In the Paper

Shared Space, an artist and crafter cooperative store in downtown Urbana, was featured in yesterday's News Gazette as a place to buy locally-made gifts. What a kick it is to see my pouches in one of the article's photos! I've pinned the paper to the design board in my sewing room. It's my version of a stuffed trophy fish up on the office wall.

Kindle Cover

My husband tells me the new Kindle will be a hot gift for people this Christmas. He's the type who follows (and reports) technology trends even if he doesn't have a personal interest in acquiring the new gadget. So, we don't have a Kindle, but I was moved to make a cover for one anyway. It's padded and has an elastic closure to keep the Kindle from sliding out if the case is tipped upside down. I sold a couple at the last Lincoln Square Holiday Market.
Is it wrong to want a Kindle only so I could make a pouch for it?

Diaper Bag

This special order canvas bag is meant as a diaper bag for Illini fans. With a zippered top, a baby's unmentionables will be secure. I added large side pockets to the inside for organizing fresh diapers, teethers and newborn whatnots. The shoulder strap is adjustable and can be unhooked all together for that day in the future when the bag is no longer for diapers, but maybe carries groceries or library books.

Holiday Market

I'm almost ready for the Lincoln Square Holiday Market, in Urbana this Saturday from 8-1. Meet me behind the huge Christmas tree to browse through pouches, larger organizing bags, mail baskets, messenger bags, pencil pouches, key fobs, tissue covers, knitting needle pouches and these cute little whatnot baskets.
I still love Japanese fabric, and when the temptation builds up, I acquire another fantastic fairy tale or bicycle or owl fabric and start sewing!

Cloned Purses

Someone who bought a few of my pouches at Shared Space in downtown Urbana contacted me about making copies of a well-loved purse. The original bag is a casual shoulder tote made from Indian fabric and finished with covered cording in the seam between the lining and outer fabric.
I took the bag apart to make a pattern and then googled how to make covered cording. I send thanks once again to crafters out there who not only share construction secrets (and even patterns), but carefully document each step with photos so folks like me can attempt things step-by-step.
The online lesson took, and here are the two (reversible) purses that result.

Buckle Bag

My friend G wanted a smaller messenger bag in black with a buckle closure instead of a magnetic snap. I measured and fussed and finally got the webbing of the handle snipped the right length to feed through each side of the buckle and back to the seam without straining or sagging.
More advanced hardware like buckles is very appealing, but comes with a learning curve. Even tracking down a source for the right size and sheen of a piece of hardware can be a hunt. When I feel like meandering through a project instead of making sure tracks, a new gadget or technique is a must.

Tot's Tote

My nephew will be 3 on Monday. He's into trains, toy cars, and maintaining a personal stash of toys separate from his sisters'. A Thomas the Tank Engine canvas bag designed to hold the limit of what he can lift safely in treasures is my attempt to combine a gift for him with a sewing project for me. My boys once loved Thomas trains, spurring a search of Ebay for Thomas fabric. You see, I really needed that used fabric purchased through the mail...and I still have just a little left.

My, Oh My!

Several years ago M went to San Francisco for work and stumbled upon the Britex Fabric store. Suspecting a gift for me might be housed inside, he went in. The Liberty of London fabric he selected is among the best fabric I have in my stash. I have used bits and pieces, but derive the most pleasure from planning to use the lovely fabric this way and that without ever actually cutting it.
Now I've visited the store myself. It is four floors of wool, decorator and cotton fabric of every description along with (they say) 40,000 buttons and scads of notions. Though no bargain store, it was fabulous entertainment to stroll the floors and stroke the fabric. The other customers were big-city types planning high-end projects, which was interesting in itself. If money were no object, this is what a fabric store would be like. I bought Japanese cotton-linen "princess and the frog" fabric along with a piece of "the emperor's new clothes" fabric to make some very appealing pouches.

Custom

My friend G is an elementary school social worker. She is off to a state-wide conference for school social workers next month, and aims to fundraise for a professional social workers group by selling pouches. She choose fabrics and composed a pithy message for me to silk screen--"School social workers make change." I whipped up a bunch. I think they turned out well, and should appeal as a purse-organizing token of the meeting.

By-Product

I have been making fabric baskets lately, mostly of a size to hold mail or desk supplies or the things that gather on a bedside table. One of the basket construction steps calls for trimming off corners. The waste fabric, eight pieces in all, look to my kids like hats for stuffed animals. Go ahead, kids, and haul out all your stuffed animals. Fit them in party hats and enjoy yourselves for a few minutes. Maybe I'll squeeze in a little sewing.

Wash and Go

I am occasionally asked at the farmer's market whether the things I'm selling will wash. Though I do try to avoid too many lighter fabrics so dirt will show more slowly, I often can't resist. The washing question is a relevant one.
Here are the two pouches I use most often after they have been washed. To me, they look and feel the same. I threw them in with my family's laundry, washed them in cold water, and set them on my drying rack to dry. I, for one, will not hesitate in the future to choose a pouch for my personal use that is lighter in color. Then again, I can always make another one. Wait a minute...people at the farmer's market can always buy another one.

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.