Who’s Who at Made for Mermaids??

How do you do it all?

I get asked all the time how I get so many patterns out and how I “do it all”. The simple answer is, I don’t!! Made for Mermaids isn’t just me 😉 I have an entire team who help run the show. So who does my team include? (Updated 2024) Myself, Megan T., Catherine, Colleen, Stephanie, Michelle, Aaronica and Cassie. Plus all our amazing admins, blog contributors, testers and website manager!

Who is answering emails and messages?

Hi, it’s me. I’m answering everything and trying my best to have a quick turnaround, but it may take 24-48 hours.

Who designs and drafts what?

On the M4M team, there are currently 6 designers- myself, Megan T., Catherine, Michelle, Aaronica, and Cassie.

Years ago, I drafted all of our patterns. Now, each of us designs and draft our own patterns.

It’s very easy to tell who is drafting what, just by looking at the pattern pieces. Each pattern  has the designer/drafter’s name (e.g., Megan Thoman for Made for Mermaids).

Each of us has a preferred style, fit, and design; because they are all drafted by different people,  you may notice small differences in each of our patterns.

Who is writing the tutorials??

For the most part, we write our own tutorials; however, sometimes we do have help. I might draft something and Megan T. might write the corresponding tutorial.

We also brought on Colleen and Stephanie, who helps me keep up with tutorials when I’m overwhelmed and additionally helps updating older patterns.

Just by looking at the cover photo of a pattern, you’ll be able to see who wrote the tutorial.

Again, since these are all written by different people, you may notice slight differences in the tutorials and construction of the patterns.

P4P and M4M are Sister Sites?

Ok WHO are Judy and me – Patterns for Pirates and Made for Mermaids?? Judy and I are sisters… real sisters. We have the same mom and dad 😉 We are 18 months apart, and I’m older. Though we are sisters, support each other, and do promos together, our businesses are not actually “sister sites”. We have similarities in patterns in that we both draft from standard curvy women measurements, we both have a large size range, and we both include tons of options, but we have differences as well. That being said, we aren’t sister companies. We aren’t co-owners of our companies. We each own our companies individually, support each other unconditionally, and happen to be sisters.

As our pattern catalogs grow, we may overlap some, but we never compare or draft things together. I sadly haven’t made every one of Judy’s patterns, so I don’t always know the differences between a P4P and M4M off the top of my head.

We also have an older sister, Nicole, Cole’s Creations, who actually started her pattern business first. Our mom and Nicole did work together for a short period of time. Even though Nicole has since semi-retired her business and won’t be releasing new patterns, she does get thrown in the mix of being a sister site sometimes.

I know, it’s odd. We’re all sisters and in the same business. We just all love to sew, teach, draw, design and we all support each other. BUT we are still separate and different from each other.

We actually have some old blog posts on each of us if you want to read them- Myself (Megan), Judy, Nicole and our mom.

Who is writing the blogs and hosting Sew-a-longs??

Colleen is our fabulous blog manager. She is the one behind most of the beautiful cover photos and editing the posts here on the blog (slash tutorials, slash my life 😉 ). Colleen and Brittany are often writing our 101 series blogs, which are AMAZING and very informative!

We also have a team of blog contributors who help us with our pattern hacks posts with each release and other posts throughout the year. On the bottom of each blog post, you’ll find a signature and small blurb about the author. We often have guests, admins and others join us for a blog post or blog tour as well.

We have all taken turns and hosted sew-a-longs here on the blog. We now have a M4M & P4P Sew-a-long FB group where we will switch off each month with P4P hosting a sew-a-long. Colleen will be hosting the Sept. sew-a-long in there (pst it will be a new pattern too, yay)!

 

While I haven’t OFFICIALLY announced Colleen as a team member here on the blog, I KNOW you’ve seen her around here, during our Capsule contests and in the M4M FB group. Here is a little more about her:

Hi all! I’m so happy to have joined the Made for Mermaids team; what a talented group of ladies! It’s been a pleasure getting to know so many of you in the M4M community. I live in coastal North Carolina with my husband, our two kids (one boy and one wild girl), and our two dogs (also one boy and one wild girl).

One of the first “sewing” skills I learned was cross-stitching. I have so many memories of my big sister teaching me how when I was in early elementary school. I’m sure I drove her absolutely crazy, but those memories are so precious to me.

From there, my mom taught me more about hand sewing, and eventually how to use a sewing machine. I come by my crazy late night (and last minute) sewing habits honestly – one of my favorite Halloween costumes was a Minnie Mouse costume my mom made me in 1st grade. She had barely started it when I went to sleep the night before. I remember being so sad, thinking she would never have time to finish it. I woke up the next morning, and my Minnie Mouse dress and the glorious matching headband were hanging perfectly on the doorknob. Now I know exactly how she got it done.

I continued to dabble in the sewing world through high school; one of my very favorite classes was Fashion 101. It was such a fun elective course! My teacher was so wonderful about letting me try out different techniques and do my own thing toward the end of the semester. We made a lot of basics like pajama shorts and pillow covers, but she also taught us some more complex skills like pleats, zippers, and different seam techniques.

After high school, I went on to college as an elementary education major with a minor in theatre. My theatre minor gave me access to some AMAZING costume design courses, including an independent study in fashion design my senior year. One of my favorite projects during my independent study was a wedding dress I designed specifically for a production of Big Love. Seeing that project through was such an incredible experience – I did everything from the character analysis for the initial dress design to hand dying the lace for the top layer. I will never forget seeing my dress come to life on stage.

Following college graduation, I spent 7 years in the classroom. I still found little pockets of time to sew on the side for my family and my side business (read: the weekends and all random hours of the night). This past summer, however, I made sewing and being a mama my full time job. I will always love teaching and working with children, but I’m enjoying this chapter of my life so, so much.

When I’m not sewing or writing, you can find me spending time with my family, shopping at Target for more throw pillows, going to the gym, and traveling.

 

So that is the secret on how I ‘do it all’! All the patterns, tutorials, blogs and the many aspects of Made for Mermaids have a wonderful tribe of women supporting me and I couldn’t do it without them!