Are We All Burning Ourselves Out? And if so, for what?

I have been feeling like a hamster on a wheel lately and getting myself exhausted. I lifted my head up and looked around and I see that I am not the only one.



Jenny of In Color Order posted this post on why she decided to stop designing fabric. Camille Roskelley of Thimble Blossoms posted this post on Instagram saying she is feeling so tired.

I have been feeling let down because everyday I get an email update from Craftsy on my "pattern sales" from my Craftsy Shop and everyday it's only my free ones. Then I read this post from Lee at Freshly Pieced. It really resonated with me when she wrote "At some point, in some way, the people creating this content need to be paid for their efforts. Anything less is not sustainable. Free patterns are great, and they may sometimes serve a purpose for both the designer and the customer. But not every pattern can or should be free."  Then Lee's post led me to this post and again I was amazed to see that I am not the only one thinking this thought: "We have all gotten spoiled by the amount of free on the internet and I worry about how much longer our community of independent designer’s can sustain that."

I hope I can take part in May is for Makers but if I can't, due to lack of funds, I'll have to buy patterns later. I know times are tough. Believe me I know because there are no jobs to be had in the town I live in and if my husband didn't have his job we would be moving away. Three children from my daughter's grade 2 class have moved away because their parents can't find work here. Today I had $67 to spend on groceries and the struggle is real. I am not writing this to guilt you into buying one of my patterns... I am just saying that it's not all smooth sailing here.

So, even though I have felt like giving up lately I am going to keep trying and keep going. There's nothing else for me to do and nothing else I would rather be doing.

I think for most of this month though I'm going to set my pattern sample sewing aside, since I've been knocking myself out to publish them, and I'm going to focus on my family and on sewing for my family. Luckily, I am not a big name [yet! ;) ] like the ladies above and I can take a step back if I want to. I can imagine the stress of sewing for quilt market but I've never done it.

Please take part in "May is for Makers" if you can.


May Is For Makers | LRstitched.com