Thanks to everyone who took the time (about 3 minutes) to complete our recent survey.  29 people took part, so the results may not give a completely accurate picture.  If you disagree with any of the findings and didn't take part, you only have yourself to blame!

As before, around 50% of you are self-employed.  Many of you run creative businesses of one sort or another, mainly, of course, fabric-related to at least some extent.  I'm constantly amazed at the wonderful artists we have amongst our customers; I can only admire you work in awe!  (My children all paint and draw, but I'm pretty useless at that!)  Sadly for the rest of you, many of the lovely designs remain private, although the fabrics may be available on the artists' own websites, or Etsy.*

 It's nice to know that over half of you read the blog and quite a few of you visit our social media pages.  I know some of you do, of course, because you leave likes and comments.  If you 'just' visit, then I won't know you've been.  It's really helpful to PmP if you can click on the Like button, and, of course, even better if you leave a comment.  We're not very good at that in this country, are we?  It also means we get to know each other, which is one of the great things about social media, after all.  It was interesting to see that, although similar numbers read the blog and FB now compared with last time we ran a survey, in 2016, more of you follow PmP on Instagram, not so many on Pinterest, Twitter.  I must confess that IG is my favourite platform, mainly because it's such a friendly community.

I threw in the question about how you feel about Facebook, because I find it very frustrating and I know a lot of people have given up on it.  It is a useful way of sharing information with you all, though, and of course showing you the designs in our challenges and competitions.  It seems that more than half of you love using FB, and almost as many use it, even if it's somewhat begrudgingly, so I guess we'll just soldier on!

I was interested to read how many of you actually do some designing.  Again, I know some of you do because you order fabric printed with your designs and / or you enter our design challenges and competitions.  But quite a few of you haven't created any designs in the past year.  (There are lots of tutorials on the blog if you want a bit of help or encouragement to get started, or keep going.)  And of those created, half were never printed.  I wonder, was that because you weren't happy with them in some way, or because you created far more than you needed and you can't afford or don't want to get them all printed?

Despite the earlier numbers relating to employment, more than half of you used the fabric you ordered for personal sewing, whilst under 20% used it for your business.  Quite a few of you haven't used it yet - get out the stash-busting ideas!

It was interesting to see what you do with your 'spare' time, when you're not sewing or designing.  (Is there any time when you're not doing those things??)  Many of you enjoy other crafts and a lot of you like gardening and travelling.  I particularly appreciated the two people who enjoy playing the piano - join the club!  (What sort of music do you like to play?  My current two favourites are a Chopin Nocturne and a wonderful arrangement of the Pirates of the Caribbean music.)

 The TV question was just for fun, but I was interested to see that several of you don't watch TV or don't even own a TV.  Go you! (And also that someone else is enjoying Killing Eve!)

Thank you for your comments in the last question.  Thanks for the compliments.  The main other comments relate to extending the range of fabrics available.  Unfortunately, because I'm on my own with one printer, it's difficult to extend the range too much, because it would involve a lot of changing of fabrics on the printer, which is hard work and wasteful (there's a certain amount of waste at the beginning and end of every run.)  However, I am adding a cotton drill, which is the heavier weight fabric that lots of people have asked for.  The fabric should arrive in the middle of next week, and there'll be an announcement on FB etc when it's available to buy.  I did look into jersey, which is also frequently requested.  Unfortunately, as I suspected but now know for sure, jersey will not print on my printer.

 Thanks, again, for completing the survey.  I hope you've enjoyed this little peep into the people who make up the PmP family.  How do you fit in?

*I would love to tell the world about your wonderful work.  If you would like me to feature your website, Etsy shop or a bricks and mortar shop where your work can be found, do drop me a line (admin@printmepretty.co.uk).  I'm planning a blog post for later this month, featuring places where private designs can be bought.  As well as the relevant urls / addresses etc, if you can include a photo or two, that would be good.