Stocking fillers- pleated headbands

Headbands are so cute and versatile. I wore one constantly when I was on holiday in Thailand and Cambodia as they keep your hair off your head in the humidity and hide unsightly unwashed hair. Awesome. I think they would make cute and customisable stocking fillers for Christmas too.

Before recently I had only ever made a couple of headbands in my time and they have been mostly for babies like this one:

I wrote a short tutorial for making a yo yo flower headband if you'd like to have a go at this one. So quick an easy!

In the lead up to my first market stall I was making lots of cosmetic bags in sweet vintage inspired fabrics and realised those same prints would look really cute as a headband. So I enlisted the help of the "google brothers" to find a suitable tutorial. There were heaps out there but my favourite was this pleated headband tutorial by Jess from Craftiness is not Optional (awesome blog by the way, check it out!).

It was super easy and they were really fun to make. Here are some pics:

Pleated headbands

You could whip up a bunch really easily and make them Christmassy with the right fabric and add ons like mini white pom poms, buttons or even silver bells! Cute.

Fun little stocking fillers! Yay.



Too much fabric!

Ok, I think it's time I admitted I have a problem with buying fabric. I'll bet a few of you are reading this and slowly nodding as you think about your own heaving crate of fabric/wool/felt/beads/pretty paper or whatever else it is you guiltily hide from your loved ones anywhere you can.... I'm onto you!

Here are some beautiful pics of fabrics I'd love to roll around in:

Photo by grand revival design

photo by retromummy

it's a hoot range photo by Seamstar Handmade

amazing textured fabrics travelling colours Tumblr

I am so in love with different textures and patterns in fabric. I can always see a use for things so the purchases are usually really well justified, however, since I live in a small flat and the second bedroom is already piled high with my crates and bags of fabric and notions, I think it's time to stop buying and start some serious making.

Lucky for me, Christmas is looming so I can set myself a little goal. I think I might look into having a little market stall somewhere in November too. We'll see. It's hard to get too excited about selling things when we are in the grips of global financial doom and gloom and people don't really seem to want to spend money. Having said that, people always want to buy lovely things for the people they care about for Christmas so maybe there's room there for my little things.

So the next step is working out what kind of things to sell, gathering patterns and getting started. I need a plan.... Not always my strong point, but I did find some help for writing a business plan from Tricia McKellar on her blog Wonder Thinking. Her blog focuses on building your creative business and when you subscribe to her newsletter, she sends you a wonderthinking plan-o-rama. I haven't looked at it yet because I'm lazy and like to operate more haphazardly than that.... but I probably should or I'll spend another month thinking, 'where on earth has all my time and creative energy gone?'

This blog was supposed to be here to hold me accountable, and it has worked to an extent- I'm definitely sewing more than I ever have and I'm loving every minute. I guess it's just at that point now where I need to see if I can get it from hobby/gift sewing to something more, whatever that may be.

If you have any thoughts or inspirtation for this, I'd love to hear it!

fabric shopping

I tend to go a little crazy when I go into fabric shops. I think it's to do with all the colours and textures, the pretty prints and the endless possibilities for each piece. I find fabric shopping quite inspiring but I have to be careful not to go overboard as I already have a box FULL of lovely fabrics (though there's always room for more....)

At the moment, I have been focusing on buying  fabrics with the intention of sewing them into bags, purses, bibs and accessories like yo yo flowers and ruffles for tank tops.  Having a focus when I go shopping is helpful in guiding my purchases so they are completely justifiable. :)

Today I was lucky enough to see Corrie from Retromummy at the Mathilda's Markets. She had lots of beautiful fat quarters of fabric and I spent ages pouring over them while chatting away. Check out her blog, she's fab.

From Corrie I managed to pick up some sweet fabrics from the 'flower sugar' range that I think would be nice for sewing purses, bags and yo yo flowers. They have a bit of the 'Cath Kidson' look to them I think. 

I also got some super cute Japanese fabrics that I think will make cute little bibs, purses and maybe even diaper bags.

I have also been asked by my friend Kylie to make her some little purses and drawstring bags to give to the little girls in her ballet and dance school. I knew exactly what I wanted for this and managed to hunt down some gorgeous kokka ballerina fabric online. I get so excited when I get to go and pick up my little parcel of goodies from etsy after patiently waiting for weeks! Don't you just love shopping online?

Here are the ballerina fabrics I plan to use for sewing the drawstring bags and coin purses:

I am really looking forward to getting started with all of this. I'll post pics as I go. Wish me luck!

Lindsey. xx