Charley Harper Lovelines

2014 was another wonderful year of sewing and acquiring all the fabric my heart desires. Successful outings at Urbana's Market at the Square, Lincoln Square's Holiday Market and the Unitarian Universalist Art Fair in West Lafayette, IN drained the stockpiles of pouches and fabric baskets I made while the kids were at school over the course of the year. My plan for 2015 is more of the same. I want to make things I feel like making in the fabrics I find interesting. At the top of my list are prints currently being released by the estate of Charley Harper. Available in cotton, a light canvas and even knit, the fabrics will appeal to sewers all over, I'm sure.

Helpie-Selfie Shelf

I have a deluxe sewing arrangement. Our dining room has been converted into my sewing room, complete with a large table built by my husband at the perfect height for cutting fabric. I have two large wall cabinets for fabric storage, a wall rack for rolls of oil cloth, a corner for a permanently-erected ironing board and a lounge chair for just thinking about sewing. More than that, when the kids are at school, I am free to build a day around whatever sewing task seems interesting. Sure, there are regular chores to take care of, but it's possible to plan the have-to's of the day out and leave several hours aside for making things. But, during the summer, kids are home. Our kids have their own pursuits and are certainly easy-going, but I have been finding it difficult to focus on sewing when I'm interrupted. Even if I set aside 90 minutes to work on items for my market booth, young visitors checking in about calling a friend or having a snack disrupt my fabric flow. My solution to the snack-interruption problem is the "helpie-selfie shelf".

Marked off by washie tape in the fridge, any items found on the helpie-selfie shelf are free for anyone to eat at any time--no permission necessary. Sure, the shelf is heavily-weighted to carrots and grapes and foods that won't ruin the next meal. Yes, some items need portion notes (only two dates at a time), but for the most part I'm thrilled with the helpie-selfie concept. Two of our three kids love to snack; they are thrilled they can eat whenever they want. Everyone in the house is reminded that a quality snack is a fruit or a vegetable or snippet of protein. And, I get more sewing done.

USS Indianapolis Reunion Project

At the end of the month survivors and family members of the crew of the USS Indianapolis will meet in the city of the same name. One of the organizers of the event is a customer of my farmers' market booth. She designed red, white and blue tissue covers with a bead specific to the reunion to give out at one of the weekend's events. I appreciate the service and the sacrifice of the crew and families of the USS Indianapolis, and I wish them a satisfying reunion. (You can visit the reunion web site at http://ussindyreunion.com/)

Market Time for Me

Though Urbana's Market at the Square has been running full-force since the first Saturday in May, I will have a booth for the first time this season this upcoming Saturday. It has been a long, cold winter. I entertained myself collecting new fabric and sewing new items. Please look for me when you're at the market June 21 or 28, July 5, August 9 or 23 and September 6.

Everyday Tote

There is a lovely online site for sewing and knitting treasures called purlsoho.com. Their associated blog of ideas and tutorials, called The Purl Bee, featured this tote bag. Made of canvas with a bottom band of essex linen, a tiny amount of neon brightness on the outside hints at the over-the-top interior. The pattern calls for binding all the interior seams with more neon. I've tried the pattern with small print fabrics as the binding and large print ones for the bottom fabric band. I'm using one for my summer purse, and I'll have a variety of tote bags for sale at the June 21st Market at the Square.

What's In the Bag?

My niece is approaching a birthday, and the party will be puppy-themed. It's all very exciting, and I just mailed off the handmade portion of her present. It's wrapped in this drawstring bag. I had to line the bag in the end because the cupcake fabric is too light in color to fully conceal the contents, and my niece is too young not to peek (so are her siblings, and I don't want to be responsible for any scene like that). What's inside the bag? It's a puppy-themed, fabric-covered sketch book for musings, stickers and drawings. It closes with a multi-colored pencil. I hope she likes it.

Drawstring Bag

A lady I met though Eclectic teaches a kind of jewelry braiding called kumihimo (see her web site at http://ikumihimo.com/). She recently hosted a class at Parkland and needed pouches to hold student project supplies. I made a scad of drawstring bags to her specifications, and now I'm thinking that the notion of a drawstring bag has fabric potential. Reusable birthday or holiday sacks with a simple pull closure would be both useful and easy to store between events. These bags aren't lined, but another layer of fabric would be both helpful keeping the gift secret and a chance to use another pattern.

Hat Pouch

My husband's good friend works for an engineering company, and one thing they do is measure and record damage to roads and airport runways as accurately as possible. Using GPS, they mark and survey projects hither and yon, so they need a way to carry their GPS locators pointing up to space. Of course, it's best for each employee to have their own hat, and so I present removable GPS pouches to wear on your head.

The pouches snap on to each hat, so the hat can be worn when there is no surveying going on. A buttonhole in the back of each pouch leaves room for a cord to trail down to some sort of back or belt pack. It warms my heart to see how sewing and technology can work together. I only wish some cute car or airplane print fabric could have been used.

New Prints

I'm busy sewing away for upcoming summer dates at Urbana's Market at the Square. Fresh fabric prints are a mix of cutesie and pretty. This way I can stay entertained and past customers will have reason to browse my booth just in case there's something they have to have.

Bunny Bags

I love to plot a fun Easter basket, and I will even admit to having a secret basket in my laundry room to hold gifts for the kids' Christmas stockings that I might buy months in advance. Sadly, I can't include anything in an Easter basket (or stocking) for my kids they could identify as having been made by me. Yes, they are old enough to confirm that there is no magical creature leaving them trinkets, but we all have fun pretending. I spied on Pinterest a pattern for felt bunny bags, and decided they look enough unlike a zippered pouch that I could make them and fill them with candy for the kids this spring. I made 7 to include my younger nieces and nephews. I like felt; what it lacks in durability and washability it makes up for in texture and simplicity. Google "sleepy bunny goody bag"; there's still time to make your own.

From Cats to Mice

Someone out there is busy. Someone is busy designing new fabric I have to have. Yes, it's getting more expensive, but I can still think of fun projects to make. I've registered for six Saturdays at the summer's Urbana Market at the Square and all the Lincoln Square Holiday Market dates. Expect to see things made from a variety of new fabrics, from cats to mice.

Prototype Paper

At the moment, I have two fabric-covered notebooks in my farmers' market line-up. One is a covered composition notebook with a ribbon to mark your page and a pocket inside the front flap for storing notes and receipts. The other is a pocket-sized version of the same thing. But, I wonder if a small notebook would be more useful if it were spiral-bound so pages could be removed more neatly. I found online a tutorial for covering a steno pad. It features loops for a pen to hold the notebook closed. Resizing and re-orienting the pattern's principles, I covered small spiral notebooks with wires running down the side or across the top. I like the size of the smaller one, but the pen looks better tucked along the longer side of the side-bound notebook. If you see me in the next couple of days, I will be hauling out these prototypes for your feedback. Gather your thoughts.