Under Construction

Jam job

My sister's friend paid me to make 30 tiny jars of strawberry jam and package them up cute for engagement party favors. As I suspected making the jam was tons of fun. Packaging was sort of annoying.

There must be a better way but the best I came up with was to use a rubberband to temporarily hold the fabric "hats" on the jar while tying with string. Worked well enough.

::

I'm pretty sure all internet posts today are supposed to be about Mother's Day. So here's a cute photo of my mom, the girl who made me a mom, and my sister getting ready to go to a bike race.

Nothing says Mother's Day like the Tour of California bike race. Am I right?

 

 

Come and sew

Gosh it's been weeks and I never reported back on the sewing class. It was so fun! All the registrants were friends, friends of friends or blog/facebook connections which was cool.

I had marketed the class as "learn to sew" but only one of the four participants was actually a newbie. The other three were ladies who just wanted an excuse to get their sewing machine out of the cupboard and complete a new project.

I actually think a better class structure/marketing strategy would be "come and sew." Participants of all levels would be encouraged. Classes could be a bit larger and the focus would be on completing a fun project and learning a few new techniques during the 2.5 hour class.

Of course I realized all that after already setting up the March class--learn to sew a tote bag on March 18. But still, all levels are welcome.

The absolute best part of teaching the pillowcase class in February is that two of the participants are still sewing like crazy. Now that their machines are dusted off they can. not. be. stopped. It's so cool to think I had a bit to do with them getting back into sewing. Best part for sure.

I'm teaching a class!

For any local, Sacramento folks, I'm teaching a class! For a variety of boring reasons it came together very last minute so it's NEXT SUNDAY (February 12). Sweetheart pillowcases just in time for Valentine's Day. It's a "learn to sew class" with a super simple project and a focus on the basics but it should be fun for all levels of sewists. I'm limiting it to five students so each gets plenty of attention. And it's only $15.

I spent the weekend making a poster and flyers and a sample pillowcase. Did I photograph any of it? No I did not.

But here are the details from the flyer:

Learn to use your machine and make pillowcase for your sweetheart (or yourself) just in time for Valentine’s Day!

Sunday, February 12
2-4:30 p.m.
Beverly’s in Carmichael
arrive at 1:30 for guided shopping trip to purchase supplies at Beverly’s

$15 plus the cost of material.
 Limited to 5 students. Pre-register and pay at the door.

Learn to: use your sewing machine--thread the machine--wind a bobbin--stitch straight--sew French seams--make a pillowcase!

If you are local and are interested, email me (or just leave a comment) and I'll get you on the registration list. I'm hoping to have the minimum number of students (2) but who knows, it could sell out :)

I'm really looking foward to seeing how this goes. Oh, as an added incentive I plan to make some cookies.

Dang this post could really use a photo.

 

A book for you--but not in time for Christmas

Hello! Welcome to my first ever not-exactly-sponsored-but-affiliated-with-a-product post. Excited? Me too!

So, I don't think I mentioned it here but I have a project in a book! A book that came out earlier this month. It's Fabric-by-Fabric One-Yard Wonders (the sequel to the first One-Yard Wonders). Look, it's even on Amazon. My flat screen tv cover pattern is on page 350! How many exclamation points can I use in two paragraphs?(!)

Anyway, let's start with the important stuff--if you want to win a copy of this book leave a comment by midnight on December 23 and I'll email the winner on Christmas Eve and the publisher will send you this giant book full of 101 projects.

THE BOOK

See, giant book! There's a huge envelope of patterns in the front followed by 415 full color pages in a spiral binding that conveniently stays open to the page you want. I always like that in a craft book.

I received the book free (part of my compensation for being a contributor) and it arrived on Saturday. I finally had a chance today to take a closer look. For as much as I sew I only branched out of using quilting cottons within the last few years so I found the beginnings of the sections where they describe the types of fabric quite useful. For example, I had no idea what a "woven pile" fabric was. Turns out it's fuzzy stuff like corduroy, velveteen or chenille. 

