Canadian Pattern Designer blog tour: Interview with Elegance & Elephants

It’s the last interview feature for the tour! It’s been fun getting to know all the designers, and today’s interview is with Heidi of E&E Patterns (Elegance & Elephants). Heidi is a mom of two who sews for both her children and shares her creations, including patterns, on the blog. There are several tutorials and free patterns up on her website that you might want to check out. She is another one of the designers that I’ve had the pleasure of testing for in the past: the Ponderosa and the Bohemian Babydoll are two that I’ve tested. There are other patterns that I’ve sewn as well that I never got around to sharing on here… oops! Heidi is also one of the five designers that of Five and Ten Designs. They just recently released their third volume of 10 patterns based on one pattern block. Read the interview below to learn more about Heidi and E&E Patterns, and don’t forget to enter the giveaway at the end and grab the discount code!

 

I love that you set a goal to make as much as possible of your children’s wardrobes. Is that why you started designing patterns? Or was it something you had planned on doing before you started sewing for your children?

I actually never planned to design patterns until I started blogging and readers began asking for the clothing I made for my children.  I never knew there was such a demand for digital patterns, nor did I know that I would be able to learn how to create them, but taking a couple courses online made it all possible.

 

 

Can you describe a typical day for you?

It depends on the day, but on a typical weekday, I wake up around 5:30am and work (usually on my laptop in bed) until my children wake at 6:30 and come jump in bed with us.  Then they get an hour of screen time on their devices while I cruise around Facebook, Pinterest, etc.  Breakfast follows that, and then homeschool with my children from about 8:30-11:30.  They play outside while I make lunch, followed by afternoon quiet time/naptime for Tobias and Anja while I get a few hours of sewing done.  After that, dinner, family time, piano practice with Tobias, and bedtime for the children between 7 and 7:30.  Then my hubby and I have some time to hang out together watching whatever show we are into.  I’ll start falling asleep on the couch around 9:30 and we head to bed at 10.

 

What was the first thing you ever sewed that you can remember? How did it go?

I can’t remember exactly what was the first thing but I distinctly remember hand sewing some sort of stuffed animal out of some old tights of mine when I was about six or seven.

 

 

Since this is Canada inspired blog tour, tell me a little about where you live.  Is there one place nearby that you always recommend to new visitors? (A shop, restaurant or landmark).

I live about 75km east of Vancouver in Abbotsford, BC.  The landscape is picturesque, being in a valley surrounded by majestic mountains, but there isn’t too much to do or see here in terms of landmarks.  I always recommend that visitors spend time in Vancouver since, in my opinion, it’s the best city in Canada.  Where else are there ski resorts and ocean beaches within a 20 minute drive of each other?!

 

Is there any other place in Canada that you’ve always wanted to visit or that you do visit on a regular basis?

The only province I haven’t visited is Newfoundland, so I that’s where I’d most like to go.

 

 

Do you think that being Canadian influences your designs?

No, I don’t think so, although the Canadian seasons do have an influence.  I always design something that Anja or Tobias actually need, so the season we are heading into plays into that.

 

What are your top 3 favourite sewing or creative resources? (books, websites, etc)

 

 

What is your #1 sewing tip or trick?