Fabric Happy Dance

I'm a fabric addict, I admit it.  I can't stop buying fabric and have enough to keep me in sewing projects for a very long time.  Having said that, I am quite selective.  I definitely know what I like and what will work for the peg bags, laundry bags, doorstops and cushions that I sell.

Whenever I visit a fabric shop, I look for a remnant bin.  Why pay full price when you don't have to?  To be honest, they are usually full of odd fabric that, let's face it, nobody else who has rummaged in there before you wants.  But just occasionally, your timing is perfect and you find the most fabulous fabric remnant, that is perfect for your work.

That's when I do the fabric happy dance!

I try to hold myself together until I at least get home.  If you dance around a shop you get odd looks from people.  I do find it hard to contain my triumphant glee though and stand there grinning like a fool at the checkout.

Today, I did the fabric happy dance followed by a lap of honour around my sewing room.  I dropped into my favourite local fabric shop, just for a quick look and found not one but five fabulous remnants which will be perfect for toy bags and laundry bags.  The best of the lot was the "Under the Sea" fabric by Prestigious Textiles.  I love it!  Not only was it only £2 a metre, I found three pieces each measuring 2.5 metres long, all scrunched up in the remnant bin.  Talk about perfect timing.

I shall no doubt be spending most of the weekend sewing the new toy bags and laundry bags but who cares when you are working with such joyful fabric.  The octopuses (octopi?!) just make me smile.

 

A Return to Blogging

Wow!  I've just realised it is more than 18 months since my last blog post.  Where does time go?  I hadn't actually meant to take a break, I certainly have plenty to say still.  Finding the time to sit down and blog is actually the issue.

Business is booming, so when I am not working the day job, I am sewing, photographing new products, listing across various market places and then posting out orders.  It all takes time and when you factor in life generally, there never seems to be much left.

So many times, I have thought, I will blog about this or that and then the moment passes and it seems too late down the line.  I have still managed to keep on top of the Facebook page though, as well as Instagram, so hopefully some news has escaped into the world.  

I have realised that my compulsion to write is just as strong as my compulsion to sew, so I signed up to Patreon recently too.  You can find me on www.patreon.com/AlisonKeeble.  I hope to add some tutorials onto there at some point in the future ... when time allows.

In the meantime, I shall seize this moment and write another blog post.

A Crafty Fix

Don't you hate it when you buy a new piece of clothing and ruin it within a week?  Well, that's what I managed to do. 

I bought a new top and managed to get two dark splodges on it by the neckline, so in a fairly obvious place.  The spots were both about  the size of the pencil end and no amount of washing and stain products would remove them. I have no idea what the marks are or how they got there, so was a bit stumped as to how to get rid of them.

I was on the verge of throwing the top away but couldn't quite bring myself to do that as I had only worn it a couple of times and it had obviously cost money to buy.  Thankfully, I had a flash of inspiration, I could cover the marks over with something.  My first thought was a pretty lace trim around the whole neckline and then I decided on a few mismatched mother of pearl buttons.
 
 Having found a button that was big enough to just cover both marks but not too heavy, as it would drag the neckline down, I was pretty pleased with the results.  I have got a wearable top again plus I have now got a unique piece of clothing.

Viva Las Vegas!

Vegas is one of those places you either love or hate and we love it!  My husband even collects used Las Vegas casino dice and playing cards and has built up quite a collection in his man cave.  Each to their own.

Last year, whilst I was lurking in a local fabric store, I found some Las Vegas print fabric featuring the iconic "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign as well as various hotel neon signs.  I had to buy it for him and decided I could make him a pair of curtains for his man cave.

Fast forward a year and the fabric was still sitting in my fabric stash.  I never seemed to have the time to actually make the planned curtains, there was always too much other sewing to be done or just other things in life generally.  It eventually dawned on me that I was avoiding making them as I wasn't actually sure how to make a pair of lined curtains.   I had never made any, in fact I had only ever made one pair of curtains before and they weren't lined.

Having finally realised why I was putting off making the curtains, I decided to look on the internet for instructions on how to make them.  Not sure why I didn't think of that earlier, as when I did a search there was plenty of instructions.

The first site I tried was We're In Stitches which gave really good detailed instructions on how to measure your windows, pattern match your fabric and eventually sew your curtains.  I quickly realised that I couldn't actually be bothered to read all of the instructions, sometimes it is just easier to watch someone show you.

