Rena, from Rustic Horseshoe, had a chat with us as part of our celebration of independent designers on Makerist! Find out more about her life as a designer of children’s toys, her workspace, and her favourite pattern she has created! Click to support her shop here.
1. What made you want to become a pattern designer?
A desire to work from home in order to be with my young children.
2. Why is pattern design so important to you?
It is a creative outlet I love and it provides an income to help make ends meet while allowing me to work from home so I can homeschool my children and always be available to them.
3. Is pattern designing your full-time job?
It’s my only income, but I only get about 20 hours a week of work in since I am also homeschooling my children. My husband works full time outside our home.
4. Do you have your own studio? Tell us about your workspace.
I have a room set up that is my studio…exclusively.
5. When you’re experiencing a creative block, how do you get back into the spirit?
Take a break, get out in nature and just shift my focus.
6. What is your favourite pattern you’ve created?
I am most proud of the very first one I created. It shows me how far I’ve come in my skills since then. It also represents a massive shift in my life when I left my career as a law enforcement officer to work from home as a designer of classic children’s toys. This pattern is my Classic Stick Horse.
Thank you so much to Rena for taking the time to answer our questions – we hope you can get to know her and her work a little better! Click here to check out her shop to see her amazing patterns! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to keep up with our other content celebrating our independent designers!
