inmyvastsparetime@gmail.com

It's time to get serious. I recently printed more business cards to insert in purses and pouches for upcoming farmers' markets and took the opportunity to add a business-only email to my particulars. Henceforth, I can be reached at inmyvastsparetime@gmail.com. Sure, the new email is free, but I get a kick out of unilaterally deciding to add or tweak elements of my home hobby/business to mimic "real" stores. Maybe I need coupons, or loyalty punch cards (make that a loyalty app, for sure) or a big sale for Presidents' Day, or even a BOGO promotion. Should I make folks "like" me on Facebook? I could invite tweets about zippers, but I'd have to learn how to do that myself, first. For today, a new email.

New Fabric

One of the great pleasures of sewing enough to populate the tables of a farmers' market booth is choosing and acquiring fresh fabric. Even though I buy more fabric than anyone on my block, I can't justify buying everything I'd want. I dutifully keep track of expenses, and aim to recoup the calendar year's purchases before a new year begins. But it's February; even the most enthusiastic holiday shoppers haven't made their lists yet. I must narrow my search for fresh fabric to the patterns and themes with broad appeal. This owl pattern fits the bill.

Two Zip and Cross-Body Pocketed Hipsters

Winter is the time to try new sewing projects. I have been hunting around for purse ideas because purses are useful and their construction pushes me to acquire new skills. In particular, I've been wanting to become proficient at installing sturdy snaps. Also, customers at the farmers' market have asked for purses that zip closed for maximum security. I found two pdf patterns that appealed. The red purse is a pattern by Erin Erickson of the business Dog Under My Desk. It features a zippered top as well as an exterior zippered pocket and an open pocket. The adjustable strap means the purse could be worn at the side or across the body. I played with the interior and added another zippered pocket along with two open pockets. A large, colored snap closes the top of the Cross-Body Pocket Hipster pattern from The Sterling Owl on Etsy. Piping at the top of the exterior pocket gives this pattern a substantial feel. The purse I'm using right now for my personal treasures is made from this pattern, and I like the extra width and easily adjustable strap.

The pattern designers of both purses allow small-scale sale of projects made from their instructions. Look for some version of a hipster to be at my farmers' market booth this summer.

Pattern Revisited

One of the first vendors I purchased from on Etsy is a pattern-designer. Her shop is called Michelle Patterns, and she features regularly-updated patterns for purses and small bags. Though designed to close with loop and button or buttonhole and button, I am revisiting the "Pyramid Pouch" wallet this time using snaps. I have acquired large snaps in a variety of colors: navy, black, purple, red, pink, and plan to make a basket-full of this small carry-all. Natural linen looks good to me as the body, so maybe I'll reserve all color for the lid and lining. If I stretch the pattern just a little and/or add a zippered pocket on the back of the purse, I could squeeze even more entertainment out of one little pdf download.

Lounging Corner

Sometimes there just isn't time to sew. Nevertheless, I feel like making something. When I need just a few minutes to organize my thoughts about a project I perch in my red lounge chair. It is refreshed for 2013 with a new accent pillow. Marimekko fabric from my friend K on the front and linen on the back are sealed with red piping. Keep your snacks and markers away. This chair is for clean creativity.

A Pouch for Everything

My sister-in-law A is a professor at Purdue University. She teaches; she does research; she manages the emerging careers of PhD candidates. I really have little idea of what that all means. But, I figure even a modern-day academic who has blogged and can use the wireless network anywhere to email, Facebook and photostream may need storage for the rogue piece of real paper. For her birthday, I mailed this pouch for her file folders. The exterior zippered pocket may work for flash drives or auxiliary cables, or just gum for later.

Work Smarter, Or At Least Neater

2012 was a good year for fabric and zippers. I sewed more and sold more than any other year. I attended more farmers' markets, tried new venues, explored a few new products and finished a smattering of custom projects. I think I have discovered the limit of my productivity; it's time to work smarter and not harder. To that end, I recently spent an entire day refolding and reorganizing my stash of fabric. Along the way I stumbled on prints I haven't used in quite awhile. Sometimes I held onto the last little bit of a pattern because I had a project in mind for "someday". Often, I hesitated to use the last of a favorite print because I didn't think I could replace it. I will endeavor this year to loosen up. It's just fabric, and they continue to make new patterns I like. Besides, it takes quite awhile to curate a fabric hoard as large as mine. Messy scrap piles of tidbits build up and slow me down. The efficient path is to slice it up and sew it--all of it (or almost all).

Stockings Were Hung

We are very fortunate to live in the same town as both sets of grandparents. At the holidays, family comes to us, and we stay put. We have plenty of time, especially immediately after Christmas, to loll around the house doing absolutely nothing. I haven't even turned on the sewing machine in six days. To make a blog post, I need to trot out the last project I finished. It's a set of stockings (3 of the 4 I made) for my my friend, A. She went against the red and greed grain as she selected fabric that suits the members of her family and the fabrics already in her family room. I banded stockings in natural linen with a strip of a favored Japanese scooter fabric to tie the four different body fabrics together some.

Christmas Chorus Line

I once made an advent calendar with 24 six-inch paper-pieced Santas to represent the count-down to Christmas. It's a fun pattern; while making the wall hanging, I worked out how to keep directional fabric straight, even with an angled seam. An enlarged Santa fits on the front of a decorative holiday pillow, now for sale at the Holiday Market at Lincoln Square. I used colored snaps for eyes. I've made about a dozen Santas so far, but still have in mind trying versions with blue fabrics, dishes fabric and maybe tomato fabric.

Spoonflower Special

My friend G is an elementary school social worker. For the last couple of years, she has imagined a pouch design to take to her annual state-wide conference of fellow social workers. This year the theme is a play on Superman; she designed t-shirts and rounded out the superhero merchandise with pouches. We used Spoonflower to print custom fabric. With some lead time, Spoonflower is a marvelous tool for custom designs on fabric. I have in mind to make pouches with initials on them in some colorful and graphic style.

Stop On By

Lincoln Square's Holiday Market opens this coming Saturday. Running from 8am to 1pm every Saturday through December 15th, the Holiday Market features food and craft vendors on a mission to help you out with your holiday gift list. For sale at my booth I will have items ranging from $2 to $40, including pre-wrapped hostess gifts, Santa pillows and baskets, and purses and pouches of various sizes to organize daily whatnot. You are invited!

Divided Basket

My friend A loves color and pattern. She also wants her things, and her kids' things, to be organized. I've made several fabric baskets for her to contain mail, Legos, and random items. Today I finished a fabric basket with an internal divider for holding board books and toys between the carseats in the back of the car. By piecing the canvas lining instead of beginning with one large rectangle, I was able to insert the dividing panel in partially-sewn seams right before joining the lining to the outside of the bucket. I'm pleased that my puzzling skills yielded the result I intended. That doesn't always happen with fresh projects.