More handmade baby shower gifts- crib organiser

This year, two of my closest friends (who are also close friends)  both had  baby girls on the same day! It was lovely to welcome Vittoria Simona and Scarlett Rose into the families of two of my favourite ladies.

In preparation for the arrival, both of my friends had showers, of course. Neither knew the sex of their baby so I decided to make a couple of things in the traditional greens and yellows. For something different, I made fabric crib organisers to hang on the cribs and fill with toys and small items. I found two different (but equally lovely) fabrics and set to work.

Here are the results:

 crib organiser

 put cute things in the pockets as gifts!

 crib organiser, cute vintage style fabric

 bias binding on pockets

top pocket

The girls really loved their presents and they were fun to make. I looked at a couple of different tutorials but I ended up making my own version. There's a nice version here from Jess from Craftiness is not optional if you'd like to get the basic idea.

I also made some more of my baby bouquets for the mums to be. This time I experimented with putting the flowers in a box instead of wrapping them like flowers as it seemed to look better and hold together better too.

baby bouquet

baby bouquet

These bouquets are pretty easy to make- you just roll up little socks, washcloths, singlets and bibs and tie with wire. You can arrange them in a box with some plastic leaves and tissue paper to make a unique little present. My friends often tell me they'd like to keep it as it makes a nice decoration but then they can't help but pull it apart to see what's in there!

Welcome babies! 

1st Market stall wrap up

Well, I made it! After many hours sewing, organising, planning, spending and stressing, I arrived at my first market stall armed with a table full of goods and a huge sense of accomplishment. Really, I can't remember the last time I put this much effort into anything so I was happy to have made it in one piece with my sanity (mostly) in tact.

The weather conditions were not optimal- cold, miserable and rainy, but as the market stall was held indoors at St Michael's Primary School, we were well sheltered from the elements.

I arrived at the gate to be greeted by a group of parent helpers and strong kids who took my table and boxes and carried them inside for me.I could hear a seasoned marketeer (my fun invented word) telling her pal she wished she had this kind of help every time she worked a market.... a luxury no doubt!

I set up carefully laying out my tablecloths (pre pressed) and pinning on my bunting. I put out the boxes of pencil cases and make up bags and placed all my signs in their right spots. Then I changed into my dress and put one of my headbands on to show what they look like.

While this was all happening, experienced marketeers busily attended their stalls and wares, setting up and getting organised. As I looked around I felt a little nervous and out of place with my small table of goods, but before I could psych myself out, I took a deep breath and reminded myself I really had done all that I could.

Karl arrived shortly afterwards, bought me a glass of champagne and took some photos:

Market stall table set up

logo in frame

table shot of things for sale

coin purses, headbands and make up bags

framed logo and make up bags

cute hair accessories by a colleague, 'Love Willow'

pleated headbands

wearing a pleated headband

All together I sold 18 of my pieces and lots of hair accessories by my colleague Kristin. I was really happy with that for a first go. The most popular items were the pencil cases and coin purses in the prints for kids. I didn't sell any of my make up bags or cushions but those kinds of adult gifts may do better at a different market. I might put some thought into streaming products for kids and adults and maybe keep them separate. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Overall I am really glad I took the leap and booked myself on the market stall. It forced me to think seriously about doing the work as a 'job' and gave me an insight into the process right from daydream to market stall. I know now that I am capable of doing it and I have a good lot of stock which can form the basis of a possible future collection if I'd like to try it again sometime.

Watch this space!

First market stall - what I have learned so far

I have been super quiet on my blog in the last few weeks as I prepare for my first market stall coming up in 1 week + 1 day. I have learned a lot from the process and thought I'd reveal some of these things in order to perhaps help anyone else there thinking they're ready to have their own stall:

Things I have learned in preparing for my first market stall

1. Yes, booking yourself in for a market stall in 1.5 months will be a good motivator to get organised. However.....
2.  1.5 months is nowhere near as long as you think.... or enough time to build stock from scratch
3.  Faffing around making a logo for 3 weeks is not encouraged and should be considered before you even book a market stall
4.  Cutting fabric and ironing on interfacing will be the bane of your existence and takes 3 times longer than you expect it to
5. Deciding to do a market stall during a time when you have two away trips for work is not advised
6. Drinking wine while sewing at night is not a winning combination
7. Buying every pink piece of fabric you're attracted to will result in a very pink market stall, leaving you scrambling one week out to make things in blues, greens and purples
8. organising business cards and paper bags for your goods in advance will help you to stress less.

