More Supplies

I buy fabric all year long, but I buy a little more in the new year. Since I keep track of my expenses and sales for each calendar year, the realization that I should be aiming to sell more finished items than I purchase in supplies weighs on me as the months tick by. But January is full of potential. I know I will spend more than I make right now because the summer farmers' market season has yet to begin. This is a time for hunting around for new fabric that I think people will like and new patterns to use for the fresh fabric. They keep making prints I have to have. Maybe I'll even use up the last bits of older fabrics to make room on my fabric shelves for the new.

Simple Device Sleeve

My daughter is 9. She knows what she likes, and she knows what she wants. She frequently buzzes through my sewing room, spies a new fabric, and asks me to make her something. From time-to-time I judge her enthusiasm to be more than fleeting, and so I follow through on her request and sew a custom something for her. Yesterday a fresh piece of fabric from Marimekko arrived. My daughter saw it and asked me to make a cover for her mini i-Pad. The project is simple and satisfying. Here are the steps:

Choose fabrics for the outside and lining of the pouch. Track down a little piece of elastic that will fold over the corner of the pouch and keep what's inside from slipping out if you pick up the pouch upside down. I use Pellon 987F fusible fleece as a layer of padding; sometimes I also interface the outer fabric with Pellon shape-flex 101 if the outer fabric is a little thin and needs beefing up. For my daughter, I omitted the interfacing. Cut two pieces of outer fabric and two for the lining. I generally look up online the dimensions of whatever electronic device needs a pouch. I cut pieces that are: width of device + depth of device + 1/2 inch (quarter inch seam allowance times 2) + 1/2 inch wiggle (could go more snug with 3/8 inch) = width of fabric. Length of device + depth of device + 1/2 inch seam allowance + 1/4 inch wiggle = height of fabric Cut the fusible fleece smaller on all sides so that the fleece will mostly catch in the seams, but not add bulk. Fuse the fleece to the back of each outer fabric piece.

Sew the elastic across the upper right corner of what will be the back of your pouch. Leave a little play in the elastic so when it wraps around to the front of the pouch everything will stay smooth.

With right sides together, sew the top of each outer piece to the top of each lining piece. Press the seams toward the outer piece, taking care not to melt the elastic with a hot iron. You will catch some of the fleece in the seam. Pin the two long rectangles right sides together. Match the seams where the outer fabric meets the lining fabric carefully. Sew around the rectangle, leaving an opening for turning in the bottom short end of the lining rectangles.

Trim the four corners and turn the pouch right-side-out through the opening left in the lining.

Iron the entire piece, including the open seam to prepare to top stitch the opening close to the edge. Push the lining inside the pouch for a final pressing. Insert your device. Done!

894

Welcoming 2015 includes taking stock of 2014. In the case of my sewing business, taking stock is a literal activity. This morning I am counting up exactly what items I have left from another year of selling fabric pouches, baskets and bags at farmers' markets. I need to submit my sales tax payment for the 4th quarter to the state. I need to determine the whole year's profits for reporting to the feds on Turbotax. I'm curious to know which items I sell are the best balance of supply costs, fabric I'd like to work with in the new year and customer interest. Again this past year, the most popular item was a simple zippered pouch. The starter project Google offered when I searched how to install a zipper means I can rationally maintain a large and luxurious supply drawer devoted only to zippers in warm colors. I need so many zippers. I used 894 of them in 2014.