Frequently Asked Questions

Pattern PDFs are not emailed to you, they are downloaded by you anytime you like after payment! Yay! No waiting. Etsy sends automatic email receipts which include handy download links for you. Your patterns are also backed up on Etsy.com, and can be found by logging in with a browser and checking under your purchase history.
Guest purchases: If you purchased without logging in, the only way to access guest purchases is through your email receipt. Guest purchases will not show in your Etsy account unless you link them. It’s easy.

NOTE: If you purchased a pattern from my now closed CRAFTSY/BLUPRINT shop, you should still be able to access it at craftsy.com. Simply log in to your account using a browser and look in your pattern library. 

No worries, check for tips on how to troubleshoot here.

Check first for the answer in my extensive resource pages located here! If you don’t find the info you need, I’m always happy to answer questions. Message me here!

Sure! Your purchase is backed up online at Etsy.com. You can access it by logging in with a browser (not the Etsy app!) and looking in your purchase history. Your pattern downloads don’t expire.
NOTE: If you purchased as a guest, the only way to access your patterns is with the emailed receipt. Link your guest purchase to your account like this.

The best way for a timely answer is via the direct messaging in my shop, mmmcrafts.etsy.com. I can usually respond within a few minutes or a few hours, depending on your planetary time zone and whether I’m asleep when you’re awake (but very likely I’m up late watching Kdramas). I’m in the Eastern Standard Time Zone in the US.

Because digital purchases are keyed to the purchaser’s email address, it’s best to give your crafty recipient an Etsy gift card (or Visa gift card, or cash) and a link to my shop, mmmcrafts.etsy.com. They can easily create an Etsy account for free, and their gift from you will be backed up online and does not expire.

I’ve received many requests for a Nativity pattern series. Thank you so much! I have given it much careful thought, many times, and here’s where I’ve landed: The night my Savior was born on this planet is, in my faith, one of the two most important events since the world was created. How I wish I could have been present to hear the angels singing and experience all creation rejoicing to welcome God With Us! It’s amazing to consider, and I find I simply cannot fit my Lord and Savior into a wool felt ornament. It’s way out of my league. It’s like creating the Creator. I hope you can understand?

I’m always happy to hear suggestions for future pattern designs, but be aware my head is absolutely stuffed with my own ideas. I’m telling you, it’s chaos in there, with a million possible designs all jostling for first place! Oh for more time.

Right now time does not allow for any commissions or custom orders. I am up to my eyeballs in my own projects. Occasionally I might list some samples or needle books in the shop, and if I ever do I’ll be sure to announce it on all my channels. If you would like to find someone who sells handmade items made from mmmcrafts patterns, a great place to start is the mmmakers list on my site.

I only sell patterns at the moment. However, there are two US vendors I’ve worked closely with to supply patternless kits for my ornament series. For the kits, I personally choose the colors, make the samples, and provide detailed color guides. In turn, Benzie Design and Felt On The Fly provide you bundled kits which go with my guides.

While I have no personal experience sewing with the felt from these vendors, I have a reference list of international wool felt vendors that have been recommended to me by customers from three different continents. Some of the vendors listed even offer kits which complement my patterns. Be sure to ask! Click here to view the list!

Here’s the 411 on wool felts and the vendors I recommend in the US. (Are you looking for international wool felt vendors? Check this post)

Wool-blend felt is a mix of rayon and wool. Compared to acrylic/polyester felts there’s a much MUCH wider color selection, and large pieces/yardage are still an affordable price. I find it works very well for lots of projects. I recommend Benzie Design for wool-blend felts. They also sell 100% wool felts, plus metallic and glitter felts. Benzie also offers lovely kits to go with my color guides. They ship internationally.

100% wool felt comes in such rich, vibrant colors! It has a heavier, more substantial feel than wool blend and the texture is so smooth and soft. I find it performs especially well for detailed projects with small pieces. I can personally recommend Felt On The Fly as a great source for 100% merino wool felts. FOTF offers kits for my Twelve Days series. They ship internationally.