WHAT I (ALMOST) MADE

When I first flipped through the book my immediate reaction was that there were tons of things I'd make. But then, when it came down to choosing something to make for this blog post I actually got stuck. Of course that's more my fault than the book's. I wanted to make something that didn't require  pattern pieces from the envelope, could be made with fabric on hand and could be made in an hour or two.

I have a great stash of knits so that's the chapter I went to. Ignoring the fine, fine project on page 350 which totally fit my criteria :) I opted to make the Speedy Ruffle Scarf on page 336.

HOW I (ALMOST) MADE IT

I used a super soft, super lightweight gray jersey knit. It happened to be 60 inches wide rather than the 45 inches called for in the pattern so I adjusted the number of strips I cut to get the proper total length. Also, I used my rotary cutter and ruler to cut the strips which I estimate was about 4000 times easier than marking the knit and cutting with scissors. Of course, I understand not everyone has a rotary cutter but if you've got it, use it!

From the image in the book I had no idea how the scarf was constructed so my usual approach of going off the photo rather than the written instructions didn't work out. Luckily, the instructions were very clear and easy to follow. The hand sewing was a bit tedious but I had my mom on speakerphone so I got all caught up with the family as I stitched away.

The next step would be to machine sew the ruffled layers but I didn't get there. I feel confident it will work (I put a stretch needle in my machine--I'm ready to go) but it's going to have to wait. I didn't want to be late on my one and only scheduled blog post of the year and it's already after 10 pm! You'll have to come back another time to see my snuggly scarf.

SHOULD YOU BUY THIS BOOK?

If the Speedy Ruffle Scarf pattern is representative of the book, it's clearly written and easy to follow. If you like to do a variety of types of sewing from home dec to toys to apparel this is a great book and you'll certainly find enough projects to make it worth the $30 price tag (more like $20 on Amazon).It's also a very informative book with tips for sewing different types of fabrics.

If you have kids (or sew for kids) this book would be especially worthwhile as there are a number of toys and kids' clothing pieces. I guess kids fit into a yard of fabric better than most adults.

On the other hand, I'm going to be honest, if you're like me and get irritated following patterns this may not be the book for you. I find it tedious to follow a detailed pattern and there are a lot of super adorable projects in here that I simply wouldn't make out of laziness. The piglet stuffed toy on page 302 is a perfect example. Of course with 101 patterns I could just skip the complicated ones. I flipped through the book with a critical eye and still found more than 10 projects I would definitely make and several projects that described a new-to-me technique. Given that, I'd say the book would be a worthwhile investment for your sewing library even for a pattern-phobe.

Of course, you don't even have to make an investment--just leave a comment and you might win a book. And if you don't sew it'd make a great gift.

And with that, I'll conclude the longest post in history with a list of the other blogs on the blog book tour. I'm sure there are several other chances to win books so take a look and the blogs of the other contributors. Thanks for reading!

12/12/2011 Becka's Project Journal

12/13/2011 Craft Buds

12/14/2011 Patch Work Duck Designs

12/15/2011 Patch Work Duck Designs

12/15/2011 A Spoonful of Sugar

12/15/2011 Nifty Kidstuff

12/15/2011 Becka's Project Journal

12/16/2011 Nom Nom Nom Nom

12/16/2011 Quaint and Quirky

12/17/2011 ikatbag

12/17/2011 Two Brown Birds

12/18/2011 Sharon Sews

12/19/2011 LBG Studio

12/19/2011 Carolina Fair Designs

12/19/2011 Under Construction

12/20/2011 Little Blue Cottage

12/21/2011 Craftzine

12/21/2011 Neuroses Galore

12/21/2011 Emily Steffen

12/22/2011 Jenna Lou Loves You

12/23/2011 Spincushion

12/27/2011 One Inch World

12/28/2011 Sew Sew Etc.

January ‘12 Lu Lu Carter

January ’12 Fiberosity

January ’12 Zuhause

January ’12 Obsessively Stiching

January ’12 No Bad Days

January ’12 Craft & Cackle

January ’12 AfricanKelli

Ruffle quilt--the pattern!

