CRAFTfest

Before the dawn of the internet, I spent lots of weekends packing up my wares and setting up shop in a village hall somewhere in a neighbouring village.  There was never any rhyme or reason to how many people came to the event but if it rained then you were probably in for a slow day.  Even if lots of people did come to the craft fair, there was no guarantee anyone would actually buy anything.  Most came just to browse the crafts and then go home with a homemade cake.

The internet has certainly changed all that!  20 years ago, I never would have imagined selling my products countrywide, let along worldwide.  Let's face it, I never would have imagined selling via my computer - I didn't even own one back then.

I am still not a fan of packing up my wares and driving them around the countryside to a school or village hall.  It is far too much hassle for hit or miss sales figures.  I would far rather spend the time at home sewing, knowing that my products are being viewed 24/7, globally in cyberspace.

When I heard about CRAFTfest, it seemed the ideal solution.  For one week, from 16th to 23rd March, 146 different craft businesses are gathering for a virtual craft fair.  Not only can the public come and view a huge variety of handmade items from the comfort of their armchair, the sellers don't have to leave home either.  Perfect!

The CRAFTfest concept is very simple.  Anyone can view the products for sale at creative-connections.ning.com where all of the different sellers are split into a variety of categories.  Every seller has a photograph of each of their products in an album and every item has the price, description and a link to where the item can be bought.  Sellers can click through from the photograph of an item  to buy it from the seller's website, Etsy store, Folksy store or whereever.  That's all there is to it.

It's free to visit CRAFTfest and you don't need to join either.  You've got all week, so come and take a peek!

http://creative-connections.ning.com/photo/albums/from-rags-to-bags-craftfest-stall

Are You Sitting Comfortably?

There are three things in life that most women would say you can never have enough of, shoe, handbags and cushions.  A sofa is incomplete without a whole array of cushions in various shapes, colours and sizes.  Once the sofa and armchairs are full, there's always the beds to cover in cushions too.

 On the other hand, most men would probably agree that there are always too many cushions everywhere cluttering up the furniture.  In my house, cushions seem to mysteriously disappear down the side of the sofa or end up thrown all over the floor, only to be placed neatly back on the sofa each night when I go to  bed.  Oddly the culprit complained the other day that he needed a new cushion as his was now too flat.  I suggested he try the one he had secreted down beside the sofa a few weeks ago.

For me, my love of cushions will probably never end.  I can't keep buying them though, there's a limit even for me.  Instead I keep my cushion buying habit at bay by making my own and hopefully selling them on to other cushion lovers. 

I have to admit though that one of my retro ones is now residing on one my sofas and I am rather partial to the tie cushion I made too.  Actually, now I think of it, the embroidered one I made would look good in my kitchen ....

So, if you are reading this, feeling a little uncomfortably in your chair, why not take a look at what else I have in stock?  Everybody could do with at least one more cushion in their life.

 

Make Do And Mend

 In recent years, the slogan "Make Do And Mend" which epitomised the Second World War has been embraced once again, with it appearing on all sorts of merchandise from mugs to cushions.   Even my sewing needle tin sports a picture of the war time poster campaign.  With the increase in crafting, it seems that many of us have followed that advice too, whether it is due to the current recession or we are all more environmentally aware.

I recently read "Nella Last's War" the war time diary of a housewife who lived in Barrow-in-Furness, in the North of England. When war broke out, she was 49, married with two grown up sons, looked after her husband, home and enjoyed sewing and knitting as hobbies. The war and all of its shortages really brought Nella into her own though.

Throughout her diary, as well as day to day accounts of bombings, food rationing and trying to keep domestic life running, Nella gives a constant dialogue of her craft activities from knitting socks for sailors to making dolls for the children's ward at the local hospital. It would seem that if it could be knitted or sewn, the Nella could make it.

One account tells of unpicking a donated mattress, washing the cover together with a dozen sugar sacks and making four single mattresses from them. Realising that she didn't have enough stuffing for four, she sorted out scraps from her rags bag and cut them into small pieces. She added cut up silk stockings and mixed all the bits together with the stuffing she had until four mattresses were finished and delivered to the Sailors' Home.

Reading Nella's diary highlighted an area of rationing in Britain during the Second World War that I was completely unaware of.  Most people know about the food shortages, with many still remembering them as they continued post war.  However, with metal needed for weapons and textiles needed for uniforms, wool, fabric and evening sewing needles became hard to buy.  As well as ready made clothing being rationed, the clothes themselves became simpler with pockets and pleats limited.  The number of buttons allowed on garments was also restricted.  Nella Last mentions in her diary the difficulties in buying sewing needles as they were no longer being manufactured.

