First craft show

I just officially signed up for my first craft show. What am I doing instead of making stuff? Pinning of course. Pinning all things craft fair related. Because that is totally more important than actually making stuff to sell. Wait...

I'm really terrible at keeping an inventory of stuff, most of the stuff I make is for a certain project or indiviudal or is a custom order (which I have 3 to complete still...eek!) so I have a lot of stuff to make.

Thankfully, I'm thinking it's going to be on the smaller end of the spectrum, and only for a few hours so I think a month to prepare is reasonable. I'm also hoping it's a good way to see what it's all about and maybe make some connections with some local crafters. I'm not expecting to sell a lot but don't want to make a fool of myself either. I wish there were a magic number of how much to make!

So, hopefully this will kick me into gear and get me off of Pinterest in the evenings. I work better under pressure anyways. Nothing like a deadline!

More to come!

Random tutorials... My summer must dos from Pinterest --

Seems like the more time I spend on Pinterest, the more things that accumulate on my boards. I want to live in Pinterest land, but seeing as that's not gonna happen I am just going to settle with finally comitting to do some awesome things that have been on my radar for much too long! Maybe by writing a post about them I will hold myself accountable.

Enameling Pennies. A friend of mine made some amazing earrings by using pennies and nail polish...The possibilities are endless!!!

DIY extracts...This has been on my list of to-dos for a while. I recently bought a stevia plant for my herb garden and can't wait to try my hand at my own Stevia Extract.

Baseball bracelet. I've had this one pinned for over a year, and I honestly don't know what is taking me so long. LOVE this.


Fabric Watches....how awesome to use up scraps! I always keep forgetting to look to see if I can find the watch faces without the bands when I go to craft store.

Chevron Table runner. It's no secret I am clueless when it comes to quilting, but even this looks like it may be doable for even me.


Garden stones...I want to have my three year old make one, then add a new one each year :)

Gah!!! So much prettier than the cheap terra cotta pots...and so much cheaper than the pretty pottery ones!

Cloth napkins....This is one I'm kind of ashamed to admit! I've still been using paper napkins, and for no other reason than laziness! I know I can make them uber cheap and they are so much prettier than the Brawny designs but it's not been a priority...but it needs to be! Shame on me.
No tutorial for this one, just inspiration. I knew I held on to all those old ticket stubs for a reason, they were waiting for just this! This would be easy to re create with either something printed on the paper in the shadow box, or as I would like to do but etching something onto the glass.
This is another that has been on my list, much too long! It needs to happen this summer!


 Now, I better get to starting some of these before I find something else to add!

Nursing Cover

I actually love it when people ask "Can you make that"? Because even if the answer is "I don't know" it gives me a chance to at least give something new a shot. I feel like my sewing repetoire is small, and I think it's because I often limit myself to making things in my comfort zone. So when a friend asked "Can you make a nursing cover?" although I hadn't tried, I was actually pretty confident that I could.

I perused several nursing cover tutorials (there are oodles of them)...thank goodness for pinterest, and after reading through a few, I got the basic components down. Really, they were pretty basic. I gathered my supplies and set to work with a few measurements. 

This was my first time using boning and putting on bias tape the "correct" way. I usually just do it the lazy man's way. I see now, I was really missing out. It was infinitely easier and ends up looking much crisper and professional.

P.S. Sorry for the terrible pictures...lots of rainy days and late nights :(

The baby's name embroidered on, per mom's request :)

The only thing I would change, if I make another, is that I would add some interfacing to the strap, the fact that it is merely quilting cotton with a bit of binding makes it feel floppy, and it doesn't stay as firmly adjusted in between the d-rings. I think some interfacing would easily solve this problem.

This was a super duper quick project, maybe 45 minutes of sewing (including the binding) and maybe an extra hour for the embroidery.

Baby shorts

A friend called me yesterday while she was out trying to find some shorts for her one year old daughter. She was frustrated that all of the shorts were around ten dollars. Have you seen how little fabric those things are made of?! Ridiculous. It takes less than a half yard of fabric to make.

So of course I offered to make some shorts! 

I had made my 3 year old a few pairs this year, but the patterns used seemed very masculine. I didn't want to buy a new pattern considering I was aiming to be way below 10 dollars for the project. Then I remembered I had just bought a pattern from peek a boo pattern shop that seemed to fit the bill perfectly. 

I purchased two half yards at JoAnn's of some gray quilting cotton and some girly buttons. Total for the buttons and fabric? 8 Dollars. 

I chose to go with the quilting cotton as opposed to a bottom weight or linen because I wanted something lightweight and didn't want to deal with the wrinkling of the linen. Also, all the linens felt very masculine to me for some reason...weird I know.

I cut all the pieces out and then read the directions...terrible I know. It was then I discovered that the 18 month size ran small. Really?! Ugh. So I decided to go with a 1/4 inch seam allowance as opposed to the 1/2 inch called for in the pattern.

They came out exactly as I had hoped and took a couple of hours start to finish for the first pair. This was the pair that I followed the pattern exactly as written.

For the second pair, I wanted something more basic so I traced the front and back pieces but took a lot off of the leg length. They are just plain Jane shorts but I think it works with the polka dots. I was able to get the pair from the remainder of the contrast from the first pair.

For the last pair I just used some bottom weight khaki fabric I had left over. The fabric itself felt boyish, so I added some pink piping on the side seams. 

Total cost for the 3 pairs? Less than ten dollars. Time invested? Less than 5 hours.

This is exactly why I need a little girl :)

Polka dot love

I heart polka dots.

And turquoise and orange.

And Bows.

 

So, this bag is my new favorite thing. Sadly, I don't get to keep it. I guess it's a good thing  to love what you make, right?

A good friend asked me to make her a new tote bag for work folders, and picked out the aqua and orange polka dots and told me to pick out what ever would work with it.  What works? That lovely Liberty London floral on the inside. I don't even care that it costs nearly sixteen dollars a yard, it's a-mazing! For me to like a floral, it's gotta be pretty special...I'm not really a flowers and pink kinda girl. But, I will make exceptions for something as awesome as this fabric.

The pattern is loosely based on Simplicity 1905, I used the main panel pieces but opted to box the bottom, rather than add the bottom panel. This changed the whole shape of the bag and I really like how it changed the overall look of the bag. I also added a zippered pocket, a slip pocket tends to snag on binders and folders and such.

The main panel is Kaffe Fassett Spots in Turquoise, and the bow is an art gallery solid.

I think I need another for me :)

SMS Etsy gift card winner

Thanks to all who participated!!!

The winner is:  Rebecca!!!

Rebecca you didn't leave an email and there is not one listed on your profile...please email me :)

SMS 241 Tote Winner!!!

Thanks again to all who participated. According to the random number generator. The winner is:

Stephanie at the Quarter Incher.... Stephanie go check your email!!!