We know that you are boiling over with fantastic projects, tips, and story pitches for us. We know that you make stuff, and we know that you occasionally swell with pride at your own creative prowess. ReadyMade wants to know how you do it.

Our editorial lineup is half do-it-yourself projects, half narrative, with articles that run from 50 to 2,000 words in length. We invite you to submit projects, short front-of-book pieces, profiles, and feature-length story ideas relating to the process by which things get built in the world, consumer culture, inventive practices and products, of-the-moment cultural trends, or innovators with a ReadyMade slant. Recent FOB items include "A Brief History of Hot Dogs" and a "Design I.Q." piece about topographical Google Maps-based fruit bowls. Features range from "Buying a Better Tomorrow: How Corporate America Co-Opted the Environmental Movement, One Lightbulb at a Time,” to "Open Studio: Three Factory-Inspired DIY Art Collectives Prove That Creativity Flourishes Best at the Source."

Please start by pitching us your idea and, if possible, sending clips or images of your work.

Submissions should be sent in the body of an email, or as a Word document, to articles@readymademag.com, with separate images attached. We look for sharply observed, snappy writing that takes some risks. Extra points for lists, maps, sidebars, and other visual addenda.

Below are ReadyMade’s guidelines for drafting "Make It" instructions. Once we have accepted your initial idea for publication, please use this as a tip sheet while writing and prototyping.

Looking forward to your bright ideas,

—The Eds

"Make It" Guidelines

1. Draft a short intro for your project. What inspired you to make it? Is there something like it in the marketplace that you’re improving with a new spin? What need does it serve? How has it made the world a better place? Is there an anecdotal story (preferably funny) that you can tell about your experience making this thing?
2. Provide a precise list of the tools required to get the job done. Use specific brand names, tool sizes, and names/types of stores where less conventional tools can be found. Please list the tools in order of use when making the project.
3. Supply a list of materials. As above, use conventional brand names when generic names do not apply, tell us where to shop for said materials, and suggest alternatives if you’re working with hard-to-find stuff. List the materials in order of use.
4. We recommend you do the project yourself and write instructions down as you go, step by step. If you have time, ask a friend to recreate the object based on your written instructions and make edits accordingly.
5. Number each step separately and keep the tone direct and in the present-tense, active voice. The past is murky and complex. We are building the future!
6. Maintain consistency in categorization throughout. For example, if you call something the “bottom,” don’t start calling it the “base” halfway through the directions. This confuses us.
7. If the product is complicated, please send us sketches or photos of the critical steps. We’re slaves to visuals. You can include a jpeg or hard copies through the mail.
8. If our well-practiced ReadyMade interns cannot follow your instructions in a test run, we may ask for clarifications or need a rewrite, so please include your contact information in your submission.

Here’s an example to follow:

PAST PERFECT PILLOW

Cushion Yourself From Adulthood
by Michael Seiler

Nostalgia comes in strange packages: the Slayer T-shirt, the Dukes of Hazzard sleeping bag, the Care Bears beach towel. Can’t bring yourself to deposit the past at the local Goodwill? Do something useful with it. Even the most embarrassing relic can be torn apart, stuffed with cotton, and sewn into a pillow.

INGREDIENTS:

11" x 26" fabric
Cotton batting
Thread or dental floss

TOOLS:

Needle
Sewing machine or other binding device
Scissors or X-acto knife
Tape measure

MAKE IT:

1. Pin and sew a 1/2" hem on each of the 11" sides. (You’ll be reversing the pillow, so work inside out.)
2. Lay the fabric flat, raw hem down, and make two folds, one 6" from the left side, the other 9" from the right. This should give you a 10" x 11" rectangle with a pocket to insert stuffing.
3. Pin the open sides and run a straight seam 1/2" from each edge. If you are hand sewing, use a whip stitch: Thread through the fabric from the front, loop around the edge, and thread through the front again.
4. You should now have a fully formed, inside-out pillow. Reverse and stuff. If the batting pokes out, stitch the opening shut.

{ TIP } Want some variety? Use more than one fabric pattern. Cut three pieces: 61/2" x 11", 91/2" x 11", and 10" x 11". Lay the pieces in a row with the 10" x 11" square in the middle. Sew together along adjacent edges, and then follow the instructions above.