Tag Archives: sewing

Setting a goal

Every year in November I participate in Make It Indie in Cobourg. It’s a fantastic show, great vendors, huge turn out, wonderful crowd, I absolutely love it. I’ve decided this year I’m going to pick up this display shelf I saw at Michael’s and fill it with oodles of my scrappy wallets! It’s no secret that I love Michelle Patterns and I especially love making my scrappy wallets from one of her now retired patterns.

I went ahead and ordered a pile of zippers for the occasion. I’ve been getting them for a few years now from Zipit Zippers on Etsy. It’s the best value and quality I’ve found. Being in Canada it’s tricky to find selection and reasonable shipping rates (why is it all so hard for us!?). They’re YKK and she has a great variety of colours.

I improvised a bit and made a shirt.

I made a shirt again! I used the Tara Tee pattern from this Etsy shop. I’ve made tees with it before, and even made a sleeve a bit longer on one. This time I wanted a long sleeve version so I just sort of extended what I had going on for sleeves. They fit pretty snug down near the bottom but I actually like it that way.
But I am making a note to self to change the angle to one less drastic for the next long sleeved try.

Pardon the silly expression it’s hard taking posed photos and posing and such.

Coin purse blitz!


Been making a lot of these too.


I ordered a bunch of frames in bulk and I worked to tweak a pattern I have used in the past with different shaped frames.  I did a few test runs and have come up with a pattern that works really well.

I’ve been posting them on my Instagram as I go along. I’m up to about a dozen now. I plan on adding them to my shop and seeing how it goes, competition on Etsy is tough for coin purses, pouches and purse like items.

I tend to sell this sort of items well in person, which is where I like to take them. Make people smile with the fabric choices and I get to talk to people about what I create.

Funny side note, my new favourite pj’s can be seen in the background of many of those Instagram shots.

Oh wow, hi!

I got a really sweet email this morning. A lovely lady named Sara read my blog for the first time and was really struck by my post about my Mom. She wanted to reach out and send me happy thoughts and sunshine from Mexico, it was very lovely.

I see my Mom every other day sort of thing.  We play cards, hang out, I help her with her laundry and such.  She’s still at the hospital waiting for a place in an assisted living sort of thing.  It’ll be nice when she has her placement as it’s nearer to my house and practically on the same street at my school.  I’ll be able to go have lunch with her and easily have quick visits.

Everyday I am thankful that we have more time together and grateful for the recovery she has made.  We nearly lost her.  She still can’t speak but you’d be surprised how irrelevant that can seem, at most times! Of course there’s still some frustration for her, and me when I feel lost and can’t help, but we have each other and that’s good enough for me.

I’ve been so busy lately and dealing with such big issues (ankle break, my Mom, return to work, trying to divorce settle) that it’s been hard to even create let alone write about it here. I find it’s easy to just do quick things on my Instagram or Facebook Page instead. I think a lot of creative people are migrating this way.

Oh and smaller than the big issues I had a really crummy start to 2017 and was battling many ever changing plagues.  It finally settling into pink eye last week, which left me at home contageous for a few days.  Not fun.

Now it’s report card time so I’m busy with actual work work when we’re not renovating that is!

Currently we’re in the process of renovating the basement to make a bedroom for me and my wonderful man. However, that’s also where my craft space is so it’s a bit out of order right now.  We had the kids help since we’re shuffling bedrooms and adding people to the house we thought it would be better to involve them.

We started letting them go nuts smashing the wall (which would have been easier to just cut into large pieces but demolition is funner) and I figured safety glasses should have been a thing.  This was my son’s idea for makeshift ‘safety glasses’.

My sewing machine is under there.  And my supplies are all over the place covered in various tarps and sheets.  Dry walling is messy!

In fun news, remember when I joined roller derby?! I was all wobbily and Bambi-esque and such? Scared, unable to really skate and working so hard!? Well now I’m Captain of my team!!! Well it’s a role for two so we’re Co-Captains but still! It’s so amazing. It makes me use many exclamation marks.

This is from last year’s team photo shoot, it was my first time on skates since my break and without gear! It was a little weird, we so seldom skate without being fully geared up and I was a touch hesitant but all was good. Luckily, I broke my ankle at temporary practice facility we were using last year so I think that really helps with my mental state too while I’m back at it.  I might be traumatized passing The Spot.

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Oooh another pretty pattern and it’s on sale!

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It’s no secret I love Michelle’s Patterns and she’s got a fun new one out and it’s on sale for the weekend! It’s the Peony Pen Pouch and I love the details, especially on the bottom.
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Since I’m off work for another week and a bit I’m going to actual make this thing!
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She did it again, well I did really.

We all know I love Michelle Patterns.  She chooses great fabrics and makes really neat things.  She has played a big part in how I learned to sew.  She sent me a magnet with one of the scrap pack orders I got ages ago which inspired me to begin making magnets with my scraps as well.

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The other day she posted on her Instagram about finding a charm pack and I was smitten with it. Sooo off I went to buy it from her, which is what happens every time she posts she has a new scrap pack in her shop. I’m a bit of a sucker for small pieces of fabric.

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I heart Michelle Patterns.

I don’t have enough words to express how much I love this woman’s work and how she has inspired me in my own crafty business.  Her patterns were the first ones I started to learn to sew with and the first items I began to make for selling.  My creative bucket list includes things like design fabric and make my own PDF patterns and I’m happy to have bumped into this wonderful lady along the way.

Whenever someone asks me how I learned to sew I tell them I just started doing it, eventually with simple patterns and those pattern’s are Michelle’s.  Soooo if you’ve been putting off learning to sew, or want to make a something pretty quick and easy or just something new because you’re already a sewing master these patterns are for you!

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She has a sale going on right now!
She also has a pay what you want section in her shop where you can choose what you’d like to pay.

Seamwork

Well I’ve been experimenting with making my own clothing over the summer and I think I’m improving.  I’ve got a few patterns that I’m refining to get just the right fit and then I can forge ahead making even more.

While bouncing around the interwebs the other night I fell back onto Seamwork, where I’ve been before, and decided to sign up. It’s only $6 a month and each month you get to download 2 patterns to your library, which is much more than the cost of the subscription if you were to buy them.  Plus you get a bonus pattern for free.

I already owned one of their patterns (have yet to sew it up) and I picked my 2 more already.   I chose these lovelies.

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Can’t wait to get sewing!!

 

Swap time! Wanna play?

Let’s swap pincushions!

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Instead of trying to match up and email people myself I’m going to try Elfster and let the site do it for me. Please head here if you’d like to join in our pincushion swap.

You will create a pincushion with your own hands and ship it away to someone who is sending you a new to you pin cushion as well. How fun!

You can scour Pinterest or Google for some ideas and tutorials.

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Skinny pincushion

So made myself a scrappy quick little project the other day. I absolutely love things that use up scraps, the small the better. I remember the first time I made something with a ton of prints on it, one of my scrappy wallets, I was hesitant at first but once you just let go and put things together it all looks great once it’s finished.

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It’s from a free pattern by Green Bee Designs, they have a free patterns section and it’s in there.

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I added more sections to mine because I wanted it even more scrappy.  I rarely do things as dictated.