 
Many (many, many) months later I have finally completed the ruffle quilt pattern. I am very excited!

To plagiarize my own etsy shop:

"Detailed pdf quilt pattern with full color photos and video links. Pattern explains the techniques for making and attaching the ruffles as well as thorough information on assembling and binding your quilt.

Once you purchase the pattern, I will email you a full color pdf within 24 hours. Then you can print the 11 page pattern on your own printer and start sewing this unique quilt.

This pattern is easily adapted to quilts of different sizes but the description is for a twin bed sized quilt."

I needed a few more photos to clarify parts of the pattern so ended up making another ruffle quilt with different proportions. This one was really pretty quick with the wider strips between ruffles. And it's a baby sized quilt. Perfect timing as my cousin just had a baby girl a few weeks ago.

 

I spent a lot of time trying to describe how I bind quilts (which is a common technique but I thought it was important for the pattern to be really comprehensive).

When I was finally satisfied I took the plunge, pdf'd the whole shebang and posted it in my Etsy shop. Five minutes later, I sold a pattern. Amazing! Haven't sold one since but it was still a nice boost of confidence. $7 and I'll send it to your inbox.

Yay for checking things off the to do list.

Pillow covers and a quiet show

Mr. H and Biscuit pulled out of the driveway about 20 minutes ago. And just called to report that the ham sandwiches Biscuit made yesterday are still in the fridge. Hopefully that will be the only disaster of the backpacking trip.

With a solitary weekend in front of me I'm hoping to do some sewing, catch up on blogging, read some books and generally enjoy the peace and quiet. Before I start, here are some images from last weekend.

I participated in IndieDavis put on by Nina and Tom. Traffic was slow but the weather was (finally!) warm and sunny so it was a great day to sit outside and hang out with Lauren. I sold three items for total sales of $50. Not exactly going to pay the mortgage but $50 is $50, ya know?

I had intended to sell sewn (rather than wood) items at this show but in the end didn't get enough stuff made. Still, I had a grand time trying out ideas on a series of pillow covers. And now I have a lot of pillow covers!

 

 

 

 

And my favorite

 

 

Hope you have some exciting weekend plans lined up. Once Mr. H and Biscuit get home on Sunday we're going to demo our master bathroom. I'd better add "buy tile" to my to-do list.

More than you ever wanted to know about a craft show

I realized I never recapped my last craft show which was in December at a local elementary school. Let me take a moment and summarize it now. Sold approximately $90 worth of merchandise. Booth was a percentage of sales (I think I paid about $17 in the end). Only sale over $5 all day was to my friend. It was a disheartening day sitting there and selling $2 items but I learned some lessons.

1. price better (higher!) but,

2. sell in the right venue. One that works for your product, has customers who will accept higher prices  and isn't filled with folks selling handmade items for less than the value of materials

So IndieSacramento in the California Museum on a busy, sunny, free admission Saturday with a great group of professional vendors was just right for me. I also had a great spot (thanks, Stacey) and a product range which was reasonably unique for the show.

 

I had worked on my display the day before so I felt pretty good about how I was presenting my work (especially compared to my usual "toss the stuff onto a wrinkled table cloth and cross my fingers" approach). Well, the burlap was still wrinkled but I did have actual display pieces to cover those wrinkles. I had a plate of homemade cookies for the first ~3 hours of the show so that helped encourage folks to stop.

 

I forgot to take close ups of the merchandise but, even with what I consider to be a successful sale, there is plenty left to photograph later :) The stump bud vases were new this time around and I LOVE them but the buyers, not so much. Sold only 2 (one to a friend. Thanks, Lauren). They were priced at $12 for small and $15 for large. Too much? Maybe but they were more of a hassle to make than they might appear. The wool stones were more popular than I anticipated and midday I started giving one free with any purchase of $20 or more. That made people happy and they forgave me for not having bags for their stuff. Oops, forgot the bags. But I did have adorable little tins to package the necklaces.