My next stop was You Tube. I found a fantastic video by movingcurtains.com which gave really good, step by step instructions from start to finish.  To be honest, I don't know what I was worrying about really, it made perfect sense when I knew how.   (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yrg5vI6m0Ug)

Having decided that I was far to lazy to hand stitch the hems of the curtains, I also found a really good You Tube video showing my how to blind hem with my Brother sewing machine.  It worked perfectly and took minutes to do.  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Yq73-gRUko)

The curtains took my four hours to cut out and stitch in the end, plus the year of thinking about it!  I am really pleased with the result ...

The Craft Book Review

I have probably said this before, but I can't help browsing all of the craft magazines whenever I am in the newsagent.  I always hope to find a really good sewing magazine I haven't seen before and often end up buying a magazine based on an eye catching project on the front cover.  However, when I get home I soon discover the only bit of interest in the whole magazine was the item on the front cover!

I was pleasantly surprised yesterday to come across a new publication amongst the magazines simply called "The Craft Book - Techniques and Projects".  Needless to say, the cover image piqued my interest and a quick flick through prompted me to buy it.  I didn't even check the price.

Having got to the checkout, I was slightly taken aback to find it was £9.99.  As I had found the publication amongst the magazines, I had expected a magazine price, of say £4.99.  With nearly 170 pages of content, "The Craft Book" is actually what it claims to be, a softback book and not a magazine at all.  Given the amount of content, I think it is actually a really fair price.

The book is split into five main sections, Textile Crafts, Jewellery, Ceramics & Glass, Candles & Soap and Eco Crafts.  Each section then gives really clear written information and photographs of all of the tools you will require and instructions on a wide variety of projects, from silk painting and needlefelting, beading and metal clay to basketry and rag rugging.  Also included are crafts I hadn't even heard of at all, including ribbon weaving and cold enamelling.  I was really surprised to find such a wide range of crafts included in one book.  Whilst each subject offers only a taster project, it is enough to give you the confidence to experiment further.

I would really recommend a buying a copy of "The Craft Book" for yourself or a gift.  It is ideal for anyone with a love of crafts, from mid teens upwards.  The only problem you may have is finding enough time to try out all the crafts!

If you can't find the book in your local newsagents or for more information, click here.

The Art of Giving

It's Christmas Eve, the decorations are up, the Christmas cards sent and the presents bought and wrapped.  Sitting quietly with a cup of tea, I can't help thinking about all of the orders I have posted out over the last few weeks not just to the UK but the USA, Europe and even Australia.  I hope they have all arrived safely and in time for tomorrow.  More importantly, I hope that whoever receives the items as a present actually likes them!

Buying presents is tricky, whether it is for Christmas or a birthday.  Even if we think we know someone really well and know their taste inside out, I am sure sometimes we just get it wrong.  So what's the answer?  Well, everyone could write a list of items they would like or need, I do that for some of my family who ask.  Whilst you know you will get something you actually like, it does take away the element of surprise though.  You may not know who will buy which bit but you still know what is probably under the Christmas tree for you.

Some people announce they don't know what they want (not very helpful!) and just want cash or a gift voucher.  That's fine but if we all gave each other a voucher, there wouldn't be a pile of presents under the tree on Christmas Day.  Somehow a little bit of the Christmas magic would be lost for me.  I do like to eye a pile of presents, even if they aren't for me!  I also think that if we all just swap a gift voucher then we may as well not bother at all, you are just passing cash between you at the end of the day, so what's the point?

Buying presents for someone can be an art.  I believe it takes time, thought and care.  And that for me sums up a gift.  It isn't about how much it cost, or if it has a designer label or not, it is about the time someone has taken to choose it.  The thought they have put into finding something they hope you will love.  Best of all for me, is the smile that lights up their face when they open a present they genuinely like.

Have a lovely Christmas everyone and a very prosperous 2015!

Small Business Saturday

The UK has millions of small businesses in its villages, towns and cities, many based online, like From Rags To Bags.  They are all dependent upon the continuing support of existing, loyal customers, as well as new customers to promote growth.

Small Business Saturday was the idea of American Express who first promoted it in 2010 to show support to small, local business.  The date chosen was the first Saturday after the popular shopping days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, at the end of November, which primarily favour the major retailers.

This year's Small Business Saturday is 7th December.  It is the perfect time to revisit your favourite small businesses or discover new ones.  With Christmas around the corner, small businesses are often the perfect place to discover unusual gifts, often handmade locally.