Why not acrylic/polyester craft felt? I don’t usually recommend acrylic craft felt for my wool felt patterns (with limited exceptions!). While it is the most economical option and the most readily available at your local fabric and hobby shop, the colors are typically limited, the texture is not great, and it is not very durable at all. It can look shiny, which I do not prefer. It gets an unattractive halo of fuzz and pills after just a short while. Fabric glue refuses to bond it sometimes. Small pieces tend to fray and pull apart. It has a strange, almost greasy feel sometimes. It is also likely to shrink, warp, and melt if you iron it. It has its uses, but you’ll find wool felt to be superior in many ways.

Nope. For my ornaments, cutting the shapes beforehand with a digital automatic cutting machine does not work well. The embroidery is done by hand, and if you pre-cut the pieces they are often way too small to work with comfortably. If you try to cut them with a cutter after you do the embroidery, the outlines will no longer match up because the embroidery naturally pulls in the edges a bit. Embrace doing it the old fashioned way and enjoy the process. You’ll get the best results by carefully trimming the embroidered pieces by hand, as laid out in my instructions. Cutting out the pieces as you go is actually one of the least time consuming steps!

Yes! If you are a home sewer you can sew up a storm with your own little hands and sell the items, with some limitations. Please read them here!

Not at this time. As much as I enjoy crafternoons with creative folks, I find that my current schedule does not allow for teaching sewing classes. That may change in the future if my schedule opens up.

Thank you so much for your patience and encouragement! I promise you I work on new patterns as quickly as my time will allow. I’m a part-time pattern designer. I escape to my design studio as much as I can during the week, mostly in the evenings. Sometimes designs come easily, and sometimes they do not. It’s not an exact science, and my creative muse goes on strike occasionally. For that reason it is difficult for me to pinpoint release dates for you ahead of time. If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you also know I’m a bit of a perfectionist, and that my patterns are super detailed. They take a while to draft because I do all the work myself – design, layout, editing, proofreading, samples, diagrams, photos, marketing, PDFs, etc… I love it! I know it’s hard to wait, but I’m doing my absolute best to ensure that you’ll be glad you did. One thousand thanks for your support! 🙂

If you live in a cruel part of the mint eating world where you can’t just go down to the corner drugstore and buy a delicious and refreshing tin of Altoids® Curiously Strong Mints, then you can buy them online directly from Altoids® or you can usually find them (fulls or empties) on Ebay, Amazon and Etsy.

The tin dimensions are 9.5 cm x 6 cm x 2 cm. If you are looking for generic tins, there are blank same-sized tins sold at various shops on Etsy and Ebay. A quick search for small tins will turn up several options.
(Disclaimer: Use due caution and read the fine print, like you would with any internet purchase!)

I’m always looking for good tin substitutes for any part of the world that is unlucky enough not to have Altoids® readily available, so let me know if you run into any!

Remnants are great for this pattern because the actual amount of fur needed for each TravelWee is quite small. Etsy.com and Ebay.com are ideal resources for that! Use ‘synthetic shag fur’ and similar terms in your search field and see what you can find. There are also some online fabric retailers that sell a good selection of synthetic furs.

I use Adobe Illustrator and InDesign. All the diagrams and drawings are done by me, either digitally or by hand. But I like doing it! I’m weird that way.

Everyone likes free stuff. But my blog is all about me *circles head with pointer finger* and I don’t sell posts or offer advertising. I blog about things that are meaningful to me and stuff I’m truly jazzed about.

Sure, links are always welcome, and thank you! If you would like to borrow one of my photos, I’m happy for you to if you play along with the rules: Please only borrow a photo or two of a completed project. No in progress or tutorial photos/diagrams. And please credit me with the photo, Larissa Holland, and provide a link to mmmcrafts.com. Thanks!

Nope nope nope, thanks. I appreciate your interest and your links, but keep all my posts right here at ol’ mmmcrafts.