The candle holders are all reversible (flip overable?). I had to explain that a lot but basically one side holds a votive and if you turn it upside down it holds a pillar. Cool, eh? As long as you don't let the candles burn too low! I sold three of those ($10 each). The engraved logs/decorative objects (top left in the photo) attracted a lot of attention and it was nice to have a more unisex product than all the jewelry. With all the wood my table attracted a number of men (some hanging out while wives shopped elsewhere). I got to talk about lasers and band saws a good bit. Men are fascinated by laser engravers. Anyway, sold two decorative objects ($20 each) both to men.

The pins and pendants attracted the most interest by far. Lots of looky loos and 7 sales ($20 each although I sold one for $18 because it was small). One woman bought two! The ones I liked best sold first so I know what images I should reprint. A few complaints that they were too expensive but it was the minority view which was a relief.

Finally, the rings were a hit. Sold 8 at $5 each and they were super easy and fun (piece of oak branch, sliced, sanded, shellaced, glued to ring base, done). I thought they looked cool and surprisingly lots of folks agreed. Great impulse buy item to have up front.

So, the grand total? $289 in sales. Booth fee was $25 and although I didn't keep good enough track of expenses, I spent approximately $100 on supplies many of which I still have on hand in the form of merchandise for future shows. I guess it depends how you measure success but making everything was fun, sitting at the booth was fun and I have ~$150 I wouldn't have otherwise had. I also got a custom order that seems pretty secure for another $25 item. No complaints from me.

Thanks, IndieSac!

Display

Even though I never sell much I always get excited before a show. It's so much fun to make a whole bunch of stuff I love. This time, I think I love the display stuff as much as (more than?) the things I'm selling!

 

This chalkboard is just what I had in mind. I painted a scrap of mdf with primer then chalkboard paint and glued lichen-y sticks around the edges. Then I happened to have an end of a log that was cut at a steep angle from another project so I glued it to the back to prop it up. (image above is taken looking down on the top of the chalkboard)

 

I also LOVE the little tins I ordered from Specialty Bottle and then decorated with images printed on my computer and cut with a circle punch.

 

It's lucky this show is tomorrow because look at the state of my coffee table. Yikes. You'd think I didn't have a craft room or something.

 

Right now I'm packing to go camping. Driving up, coming back for the show, going back camping. Going to be a busy weekend.

Hope to see you tomorrow (10-3, California Museum, Downtown Sacramento: www.indiesacramento.com)

Ready for Valentine's Day with embroidered wood jewelry

No, of course I haven't thought of a thing to get Mr. H or what Biscuit will take to her classmates. BUT, I did manage to create a miniscule line of Valentine's Day jewelry AND deliver it in a semi-timely fashion to Nina and Tom to sell.

Have I mentioned how much I enjoy selling consignment? It's perfect. I make whatever I want. She takes what she wants. It sits around in a shop rather than in my craft room. If it sells, I get a check in the mail. It's ideal and requires zero trips to the post office.

So, if you want any of this, swing by Nina and Tom's in Davis, CA.

If you don't live near Davis but really, really want something, email me at mdhaworth at gmail dot com and let me know.

Oh, and I did a few non-Valentine's things too. They're pins (brooches?).

They're pretty big (those larger squares on the graph paper are 1 inch)

 

I don't know why birds. Or a pear.

The Etsy shop is back to life! (and a craft fair is coming up)

After nearly a year of inactivity I brought the shop back to life: http://haworth.etsy.com.

THANK YOU all for your awesome ideas on this post. I know I owe many of you emails and custom items and will make good on that after I survive the show I'm doing this Saturday, December 5.

 
If you're in Sacramento, please stop by, do your holiday shopping and support one of our local elementary schools.

Cowan Elementary

First Annual Gift Fair

Saturday, December 5

10 a.m.-3 p.m.

3350 Becerra Way (Whitney Ave/Beccera Way)

 

I'll have loads of felted, embroidered rocks (can't stop!) as well as wood ornaments like the ones shown here and several other goodies I haven't shared yet.

And although I'm several days late for Thanksgiving, thank you for stopping by and reading this little ol' blog. I appreciate it!