A Craft Fair to Remember

A great day at the Patchwork Indie Arts & Craft Festival. Thanks for the pics, Paula!

Just Keep Sewing ...

On Display

I've been preparing for the upcoming Patchwork Indie Arts & Crafts Show by sewing, natch, but also by thinking about how to display my wares. I have just a 4x6 booth, which means there's room for little more than a table and my stand-up purse rack.

At a thrift store a few weeks back I spied this letter organizer. It was a bit country chic as it was, so I slapped some orange paint on there and viola! It makes a perfect display for my zipper bags, don't you think? I'm gathering a bunch of baskets and other similar items for the rest and I'm tempted to get some more orange paint, but might just go for the eclectic look instead. That always seems to suit me.

Sewing for the Cause

I've been sewing my little heart out lately in preparation for next week's purse party/fund-raiser my Aunt Diana is hosting next week. Knowing two courageous breast cancer survivors, Diana and my very own mom, I am thrilled to be helping out such a great cause. Proceeds will benefit the 2013 Danville Relay for Life.

Here's a sneak peek at what I've been working on lately:

 

P.S. For those of you who already have enough bags (ha! as if!) I also have a lovely collection of hot pads and table runners as well. Oh, and some very cute wristlet key chains. 

If you'd like to come to the party, e-mail me and I'll send you the information!

Split Personality

A friend described these as reverse mullet runners, you know: Party in the front, business in the back. The one with on the right in particular is very exciting with three wildly different prints together but with a much more sedate gray leaves print for the backing. For the table (or the hostess) with a split personality, I suppose?

Tote-ally Rad

Some more tote bags, all rad IMHO. A rainbow one (natch), plus two scrappy little numbers and an upcycled upholstery bag accented by a denim bottom.

Big News!

You guys, I'm so excited! I've been accepted as a vendor for the Nov. 18 Patchwork Indie Art & Craft Festival at Jack London Square. I'm planning to do a bunch of my rainbow bags, which is my new favorite thing to make, and have Jim do some more iron-on artwork too. It's going to be a great day and I'm going to have lots of fun preparing for it!

Taking a Complement

It's possible I may have overdone it a bit this weekend :)

I found so many wacked out fabrics that complemented each other so well I made all of these!

Getting Scrappy

Note to Self: Buy More Zippers

Rainbow Connection

A few weeks ago I went all OCD with my scraps, sorting them in these clear containers by color. This inspired a bunch of rainbow scrap zipper bags that I don't seem to have any pictures of right now, except for the one that got mixed in with the upcycled zipper bags posted below. But my favorite is this giant beach tote I'll be taking on my Sweet Cozumel Palace Resort vacation.

Upcycled Zipper Bags

Owl Take 2

Sew Little Time, Part 2

These pictures will just have to be worth 1,000 words :)

Sew Little Time

Hey, long time no blog! I have been so busy lately that I haven't had time to post here so I thought I'd better remedy that. I've still been sewing, as evidenced by the photos above. I'm madly in love with all of these items and am probably going to keep them for myself. I made the blue and green tote from some complementary fabrics that I used for my friend Jasmine's iPad case way, way back. And speaking of which, the denim with red and green flower print is an iPad case. I've been experimenting and I think I finally got it the right size. The two smaller zip bags are from a metallic Marimekko fabric scrap I found at the Crate and Barrell outlet in Berkeley. I suppose I could part with one of those ... maybe.

In other news, I've been busy trying to move some of my inventory to make room for more (and earn a little cash for supplies). I went last weekend to a little consignment shop in Sonoma called Sandbox. I'd met the owner at the Sonoma Charter School fund-raiser and she turned out to be the friend of my friend Paula, who lives there. I brought a giant box of tote bags and zippered pouches to choose from and she took it all! Oh no, guess I'll have to make more. How sad. Not.

Next up is a house event in July that a woman from my book club, who sells jewelry, volunteered to host. If nothing else it'll be a fun afternoon of showing off my stuff, which is basically the only thing I love more than actually sewing it. More details to come.