Ok so during this whole process I have taken things pretty much in my stride and things have been going pretty well. That is until I realised last night just how much pink I have in the collection and not a lot else. Eeep!

I have a little time left and some ideas, along with the support of my amazing husband who even offered to iron on interfacing for me which is so sweet (he has no idea how dull it is...).

So I better get back to it, here's some pics so you can see where I'm at so far (pink land, apparently!) Thanks go of course to Karl for taking pics and making my things look pretty!

cosmetic bags

vinyl covered coin purses

14" cushions

So that's most of what I have so far. I also have a few pencil cases and I'm trialling some headbands at the moment. Hopefully I can get everything done in time!

wish me luck!

Pencil cases/make up bags

Today I'm writing this post while away in Western Australia for work. With the market stall coming up in two weeks (argh!) the week long trip away wasn't exactly the best timing, however I have made good use of my spare time by spending 2 hours fusing interfacing to 17 sets of purse pieces. Now they're all ready to sew up when I get home. I love that the boring part is now out of the way and I get to sew! Hee hee.

Before I left I made some prototypes of the purse styles I'd like to make for the market and cut lots of fabric. I made a couple of pencil cases which could also be used as make up bags using elephant printed fabric I bought on my trip to Thailand. I also made one using some of my favourite kokka fabric which has framed ballerinas and cute Paris icons like the eiffel tower and arc de triumph.

Here is a pic of the front:

I'm pretty happy with this part but not as happy with the back. I thought it would be sweet to include one of the Paris icons on the back of the case. I found some sweet little heart eyelet lace and put r together. All was fine until I boxed the corners of the case and lost the bottom part of the eiffel tower. :(

Oh well, it was a fun experiment and I still love it overall. Ah the perils of experimental sewing! Fun.

Paris fabric cushions

I visited Paris over Christmas time about 8 years ago and simply loved the city. It's everything you dream it would be plus a magic you weren't counting on. There's a reason the cliche about falling in love in Paris exists, but no-one tells you the love you have is for the city itself. :)

Anyhoo luckily for me you can find all sorts of accessories and home wares to put a little bit of Par-ee into your life and there's plenty of French themed fabric out there too.

One of my favourites is a lovely Eiffel Tower fabric from Michael Miller. A while ago I used the red printed fabric to make some cushions for friends who really liked them. I decided to buy some more in red and black to make little cushions to sell at the market stall I have coming up at the end of the month. I backed each cushion with a plain black polka dot. Here's a pic:

Eiffel Tower fabric cushions

So far I have made 5 black and have cut fabric for 4 red cushions. If you'd like to make your own, I followed this great little video tutorial from Brett Bara's website the Manhattan Craft room. It was pretty easy and cushions would make nice gifts for Christmas I think. Brett also has a nice little book called 'Sewing in a straight line' which I'd like to check out too.

What French themed home wares do you have?

a handmade Christmas- fabric coasters

I love the idea of only giving handmade presents for Christmas. Sewing gifts is one of my favourite things to do and seems to dominate this blog. I hardly have anything I've sewn for myself! Instead I have lots of pics and memories of people enjoying the things I've made them so that's pretty nice. :)

Anyway, this year I'm not sure I'll have time to make everyone something, however if the little market stall I'm preparing for isn't a roaring success I should have some things left to give to family and friends. Sweet!

One thing I'd like to make alongside cushion covers and wall hangings are sets of quilted coasters. I have seen some gorgeous ones out there and they seem pretty easy to make. With my growing obsession with fabrics it also provides an opportunity to use all those pretty pieces in a lovely way.

I got the idea for making fabric coasters from Amy of Nana Company. She makes the most amazing patchwork and embroidered things, they're so beautiful. Check out her blog for pics and pretty things to buy.

Amy has made some lovely eating mats and coasters using pretty combinations of fabrics, patchwork and embroidery. Sigh, if only I was this talented!

Here are some mats and coasters I like best from Amy:



 

I love the floral prints and the complimentary ric rac detail. So sweet! I doubt I could make some as nice as these but they provide a good source of inspiration!

