End of Season Show

I did my last show for this year this past weekend.  This is the first time I've done a 'table space' event in a long time.  I started using the gridwall setup a few years ago, and so I had to do a little more prep work than normal for this show.

For one thing, I didn't have a table cloth that I liked for the table.  I personally hate when you get that bunch of fabric at the corners - it tends to get stepped on a lot.  So I bought an inexpensive table cloth and put in some fitted corners.

Second, I've said for a long time that I needed to make some sort of banner.  So I did that last week.  it's a little larger than I needed.  So maybe I'll make another one that's smaller - sometime.

Lastly, I had to decide what I was going to take to the show since I couldn't get everything that I normally do in a 10x10 tent space in a 6 ft table space....

I think it turned out pretty good.

Happy Sewing!

Susan

Testing....

It's been a strange few weeks...last week I didn't sew at all - we had a garage sale on Saturday and I spent the entire week before sorting stuff to get rid of.

Oh, and I drove to Cincinnati to IKEA one afternoon to get new tables for my sewing room.  The old folding ones were starting to get seriously warped.  Do you know how hard it is to cut straight on a warped surface?

There are a couple of things that I've been testing - the first is a smaller size case for essential oils.  It will be about the size of the medium box pouch, but with built in pockets for the oil bottles.  I'd show a picture of my first attempt - it's really cute, but my pockets were a little small for even the small size of the bottles.  I'm not sure what I measured when I tried that one.

And the second item is kind of a re-make.  When I first started making cell phone cases, all the phones were small.  Not so much any more - so I had all these smaller cases, that are good for some of the small cameras, etc., but really I hadn't sold very many this year.  And I could reclaim my swivel hooks from them rather than buying more right now!

So I spent a couple of hours taking them apart.  Then I attempted to make a new case from the outside fabric of the cases - similar to my small zipper wallet, but instead of the outside zipper section, it will be an ID window.  And I think I'll use a split key ring rather than the swivel hook.

Stay tuned for these items to be available soon!

Happy Sewing!

Susan

What a Blast!

This weekend is the Country Living Fair here in Columbus, Ohio.  Even though I live close, I've never been to the show, because I normally have been at a show out of town.  I decided to take a break from that show this year, so here I was, able to go to the Fair!

And the best news - Jennifer Paganelli of Sis Boom was going to be there again this year so I was finally going to meet her in person! 

I've been talking to Jen on Twitter for a while now, you may recall I did a giveaway a while back of a set of box pouches made from herGirls World Vibe line.

I think I could have just spent the day talking with Jen - we also went together to the Modern June booth, talked with Kelly (I bought her book Sewing With Oilcloth which she signed for me!) and Trish from Two Peas in a Pod.  What fun to meet everyone in person.

Jen did a presentation in the afternoon - talking about some of the great projects she has in both Girls World and Happy Home.  While talking with her, we met some other great people from all over the country.

I finally managed to drag myself away from Jen and check out the rest of the show.  Although looking at the map today, I'm pretty sure I didn't see everything!

Good thing I bought the weekend pass - I think I've convinced my husband to go back with me Sunday for a few hours!

Today - I'm sewing!

Susan

Produce and more....

Today is completely not about sewing.  I took a drive to the farm of my friend Kathy's brother.  It's tomato time!  There's nothing like a fresh garden tomato, and if you cook a lot, like I do, there's nothing like canned tomatoes that started with those garden fresh tomatoes!

So, today was the day (not that it was in my plan for this weekend, since I have a show tomorrow).  I left home a little after 9 am, picked loads of tomatoes, and he loaded me up with green beans, muskmelon, bell and hungarian peppers, some garlic, and a jar of popcorn.

So my kitchen is going to be canning central on Sunday - I hope the tomatoes are mostly still good - some of them were pretty ripe!

Here's a photo of just one of his gardens (he has three), and he has chickens, goats and calves with pigs coming in the future.

Susan

Hello? Anyone there?

I know, it's like I went missing.  It's not like I haven't been working on a lot of different things, but it's hard for me to sit down and write about it.

So here's what I haven't shared lately.

1. For my birthday last year (2011) I got this great Singer Steam Press.  The first time I used it, I had too many other things (mainly my regular iron) plugged in and I blew the breaker.  We had to have some electrical work done for something else, so they looked at the power into my sewing room, and told me 'deal with it'.  So I finally decided that I wanted to try it out.  I turned (most) everything else off and found that it was ok to use.  So I've been using it for fusing my interfacing and fusible fleece, AND I LOVE IT!

2. I've been making lots of box pouches - I make them in two sizes.  I think my most popular fabric is the cat faces, which is out of print, so once they are gone (and the one yard I have left), that's it.  I also sell several of the 'manly' fabrics - the houndstooth (available in several colors) - check out the new black and white - pretty cool, huh?  I made two sets this year for wedding parties.  I think they make pretty good groomsmen gifts.  I imagine they could be great for the bridesmaids too, but haven't had anyone request that.





