Cathy Pitters is a crafter from Portland, OR who creates Bossa Nova Baby, a line of handcrafted clothes and accessories, and who co-organizes Crafty Wonderland, PDX’s art and craft extravaganza. Many of you may have heard her speak about how to organize a craft market at the Summit of Awesome last year or met her at the Show of Awesome, which she organized with Hello Craft as part of the Summit festivities. I first got to know Cathy in 2007 when we happened to be booth neighbors at the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago.  I was already a fan of hers though because she was a member of PDX Supercrafty and I kept up with their website and enjoyed their book, Supercrafty.  Since meeting, I’ve had the pleasure of hanging out with Cathy in Brooklyn, Portland, Chicago and DC, where we’ve continued the tradition by being booth neighbors at Crafty Bastards the last few years.

Cathy made time for a quick chat earlier this week in the midst of final preparations for Crafty Wonderland, which will be next Saturday, May 7th.  If  you are in or near Portland you should definitely check it out!  I hope you find this little bit about Cathy inspiring. Turns out, dreams do come true!

How did you get started with crafting? And how did Bossa Nova Baby come about?
I feel like there never was a time when I wasn’t crafting! As a kid, my Mom was always making things with my sister and I. We would hand make our holiday gifts every year – candles, painted rocks, shell ash trays (!!!). So I feel like what I do for a living now is a natural progression. I really started crafting for profit shortly after my son was born in 1997. I was looking for a way to stay home with him while making some extra cash. I started making funky clothing for kids and selling them at local fairs and shops then later online. As my son got older it was a refreshing change to move away from kid’s items and start designing adult clothing and accessories. Then getting a Gocco Printer changed my life! I still sell my work online and at local shops but also travel to large craft fairs around the country. I feel so lucky to be doing what I love in a community of such amazing people!

What do you make these days?
I primarily work with my Japanese Gocco printer to create clothing and accessories which combine screen printing and embellished top-stitching. I print onto sweaters + sweatshirts and also hand make skirts that incorporate the printed designs. I also use the screen printed images on accessories like iron on patches and scissor cozies. This year I will be adding zippered pouches to the mix – I’m super excited about these!

Tell us about Crafty Wonderland.
My friend and business partner Torie Nguyen and I started Crafty Wonderland  in April of 2006 as a monthly art + crafty sale that featured 40 local vendors selling their goods in a basement rock venue called Doug Fir Lounge. We both had been selling our work around town at different events but felt like Portland was lacking a regular indoor venue. We ran the monthly show for almost three years and over that time saw a huge increase in the demand from both shoppers and vendors. In December of 2008 we made the decision to transition to a twice yearly show that would be on a much larger scale.  We now hold the sale at the Oregon Convention Center in May and December and feature over 200 vendors in 60,000 sq. feet of space! The larger venue gives us plenty of room to offer fun extras like free DIY make and take areas, donated booths for non-profits and a crafty author book signing area.

How did you decide to do a pop-up shop? And how did it go?
Last fall we were approached by the City of Portland to participate in their pop-up shop program. The city works with building owners and local designers to fill vacant storefronts downtown during the holidays. We had always dreamed of opening our own shop so we were thrilled to have the opportunity! The city subsidized part of the cost of the shop so it was a great way to test the market without a whole lot of risk. We decided to limit the shop to Portland area artists only – partly for convenience and partly because we loved the idea of a store that was entirely local. We brought together about 100 artists & crafters – most of whom were also vendors at our craft fairs. The shop opened in early November and was scheduled to run through the end of the year but the public response was so amazing that we decided to stay open and negotiated to lease the space on our own. As of now we are set to stay open through August of this year at which time we will do more negotiating and hopefully renew our lease to stay into the future. It really has been a dream come true for us!

Check out the slide show from the Show of Awesome. It was a great way to end the Summit of Awesome on a high note.

We shopped (probably a little too much,) we played and generally had a grand old time.

Who was your favorite vendor?

We are really excited to have crafty superstars from across the country at this sale.

Kari Chapin’s Book Handmade Marketplace

Mark Montano’s Books the Big Ass Book of Crafts
and the Big Ass Book of Home Decor

__________________________

GET A SIGNED COPY
& Meet
The Craft STARS!!!
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A Bardis is coming.
Here is one of Christy’s hair pins

Betsy and Iya to the max with a tribute
to Japanese Fruit Culture

Anna Joyce Design

Bella Sisters – Reconstructed blazers

Burdy Fly Away – Long tops
that flatter most body types
and kids onesies

Queen Bee Creations

Jill Bliss

Berkley Illustrations

Moss

And many many more vendors. Join our event page on facebook.
Plus a FREE PROJECT in the Make Something Awesome Area and
FREE COFFEE & DOUGHNUTS for the first shoppers.

Admission to the Show of Awesome is free and is open to all ages.

Hello Craft will also be set up with the Make Something Awesome Area at the show. So PDX friends can stop by and work on projects such as embroidery kits from Sublime Stitching, knit kits from Knit Outta the Box, hair accessories made from handpressed buttons and much more!

Meet Esti in a workshop at the Summit of Awesome as she guides you through How to Make a Book.

Elijah and Rhonda will be speaking on the The Ins and Outs of Trade Shows at the Summit of Awesome and selling their super cute line of handmade jewelery at the Show of Awesome Craft Party Saturday night.

We are excited to have the Something’s Hiding in Here duo speaking on the Craft Fair Booth Set up and Display panel at the Summit of Awesome.  You can see their awesome products in person at the Show of Awesome Craft Party on Saturday night.

On Saturday, May 2nd from 8pm-11pm, Hello Craft will host a Show of Awesome in the back room at Miss Pixies (1626 14th St, NW, Washington, DC 20009). Come party with the craftiest folks in DC! There will be music by Jason Hutto and Shelby Cinca, late night vintage shopping at Miss Pixie’s, a free wine tasting hosted by Dixie Liquors and yummy Cakelove treats.

Shop for crafty goods from these awesome Summit speakers:

• Jenny Hart- Sublime Stitching
• Jaime Zollars
• Rhonda & Elijah Wyman – Figs & Ginger
• Joetta Maue – Little Yellow Bird
• Shauna Alterio & Stephen Loidolt – Something’s Hiding In Here
• Jamie Chan & Blas Hererra – Urban Fauna Studio
• Christy Petterson – abardis
• Kasey and Kelly Evick – Biggs and Featherbelle
• Becky Streipe – Glue and Glitter
• Craftland organizers:  DA Metals, If’n Books + Marks, Sewing Stars, Heatherjeany Greetings, Bright Lights Little City and Rainbow Sugar

Plus get info from the organizers of these great indie craft markets:

• Bizarre Bazaar SF
• Brooklyn Indie Market
• Craftland!
• Handmade Arcade
• Indie Craft Experience
• Crafty Bastards

The Show of Awesome is free and open to the public and it is the perfect opportunity to scout out that Mother’s Day present you’ve been worrying about.