Here are some more cute coasters by Anna from Noodlehead. I like the quilting detail on these and the lovely fabric combinations. Recently I bought one of Anna's runaround bag pattern that i'm looking forward to sewing up. Check out her blog if you haven't already, she has free tutorials and lots of inspiration to enjoy!

 So I think I'm ready to give it a go, the hard part will be choosing which fabrics to go for first.

 Thanks for the inspiration ladies!

xx

My first market stall - what to make?

I have been talking about having a little market stall for, I don't know, almost a year now I think. I am great at having 'ideas' for things then never actually doing anything about them. This is how this blog came about in the first place- it was an attempt to keep me accountable. Seems it's worked, because as the one year anniversary of my blog looms (!) I've decided to book myself a stall at a little market and just get myself there.  

The little market is on at the end of November and is being held at a little primary school as a 'mum's night out'. it's an opportunity for mums to buy Christmas presents, stocking fillers and whatever else takes their fancy.

In order to fit in with this I have to decide what to make because at this stage I don't have one thing I would be happy selling. So.... lots of work to do. Nothing like a deadline to get you motivated!

Image from FPTFY



 The market organiser wanted some homewares and general 'funky and fun stuff''.  I have had a look through some things I've made in the past and have come up with a few ideas for a collection: 

Little zipped coin purses in cute fabrics

Clutches in gorgeous vintage style fabrics

Tote bags in a variety of styles

Sweet little hair ties and headbands

Cushions and covers in a variety of styles 

Embroidery hoops with lovely fabrics



I think I'll see how I go with these to start with, however I might also like to include some sunglasses cases, little drawstring pouches and make up bags. I guess I'll have to see what it looks like as the collection starts then go from there.

On top of that I'm trying to finalise a logo to use on tags, business cards and other promotional things in case anyone wants to follow the markets up with future purchases. There's also the stall display, carry bags and storage to consider too....

I think I've put myself in a good position for selling things for the first time- it's a low pressure environment and if I don't sell anything/much I have a whole lot of lovely things to give to friends and family at Christmas time. 

Safest option yet..... :)

Any suggestions or hints & tips for my first market stall would be greatly appreciated!  



sewing gifts

During this time of economic wariness, I feel less and less inclined to go out shopping and spending money I don't have. I still love giving presents though so it means I need think thriftily when it comes to friend's birthdays and other celebrations.

So lately I have just been making presents instead of buying them and using sites like free pretty things for you to download super cute cards and gift tags. I love being able to give someone something handmade because it's a way I can show them how special they are to me.

Here are some pics of things I have sewn up for friends lately:

make up bag, Kokka fabric
 

Paris fabric cushion

front and back of cushions

vinyl make up bag, oven mitt by Mozi

To make the cushions, I followed a really easy and wonderful video tutorial by Brett bara. View it here then make your own!
With many more birthdays and baby showers on the way, I have my hands full with sewing gifts. Just the way I like it. :)

attaching a flap to a zippered purse

I love making little zippered purses and tend to make more of them than anything else because they are pretty easy and the variations are endless.

I have always liked those cute little clutches which have a flap covering the zipped section and thought I would have a go at making one. I had a bit of a think about it and decided there were two ways I could try to attach the flap. I could either sew it as a layer attached to the zipper, or sew the completed flap to the outside fabric.

The first attempt I made was for a vintage style clutch. here is a picture so you can visualise the process a little better:

Outside of clutch

inside of clutch

To attach the flap in this example, I sewed it to the zipper tape at the same time I sewed the lining and outside fabric to it, so it's caught between the layers.

 

I was fairly happy with how it turned out but it was a little fiddly to put together as the parts didn't line up perfectly (self devised pattern = no guarentees). Overall I love this little clutch and would definitely use this method again.

Next time I made a little zipped coin purse I decided to try a different approach- to make the flap for the purse and attach it to the top of the back fabric piece before sewing it to the zipper tape. In some ways this was easier as you could attach the flap to the back piece before sewing it to the zipper tape and there was less bulk in the zipper tape, but the flap doesn't sit perfectly unless the snap is there to hold it in place.

Here are some pics of the purse for you to see for yourself:

Coin purse using kokka ballerina fabric

back of coin purse

inside

While this method worked quite well, I think the other way is more functional and I'd be more likely to use it again in the future. 

I think I have one more method to try which I'll write about when I get around to it. In the meantime, if you have any suggestions I'd love to hear about it!

xx

Linking up here!