The slogan "Make Do and Mend" was born out of necessity rather than today's austerity.  People had to repair and reuse their existing clothing as new clothes simply weren't available.  Whilst today there is an abundance of ever cheaper clothing available, embracing the past is certainly becoming ever more popular.

In Favour of Lavender

For the past few months, the majority of my sales seem to have been lavender bags.  I don't just mean one or two at a time, it has been 20, 30, 40 and even 140 at a time!  The lace ones are definitely the in favour at the moment.

I never quite understand what makes an item sell or not as the case may be.  I wish I could predict the market a bit better, I would make a fortune.  Interestingly though, when my lavender bags were listed as a single item, they didn't sell very well.  As soon as I listed two lavender bags at double the price, they started to sell really well.  Same item, same unit price, so what's the difference?

With discounts offered for bulk orders, the demand for my lace lavender bags as wedding favours has grown this year.  My first wedding order years ago was for a bridal shower though.  I recently made a batch as gifts for a tea party and in the last few months, I have had three large orders for lace lavender bags to be used as favours at Christenings.

Lace has certainly been fashionable this year, particularly after the lace covered wedding dress worn by Kate as she became the latest Royal bride.  It will be interesting to see if lace goes out of favour again soon.

Hannah's Owls

A friend of mine Hannah has started to sew and craft a few items which she is hoping to sell online and at fairs. Like me, she has been crafting her whole life and has an enviable fabric mountain, including lots of vintage prints which she acquired from her mother years ago.

One item I really like, as they are so retro, is her fabric owls, sewn from some of her vintage floral prints. They are slightly weighted in the base to make them stand. What Hannah really needs is some feedback, so leave some comments. What do you think of the fabrics? Design? What price would you pay? You get the idea.

Thanks folks!

News From The Sewing Room

For the last couple of months, I have been really busy in my sewing room, replacing sold items and running up custom orders, as well as finally finding time to stitch some of the ideas in my head. Having got lots of ideas out of my head though, lots more have flooded in to take their place and my "to sew" list is now even longer!

I have been on a couple of fabric buying sprees too. Going to fabric shops is always a risky business with me. I go in with my shopping list of sewing machine needles, different colour threads and interfacing and can't help browsing the rolls of fabric. I end up muttering aloud over the rolls, checking the fabric for weight and feel, assessing the pattern and thinking what I can make from it. I really don't stand a chance, I can't help but buy a new fabric or five.

Six new handbags have been added to my online stores. I like them all (I only make stuff I like!) but a few I really, really like. I am keeping them out of my sight to save the temptation of keeping them.

















As well as the new handbags, there are some new home ware items too, including a new peg bag fabric and five new door stop fabrics. Door stops are also now available in the pyramid style or a more upright style with a top handle. Hopefully the new style will prove to be just as popular as the pyramid ones.

New Lease of Life for Machines

Like a lot of people, I learnt to sew on an old Singer sewing machine.  The first one I used was a treadle machine that my mother was given for her 21st birthday.   It was beautifully decorated with painted flowers across the machine and I used to have a lot of fun seeing how fast I could make the machine go whilst frantically rocking the large foot plate backwards and forwards.

Even at school all of my sewing classes were on old Singer sewing machines.  The majority were electric versions but I think there were still a few that had the handle on the side for manually turning the wheel.  After school I bought a second hand electric Singer which looked almost modern in shape but only sewed in a straight line or zigzag.  It didn't even reverse!  A few years ago I invested in a computerised Brother machine which offers 39 stitches, most of which I never actually use.

The majority of old Singer machines have long since been abandoned and nobody seems to want them or know what to do with them, which is a bit sad really.  I still think they are far more attractive to look at than modern machines but I guess most of us don't even want one for decorative purposes around the house.  You see them for sale quite often for literally only a few pounds.

On a trip to Las Vegas last month, I was quite surprised to find hundreds of old sewing machines being used in the ultra modern Crystals, City Centre.  One of the resident stores is the clothing shop All Saints.  Their plate glass window  was filled with row upon row of old sewing machines.  It was utterly fabulous, very eye-catching.  Lots of people were taking photos, so it obviously struck a chord with them too.  For me, it was a fantastic use of unwanted sewing machines as well as a nod back to the rag trade of the past from a very modern present.