3. I only had one show in August - it's usually such a hot month and miserable for shows - so of course this year, it was pretty pleasant since I didn't do any.  I have a pretty light schedule for the rest of this year - I have two in September and one in October and I'm done for the year.  I'm planning on concentrating on online sales during the fall and winter.

4. To that end, I've been working on pricing, shipping, description, tags, etc.  It's a lot of work when you have close to 400 listings.

So stay tuned and see what comes next!

Happy Sewing!

Susan

Tales of a 'Steamy' Festival (part 2)

I meant to get this written sooner - I've been a little busy since the show.

I wanted to share some of the interesting things that people say to me at shows.  I wish I got a dollar for each time I hear one of these!

Sew Darn Simple - there's nothing simple about it.
Sure - 'You' think it's simple.
I love everything here.

Your stuff is so cute.

Do you make ALL of this yourself?

Those are just a few of the fun things I hear.

After the show, I spent most of the first day getting my etsy shop back open - since I don't keep a separate inventory for shows and online, I have to go through and make sure I don't keep any items in my shop that I either don't have made, or especially, don't have more fabric for.

My niece and her family came later that week for this past weekend, so I had to organize my inventory and clean it off all the beds, so they had placed to sleep, go to the grocery and generally gear myself up for the visit.

While they were here, I made this cute skirt for my great-niece. She picked out the fabric because she liked the 'sparklies'.  Of course, you can't see that from this picture, but there is silver around the cats.

And my niece wanted some new throw pillows and a cover for her ottoman, so we went and found fabric for that.  Hope we got enough - had to guess, since we didn't have ottoman measurements.

I have a few other projects going on, so it's busy as usual.

Happy sewing!

Susan

Tales of a 'Steamy' Festival (part 1)

If you know anything about me, you know I'm not much on the great outdoors - especially when the weather is - well - anything except perfect.  So having a 3-day craft show in 95-100+ degree weather - not my most favorite activity.

I was accepted this year to the St Johns Medical Center Festival of the Arts in Westlake Ohio (more about this later).  It's a Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday show.  I'm usually not even a fan of the 2-day format, but a lot of them I set up Friday anyway, so I figured it wasn't that much more time involved.

You know we've been having a heat wave here in Ohio (and much of the rest of the US) - so boy, it was a fun weekend. (are you sensing the sarcasm?!?)

Luckily, my helper for the weekend was my husband - I'm pretty sure I would have given up about 5 minutes into unloading.

We were in a lovely park-like setting at the hospital - my booth was at the top of the hill, by the main road - and there was a little slope and some really uneven ground.  So the booth setup had to change to accommodate.

Believe it or not (it's true!) while I went to check in at the hotel, Jamie put all the product out and arranged it.  Really, he did a great job!

Stay tuned for some additional tales of the weekend!

Happy Sewing!
Susan

Hands?

My friend Jane posted a blog yesterday challenging everyone to share their hands.  I talk with Jane on Twitter, she has an etsy shop, and a facebook page that you can check out too.

Jane also created a facebook page just for this topic:  Hands Exposed!

So first of all, it's kind of hard to take a photo of both of your hands together without assistance.  Well, unless you have a tripod, timer on your camera (that you know how to use), or magic.  I have none of those.

I have small fat hands.  I can buy the smallest size gloves they make for women and the fingers are always twice as long as mine are. 

I'm a bit of a fanatic about my (fake) nails.  I've been having them done for so long I'm sure I must not have real nail left.  It's actually time to get them done again, so they are looking a little ratty.

I'm not sure what else Jane wants to know about our hands - but here they are!

Happy Sewing!

Susan

February Is Purple

Hard to believe that it's February 1st already - where did January go?

February is the purple month to me - after all, amethyst is the birthstone (I know, my birthday is in February). 

So my first fabric to work with in this new month is this lovely purple batik fabric.

Wonderful fabric, isn't it?

I'm not sure yet what all I'm going to make - and I have a mere two yards of it.  So I'm going to use it all up, and you can check my etsy shop within the next few days to see what I decide to make.

If you like the fabric and want a particular item from it, let me know now!

Happy Sewing!

Susan

Brand New Venture

Over the past few years selling on Etsy, I've been contacted several times to see if I sold patterns for the items that I had for sale.

So, today I am releasing my first pattern - for the best selling zipper wallet.





The pattern is written for the smaller size, at some point I will probably update it for the larger size also.  If you sew regularly, then you can probably figure out how to adjust the size for your personal prferences.





I'm also going to offer this as a kit - with the pattern already printed, and including the hardware - zippers, swivel hook and fusible fleece - you would just have to select your fabric.

Look for some additional patterns coming in the next few months.

This is an exciting new venture for me!

Happy Sewing!
Susan