Wol Community pledge that has been spontaneously started by our member Kathleen.

I jumped on her idea and we had a zoom call together and made it happen.

In the episode I share my personal pledge and invite you to join us to see how you can make the curating and creating of your wardrobe in 2023 fun and meaningful.

A new way of curating and creating our clothes.

Start your journey to a more intentional closet TODAY!

WE KEEP IT FUN!

Because that is the only way that we can keep the change part of our lives and ELIMINATE FAST FASHION!

GET THE JWC PLEDGE WORKSHEET

HERE

MAIN TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE

Setting up boundaries and 'rules' can be freeing
Connecting to others that are going through the same process is super valuable, you'll get so many unexpected insights
A nailpolish swap is a great idea!

TRANSCRIPTS & CHAPTER MARKERS

Go HERE to find the podcast in text. The transcript isn't edited so there might be a few weird words and sentences. When the podcast grows (Become a Patron!) I can pay someone to put some hours into that and make it even more accessible.

Thanks for listening, I really appreciate you choosing to spend your time with me and my guests!

Do you want to get a reminder in your mailbox each time a new episode comes out? SIGN UP here.

Have a question? Want to offer your opinion? Have an idea for a guest or topic? Click the voicemail tab on the right in the shownotes, I'd love to hear from you!

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Have a question? Want to offer your opinion? Do you have an idea for a guest or topic? info@ja-wol.com or leave me a voice message!

#50 - Milestones: Maya @ Knit With Attitude goes Big + A Smaller Life's 50th Episode Dec 16, 2022

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May Lin Bang (Maya) joins us from Knit With Attitude in High Street London, but not before we do a little celebrating for our 50th episode! Tune in to hear shout outs and interesting stats in the first 10 minutes, and then get cozy for our 50 minute conversation.

Maya is an inspiration who has run a successful ecological yarn shop as an immigrant for more than 10 years. She had an online shop before that was really a thing. She tells us about how she deals with our unconventional industry in an unconventional way, from funding, to management and more, never giving up her values and core principles. It was a joy to hear from her, and you can find her at www.knitwithattitude.com

Take your own “JWC” Ja, Wol Community pledge to grow in our skills and make better choices for the environment, living creatures and ourselves. Visit www.community.ja-wol.com

MAIN TAKEAWAYS & QUOTES FROM THIS EPISODE on our full show notes page

CONNECT WITH Maya

www.knitwithattitude.com

Thanks for listening, I really appreciate you choosing to spend your time with me and my guests!

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Have a question? Want to offer your opinion? Have an idea for a guest or topic?Click the voicemail tab on the right, I'd love to hear from you!

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#49 - Reporting from the Faroe Islands Gudrun & Gudrun & Snaeldan Spinnery Dec 02, 2022

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In this cinematic, on-the-road episode, you’ll hear all about the wool and shepherding industry in the Faroese Islands or Faroes (Føroyar). You’ll get to hear a spinning machine, special background music from the feat-of-modern-egineering underwater tunnels, reports from the traveler’s log in the ferry cabin, and spontaneous interviews with shop owners and workers. You’re going to love it!

Featuring Johanna from the Snealdan Spinnery and CEO Guðrun Rógvadóttir from Guðrun & Guðrun hand-knit wool fashion brand.

Find more info and pictures from my travels on the episode website.

LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

Google Results: Floortje Naar Het Einde Van Het Wereld

CONNECT WITH [GUEST]

https://snaldan.fo/

https://www.gudrungudrun.com/

https://www.navia.fo

Thanks for listening, I really appreciate you choosing to spend your time with me and my guests!

Would you like more reports like this one? Please consider returning the value you get from the podcast by becoming a patron via Patreon so the cost of editing and producing shows like this can be accounted for.

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#48- Elizabeth Joy of Conscious Style explaining conscious and sustainability lingo Nov 18, 2022

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In this episode, you’ll hear from Elizabeth Joy of Conscious Style.

Elizabeth is a content creator that cares about fashion and style in a conscious way. We talk about green washing, the use of wording and descriptions in the field of conscious fashion and educating through podcasts and other channels.

Elizabeth Joy

MAIN TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE

The Big Brands often co-opt words used in the small, sustainable, earth-loving, crafting community and uses them to make money / green-washing
“Ethical Fashion” is one of those terms
“Circular Fashion” is a system that doesn’t produce waste and the items have no real “end-of-life”
1. Items can be reused, recycled, upcycled, or sent back / repaired, etc
2. Ex: Thousand Fell Sneakers - US https://www.thousandfell.com/
3. Ex: MUD Jeans - NL https://mudjeans.nl/

QUOTES FROM THIS EPISODE

“When you search a term like, ‘ethical fashion’, a term like ‘sustainable fashion’... you see the Google ads of brands that are totally not sustainable. It’s really frustrating, right? They have the money, they have the budget to sort of, green-wash their way into sustainability, which… it feels like we’re up against a lot but, yeah. I just really think it’s important to educate; try to educate as many people who will listen and who are curious.”

LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

What Elizabeth’s Wearing - Jewelry / Clothing Swap Service https://www.swapsociety.co/

(a European equivalent? https://www.thenuwardrobe.com/)

What Saskia’s Wearing https://www.seasaltcornwall.com/

Ethical / Sustainable Shoe Brand in the U.S. - Nisolo https://nisolo.com/ See also:

https://nisolo.com/blogs/stride-sustainability/the-lowest-wage-in-our-supply-chain

Thousand Fell Sneakers https://www.thousandfell.com/

MUD Jeans NL https://mudjeans.nl/

Book: The Day The World Stops Shopping https://www.jbmackinnon.com/the-day-the-world-stops-shopping

CONNECT WITH ELIZABETH

Her website https://www.consciouslifeandstyle.com/

Her podcast https://www.consciouslifeandstyle.com/category/podcast/

Newsletter: https://www.consciouslifeandstyle.com/subscribe/

I had a very interesting conversation with Elizabeth on her podcast. In fact, we couldn't stop talking and she had to cut the conversation into two episodes:

Listen to part 1 HERE

Listen to part 2 HERE

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Have a question? Want to offer your opinion? Do you have an idea for a guest or topic? info@ja-wol.com or leave me a voice message!