One of Everything

With a regular sewing time every day and frequent extra sewing sessions on weekends or while kids enjoy their daily 20 minutes of Wii time, I have plenty of opportunity to sew the same pattern in different fabrics. I thoroughly enjoy making the same items over and over, with a different fabric each time. Two of these three messenger bags were custom ordered. I hadn't yet thought to make a messenger bag with dogs or hippos on the flap, but the patterns look cute on the outside of a purse. I have on the top of my to-sew list a new fabric featuring the owl and pussy cat going to sea in a beautiful pea-green boat. I don't even want a purse or bag for myself out the design; I just want to make something from it.

I Heard A Story...

Making pouches and bags for the Urbana Market at the Square and the Shared Space art and craft cooperative is fantastic. I am free to sew and sew and sew with a multitude of fabrics and a rainbow of zippers and then pass my projects along to make room for more fabric and more zippers.
I have a few ideas of what the pouches might be used for, and I can report what I do with my own items, but I recently heard what a few others have stored in their pouches.
I have learned that someone bought a long and thin knitting needle zippered pouch to hold his telescope. I was also told a younger customer uses his small zippered pouch to hold his treasures, which include the skull of a squirrel.
Money, tools, collections, unmentionables, and random what-nots are all out there zipped up and stored in a pouch I made in my vast spare time. So cool.

A Basket for the Market

It was a great Saturday at the Market at the Square yesterday. The weather cooperated, and my pouches appealed to customers gathering peaches, cheese, flowers and other market whatnot. I had several fun conversations with folks who enjoy a really pretty fabric, are thinking about sewing themselves, or just had extra time to browse. I delivered three custom orders and wrote down the details for a new one.
I've been interested in fabric baskets lately and took 6 of them to this Saturday's market. The orange one pictured to the left did not sell, but baskets with dogs and the hippos on them did. My next booth day is in two weeks, and I'll take this basket back then. I will have to refrain from using it to store fabric in the mean time.

I Know The Designer

My friend K pointed me to the coolest web site. www.spoonflower.com allows you to design your own fabric and have it printed on cotton or canvas or a decent variety of other bases. Two to three weeks later the fabric parcel that arrives in the mail is one you invented yourself. My son R had the first idea for what to put on fabric, so his design is our test case. He expressed his current interest in Ancient Egypt with a pattern he reports says "colors of the rainbow" in hieroglyphics. I'm very impressed, and I trust R and I will come up with the perfect project for his one-of-a-kind fabric.

Seat with a View

My friend J showed me the idea of framing fabric in embroidery hoops. After combing through my stash of fabric for suitable patterns to group in round frames, I took the route of obvious success and bought fresh designs. All part of the same collection, these purple chairs decorate the wall behind the desk in my sewing room. Now I can sit, browse future fabric purchases, and enjoy the chairs.

Summer Dress

K is frequently with me when I duck into the fabric store for supplies. She is not a fan of linen or fresh needles or stabilizer. She likes bright prints, Disney characters or anything with sequins on it. From time to time she convinces me the dress modeled on the tempting project mannequins is perfect for her, and I should make it. This is one such dress.
Unfortunately, though she was with me to approve the pattern, K was not around when I picked out the fabric for the project. She was dismayed, therefore, to see that my finished dress is neither the same color nor the same splashy fabric pattern as the one shown on the front of the pattern envelope. The result is K consented to wear her new dress so I might take a picture of her in it if I gave her a piece of gum. She then immediately changed herself into a corduroy jumper, pink sandals and a Rocky Mountain baseball cap. I might as well go back to making fabric pouches.

Patch Basket

My entire side of the family is vacationing together this year. Four families and fourteen people are meeting at a cabin in Colorado. Since I've visited there before, I have a collection of patches from the Rockies. It turns out I really did need them. They fit just so as the center decoration on a series of vacation baskets. My thought is to pass the baskets out to folks to contain their keys, cameras and sunscreen during the visit, and maybe to serve a mail basket when they return home.

It's a Possibility

Someone visiting my booth at the Urbana Market at the Square last Saturday suggested an eyeglass case as a possible future project. This is a first attempt. It's a simple construction, slightly padded, lined in soft cotton, and top-stitched for a utilitarian look. K's new purple sunglasses fit inside the case well; I'll use it for awhile to see if any additions to the design occur to me.

Summer Sampler

The Market at the Square in Urbana went well on Saturday. Thanks to everyone who browsed in the hot sun, and to new and returning customers. Waiting for me when I got home from the morning was a package from my favorite fabric seller. These four fabrics are the next ones to play with this summer. From rainbow giraffes to black flowers, I continue to be highly entertained making projects out of nearly every pattern that strikes my fancy.

This Saturday - 7am to Noon

I'm anticipating a hot, but sunny Saturday for my first showing this year at Urbana's Market at the Square. I have been sewing all winter and spring to build up a supply of pouches and bags to tempt folks browsing through the crafts after loading up on produce. Last year I watched a guy with an entire pick-up truck full of sweet corn sell his load 8 or 10 ears at a time until the bed was nearly empty. It's too early for corn, but maybe a spot near the sweet aromas of a baker or by a fabulous flower vendor would bring me extra customers.

iPad Cozy

M has acquired an iPad to use while testing programs for work. Of course, it needs a pouch. This padded sleeve has a strip of elastic anchored across one corner so the sleeved iPad won't slip out accidentally. It is a shame that elastic only comes in black and white. Actually, it seems unlikely that it only comes in those basic colors. I'm off to investigate, and maybe I'll use M's iPad to do so.

Empties

I like to save odds and ends that may some day be useful in a project. For instance, I hold onto empty spools of thread. They are stringable, stackable and rollable. They can be glued or painted, used alone or in groups.
Today my empty spool collection is housed in the fabric baskets I made for a Shared Space fundraiser. On June 26th, the arts and crafts cooperative on Main Street in Urbana is having sale to benefit the operation. Each person currently selling in the store has been asked to make a $10 item for that day. These fabric key, whatnot (and thread spool) baskets are mine.