Flattery or plagiarism?

First of all, thank you all again for your wonderful comments on the Patchwork Bond quilt. One of the things I don't like about blogger is the inability to respond to each comment through email. I try to respond to those of you that I can, but sometimes I just can't get to it. The quilt has been through the wash and is the perfect cover to lie under while watching some TV in the cool spring evenings. Maggie and Unki love it too!

I've been thinking about the type of crafter I am. I think different people have different strengths - some are incredible designers, some have "craft" (Rob likes to use this term to mean people who can put together anything with precision and attention to detail), and others are able to see beyond the pattern and make them their own. I think I'm the type of crafter who just sees something or gets interested in something and just attacks it with gusto. Hence the sweater knitting mania of 2005, the sock making frenzy of 2006, and the sewing extravaganza of 2007. I don't worry as much about detail or the perfection of the execution, because I know I need to make lots of mistakes before I get to that level of precision I'm satisfied with. Then I'll move on to the next phase of my obssession.

I bring this up because I have incredible respect for all crafters who are able to really create things on their own. A couple of weeks ago I was complaining to Rob that I can't come up with my own ideas, and he made me feel better by telling me that all designers get inspiration from somewhere.

So, after I consoled myself, I moved onto one of my other strengths - seeing ideas on other blogs and making them for myself. And this is where my title comes in - when does imitation go past flattery and turn into plagiarism?

Here's a dress that I made a couple of weeks ago after I saw a version on Cheeky Beaks blog. She took a pattern I would have never bought, Simplicity 4675, and created a beautiful dress from it. I followed her modifications and created my own version of the dress.

The wonderful thing about this pattern is that it is timeless - change the fabric and it would change the look immediately. Not only that, but it's very comfortable and covers up where it needs too. The accent material is from Amy Butler's Lotus line, and the main fabric is from Superbuzzy.


I was attracted to the art nouveau quality of the fabric.

I think this dress goes under the category of "Flattery", because even though I copied Cheeky Beak's dress pretty spot on, I did buy a pattern and chose my own fabric. Would you agree?

Now, here's a project that probably goes under "Plagiarism". I saw these cute dolls by Minilabo in a blog somewhere.


I thought, "How cute!" then "I could make those." (Reality check - it's harder to make these than I thought it would be.) So I spent a morning making a couple of dolls to see how easy/hard it would be.

I know that they are pretty rough, I hand drew some patterns and did the faces fairly quickly. I don't know if I would make more in the future, but it sure was fun trying!

Another item I made yesterday that I saw on someone's blog? Quick whole wheat and molasses bread from yai-ann's blog.

I made the light version and it was yummy! The first time I've ever made bread from scratch. The recipe is ridiculously easy and the bread is heavy like banana or zucchini bread.

This week happens to be Maggie's 11th birthday. Happy Birthday Maggie!

I know Unki gets a lot of attention on the blog, but it's because he's always underfoot or getting in trouble. Maggie likes to sleep, eat and cuddle. She's the most lapcattiest cat I know.

Where Unki prefers laying on one's backside. Meow!