I’m Mignon Prider, the designer of Mignon Prider Design sewing e-patterns and author/editor of the Mignon Prider Design blog [formally Nittens and Patches]. I have been sewing and crafting in general for as long as I can remember. With the exception of sewing, for the most part I am self taught. Sewing was my 1 and only major elective in high school; I also studied dressmaking at the Pt. Pirie *TAFE college from 1994 to 1996. [*Technical And Further Education]

There are 2 reasons why I started Nittens and Patches (aka - Mignon Prider Design).

1. In 2012, I found myself on unemployment for 12 months after my husband had be put on a disability pension for his heart. Having been a stay at home mum with very little work history was proving to be an obstacle to employment. One day, while I was tidying up, I came across a knitting booklet. I quickly flicked through the pages and stopped on 1 with a pattern for a knitted bunny. This thought immediately came to mind … “maybe I could knit teddies and sell them!” This was quickly followed with the voice of almost 30 years experience helping my husband with his many business “... don’t be silly - it would be profitable enough.”
A few days later, I received a newsletter with a story of a young man who, after falling on hard times after a series of unfortunate event, had rebuilt his life by knitting teddies and selling them.

So there it was - it was possible. I just had to find the ‘thing’ that would work for me.

Shortly after this I was blessed to be accepted to be a part of the *NEIS program that year [*New Enterprise Incentive Scheme]. This is a government scheme in Australia that helps people to start their own business.

Although I knew from the beginning I wanted to design my own patterns, I had no knowledge of how to even begin. So, while I searched for the information I need, I started off by using other designers patterns. I was always excited and grateful to the designers I found back then who allowed customers to sell the items they made using their patterns. So now, that is a major part of what I do. In an effort to ‘pay-it-forward’, I also allow customers who purchase my patterns to sell the items they make.

2. Several years ago I found myself in a major department store, looking for a birthday gift for my husband's 2 year old niece. I wanted to buy her something fun, colorful and cuddly, but EVERYTHING that wasn't a hard plastic ‘baby’ toys was marked ‘not suitable for under 4’. There was a huge gap in the market place.
With this in mind, I decided I wanted to design patterns to suit this age group. To achieve this, I am always considering how different design elements will suit the under 5 age group. For example, all my design use stitched on felt eye rather than safety eyes which are not recommended for children under 3; although you could always use safety eyes instead of felt if you were sewing for an older age group.

My Patterns: So what do you get in one of my patterns?

*Click-able table of contents and both
**Quick Instruction for experienced sewists as well a Step-by-Step tutorials with lots of photos for novice and beginner sewists.
A list of materials and notions need for the project.
Full size pattern templates - no need to resize them.
Resource page with illustration of the basic embroidery stitches used as well as links for other useful resources on my blog to help you make the best looking toy in the neighborhood.

All this comes in a tidy compressed PDF file which is available as an *** instant download.

Thanks for checking out my about page,
happy sewing,
Mignon =)

https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/mignonpriderdesign
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*At the time of writing this, the table of content is not click-able. These will eventually be updated as the individual patterns are revised.
** The duel instructions is a new feature and not currently available on some of the older patterns. Over time, as I revise the older patterns, this feature will be added.

*** If you pay via PayPal e-check, the file becomes available ‘after’ funds have cleared, usual 3-5 business days.