I'm also working on an Etsy store but that's not coming along very quickly. It's fairly laborious, because you need three or four photos of each item, and a very detailed description with measurements and everything. I need more hours in the day!

The Treasure Island Flea and Me

What would I do without Paula? She's been one of my most ardent supporters and fans, and a faithful chronicler of my shows thus far. This lovely collage is from last weekend's Treasure Island Flea, where I learned that wind and fabric bags just don't mix. Good thing my trusty photographer was there to take some pictures before everything up and blew away. Thanks again, Paula!

As for the venue, I think it's probably not for me. But I had a great time nonetheless and scored some awesome soap from the Faerie Goatmother, a trade for one of my upcycled bags!

I'm going to take a little break from the show circuit for now, but I'm definitely going to keep sewing. With less pressure to produce, I think I'll be able to try some new things and learn a few new tricks!

Little Treasures

With the Treasure Island Flea almost here, I've been working on putting tags on all of my purses and tying zipper bags that go together with cute ribbons. I also sewed some more small bags with Jim's artwork on them and made some scrappy keychains, as shown above. Just three more days!!!

Stripes and Vines

Here's two more upcycled bags, a lovely set of vine fabric samples with complementary stripes. Stripes go with everything!

More Bags Galore

Can you believe I made all these bags this weekend? (It's only nine, not 10. The one in the middle is the same bag, just reversible.) And yes, I did leave the house a couple of times! My neighbors must be tired of hearing the hum of my sewing machine. These are all made with the upholstery samples, with the occasional thrift store lining thrown in, and I still have a ton left. I'm calling it my bottomless bag of fabric!

Match Made in Upcycling Heaven

Upcycling is so often a case of kismet. I have a crazy giant collection of fabric, about half bought new and half from thrift stores and my friend the Dumpster  Diva. One of the best things about sewing is pawing through what I've got and finding things that will look great together.

This gorgeous thing is  made from home decor fabric samples on the outside, and on the inside a batik fabric Paula found for me at a thrift store (or estate sale? I don't remember which). They are a match made in heaven, don't you agree?

Oh, and the leather-like strap is actually pleather I got in one of my Thrift Town grab bags. I'd have never knowingly brought something like that home but it turned out to be just the perfect thing. No animals were harmed in the making of this tote bag!

Hippie Bags

Crossbody bags with straps that hit at the hip are all the rage, so I just had to try making a few with the home decor fabric samples (the lining is thrift store fabric) I got last week. The black ones are a little larger, but the ones on the bottom are just big enough for a pack of clove cigarettes and a hacky sack. I'm totally picturing some crunchy granola chicks dancing around on the grass wearing one of my upcycled creations. Is that crazy?

Upcycling With People

I hope you're sitting down. This may come as a shock. In honor of Earth Day this year, I decided to ... wait for it ... SEW SOME PURSES. Boy, that came out of nowhere didn't it? Ha ha.

Anyway, a longtime fan of reuse (in theory), I now have the sewing skills to (actually) repurpose tons of stuff. Since I started sewing I've been a regular at Thrift Town, where I am always sure to find bags of fabric for around $2 that hold untold treasures. And the East Bay Center for Creative Reuse is my other mecca, and thankfully closer to my home. There I get fabric and tons of notions, and the last time I was there I got a boatload of zippers for 20 cents each. You know how excited I get about zippers!

Then last week at the Martinez SWAN Day I met a woman who calls herself the Dumpster Diversion Diva and I traded her one of my bags for a bunch of fabric samples she'd collected from an interior designer who was going to throw these gems away!

So this weekend I made a bunch of stuff from that fabric, including my favorites: The three rope bags in navy blue, brown and red/white. The crossbody was pieced together from some smaller samples (strap included) and the larger tote was a sample that I put a grey bottom on from some scraps I had around.

On the left is a patchwork beauty from some thrift store pieces. All in all, a productive weekend of upcyling.

Happy Earth Day everyone!