Crafter profile: Cherie Killilea

Sometimes I think I’m busy. And then I think of Cherie Killilea.

Killilea is a mother of three children—in grades 2, 4 and 8—and a crafty entrepreneur. She doesn’t just find time for sewing here and there. It is her job when the kids are at school and on weekends.

“My husband says you have to quit at 3:15 when the kids get home, and I don’t always,” Killilea says.

These days, she sells her creations (and patterns for her creations—more on that in a sec) mostly on Etsy , the eBay for creative types.

In the past, Killilea has operated an upholstery business, performed comedy, pitched one of her creations to Disney (they loved it but they wanted her to pay a huge licensing fee to make it) and had samples of her products made in China as she explored mass production (she wasn’t happy with the quality that came back).

Killilea even tried out for show American Inventor two years ago. Her invention: a slick diaper changing station that folds into a 7-inch by 9-inch rectangle that fits discretely in a purse for “when you’re at the point where you’re sort of embarrassed they’re not potty trained yet,” she jokes. Check out her diaper pads by copying and pasting this URL in your Internet browser (sorry—for some reason the link isn’t connecting):
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20624089

Killilea moved to Spokane seven years ago from Seattle and is an active member of the Eastern Washington Etsy Street Team .

Right now, Killilea’s Etsy store displays some finished products—from sunglass cases to purses—but she’s moving more toward writing and selling patterns instead. Her instructions for a “ frame purse ,” which are sold as a PDF and e-mailed to buyers, were an instant hit when she introduced those recently.

Killilea says selling patterns is a better use of her time, and customers like being able to receive the product almost instantly via e-mail.

“I’m going to get away from shipping product as much as possible,” she says.

Killilea tries to limit her pattern offerings to projects that require small fabric pieces so buyers can print her PDFs at home without having to enlarge anything on a photocopy machine.

“I want people to be able to print it and use it right away,” she says.

Killilea loves Etsy because of the incredible variety of products sold there. Not only are sellers able to express their individuality through the items they create, but buyers express themselves, too, by buying goods you can’t find in stores.

“It all goes back to our need for individuality,” she says. “I don’t think people realize how deep that runs.”

As if Killilea doesn’t have enough going on, she now writes a blog . Check out her free tutorial on adding ruffles to T-shirts—a project that’s on my to-do list.

View a slideshow of Cherie and a few of her products here .

Want to learn more about another Inland Northwest crafter? Send me suggestions of people to profile via e-mail or by leaving a comment on this post.

Photos courtesy of StudioCherie.