Why would anyone ever want to write a blog? It can be time consuming, frustrating and a very humbling experience. Thankfully, ignorance is bliss, and with no idea of the negatives, I began my own blog experience in the late fall of 2009.

There are a number of internet hosts for blogs. Blogger and WordPress seem to be the two most popular. I chose Blogger and have been quite happy with my choice. As with anything, there are pros and cons to the various hosts; so I advise you to read all you can about the different hosts and then make your decision. I found Blogger to be extremely user friendly. Within just a few minutes, I had my page set up.

Now that my blog has been set up for some time, this is the advice that I would offer before you set up your own blog.

1. Think about what you would like your blog to convey about you.

2. Are you looking to promote your business or just

find friendship with like-minded people?

3. If you are looking to promote your business, creating a brand is important.

4. Also, if you are looking to promote your business, read this book, The Handmade Marketplace by Kari Chapin. Only one chapter is devoted to blogging, but I found it quite useful and informative. The book can be found on Amazon.

5. Research other blogs and take note of their layout and what they write about.

6. Start following blogs that you find interesting and take note of why you find them interesting. Most bloggers make it quite easy for you to follow them. Usually a button says ‘followers’ or ‘follow me’. Simply click on that button and you will be instructed about how to follow that blog.

Initially, a friend encouraged me to share my work. She didn’t offer how, but just gave me the encouragement to do it. I knew about blogs and decided that this just might be for me. At first, my blog was about my personal journey. With no idea of what I wanted to say, or where I wanted my blog to go, I wrote my first post about a rescue flight that I had just completed. I had flown to Kentucky and rescued a boat load of puppies. Maybe I should say, a plane load of puppies!!

That post was written in October of 2009 and I did not write another post until the end of March, 2010. I got off to a very slow start. During my first full year of blogging, I only wrote twenty-six posts.

It really wasn’t until August of 2011 that I finally realized my blog could be a vehicle to a dream that I have had for many years. That is when one of my weekly features was born: Fabulous Free Pattern Friday. Almost every Friday I post a simple garment made from rectangles, circles, squares, and or triangles. Since that first post in August of 2011, I have posted sixty-nine different garments made with simple shapes. My goal had been to post fifty-two pieces, one for each week of the year, but once I reached my goal, many followers wanted me to continue. Since I still had so many more ideas, Fabulous Free Pattern Friday continues. The most popular FFPF posts have been the posts I did on drafting the circular skirt and the 8-gored skirt.

Pattern drafting is a passion; and, since Fabulous Free Pattern Friday had garnered a following, I decided to start Sleeves On Saturdays. With these posts, I show the readers how to take a basic sleeve pattern and draft what seem to be complicated sleeves. I believe that drafting is not at all complicated; it’s just a matter of knowing what to do. It has been exciting to see people who have never drafted anything draft a sleeve, and share their excitement with me through their pictures. Another weekly feature that I write is called The Wednesday Showcase.

The old saying, “you must be a friend to have friends” holds true in the blog world. As I said in the beginning, my blogging experience has been extremely frustrating at times. In fact, so frustrating that I have contemplated closing the blog. However, on the positive side, one day a fellow blogger who has a very popular blog included my blog in her post. That day, the hits on my blog rose to an all-time high and the number of my followers grew by leaps and bounds. I am so grateful and to pass along my gratitude, I choose two bloggers every Wednesday who are following my blog, and

I write about their blog. I especially love finding the blogs that are fairly new or who have very few followers. I know first-hand how exciting it is to have your blog recognized.

Another of my regular posts is Monday Morning Inspiration. I love to start my week with something inspiring and I thought that others may as well. Some of the most popular past posts have been about the vintage Modes Royale pattern catalogues that I shared. At the moment, I am doing a series on haute couture.

I began this article with the negatives of writing a blog, but there are also many positives. The best things about writing a blog are the friendships that you will make. I have had the opportunity to meet a few of the people who follow my blog and whose blogs I follow in return. Upon meeting, it’s as if we’ve known each other for years; and in a way, we have. They write about their lives and I about mine. Over time, you grow to know them through their words. When we meet with friends in our everyday lives, we so often talk over each other’s words; but with a blog, each person has a chance to talk and be listened to.

More positives are the opportunities that have come to me. Most recently, I won a contest to be a guest on the television show “Sew It All.” In October, I will be flown to Denver where the show will be taped and then sometime after the first of the year the program will air. Starting the first of May, I will have a weekly feature on the Sew News blog. I am very excited about this. These posts will be about manipulating darts and drafting collars. Beginning in January of 2014, I will be writing for Sew News magazine.

A blog can be time consuming and frustrating, but it can also be a most rewarding experience. By sticking with it, I have found, it can also be the vehicle that will take you to places you never thought possible.

You can find my blog at www.rhondabuss.blogspot.com