For more information on the Small Business Saturday campaign in the UK, click the link:

Small Business Saturday website

Upcycled Teal & Tape Table

I've been painting furniture for the last twenty five years, it is a great way to create bespoke furniture and to give an old piece of unwanted furniture a new lease of life.

A few years ago, I bought a very uninspiring little occasional table at the local dump for the bargain price of 50p.  I looked handmade and was thickly, and badly, painted in a dark varnish.  I liked the size and shape of the table and thought it would be useful somewhere around the house.  At only 50 pence, it was worth buying.

I spent a lot of time wondering what to do with the table.  It didn't actually look too out of place as it was, so I gave it a clean and used it as it was.  I thought about painting it cream and stencilling a design on the top and then thought about covering the entire table in decoupage, which I have done in the past on other furniture.

Having recently bought a new teal, brown and cream rug for my sitting room, I decided to paint the table teal.  Whilst I was pleased with the colour, I felt it needed something more.  I had read about Japanese Washi tape in craft magazines and had wanted to try it for a while, so that seemed the ideal solution.

Washi tape is a strong, durable paper like tape, similar to masking tape but is actually made from bamboo, hemp or tree bark.  It comes in a huge range of widths, colours and patterns so is perfect for craft projects.  It is readily available in craft shops and online.  I looked on eBay for mine as I wanted one that was a teal colour.  With postage it was a few pounds, so not very expensive.

I decided to run the tape around the top edge of the table and also down the legs.  It took about ten minutes to simply unpeel the end of the tape and then run in along each surface, smoothing it as I went.  You have to take some care as you can't really stick, peel off and stick again too many times as the tape with loose it's tack.  Once stuck, it seems to stay put though.

As the table is in constant use beside a sofa, with cups of tea always sitting on it, I needed to protect the paintwork as it is a water based paint.  If I wiped the top, the paint would come off.  To seal it, I rubbed on a few coats of Annie Sloan Soft Wax which is designed for the purpose.

I am really pleased with the transformation of my table.  It has gone from a dark, dull table to a bright, contemporary piece of furniture which will have a place in my home for a long time to come.  When I am bored of it, I can simply peel of the tape and paint it another colour.

Seaside Cushions on Wow Thank You

A week ago, the website Wow Thank You, which is a platform for UK artisans to sell their products, ran a poll on Facebook to see which seaside themed cushion was the voters' favourite.  I got an email to let me know that one of the four cushions chosen for the poll was mine.

Voters had a few days to cast their votes on A, B, C or D, with one voter being picked at random to receive the winning cushion as a gift from Wow Thank You.

I never expected my cushion to win and was amazed to get an email saying not only had my cushion topped the poll, it had won by a country mile!  The other three cushions received about 42 or 43 votes each in a surprising complete tie.  My cushion gained over 280 votes though, 70% of the whole vote.

I have to admit, I'm not sure winning the poll had much to do with my cushion sewing skills.  Having read some of the many comments left by voters, I think it was the appeal of the British beach hut that swayed the vote.

Faking It

Like most small businesses, I don't have a vast budget to hire professional products stylists, photographers and studios.  I am the stylist and photographer and my home ends up as the studio with product sets wherever is practical, usually in the kitchen as it has good light.

One issue I always had was that virtually all of the walls in my house are plain magnolia paint.  I happen to like it from a decor point of view but from a photographic backdrop point of view, it's not very inspiring.  I didn't really know how to resolve it though.

Earlier this year, I came across an online photography course aimed at crafters.  The first two weeks taught photography techniques, including lighting, exposure and focus, the second two week module concentrated in styling products.

To say the course transformed my product photos is an understatement.  I no longer use my camera in the auto mode and adjust the light and focus manually.  More importantly than that though, I learnt to fake it.  With the help of very simple props, you can create all sorts of different photographic scenarios to stage products to their fullest.  My favourite prop of all is rolls of wallpaper which can very simply be dropped down behind the product to create different backgrounds.  No more magnolia paint.  With so many different wallpapers available, you can create fake wooden panelling, bricks or use flowery designs.  Whatever fits with your products.

My kitchen is still my studio but you wouldn't know from the photos, they have been taken anywhere, even a professional studio.

If you are interested in the course I took, visit www.photocraft.org, I would highly recommend it.

Decluttering and the Laws of Attraction

Since starting From Rags To Bags, over five years ago, my study/sewing room has become overrun with fabric, ribbons, buttons and all sorts of other craft bits.  I admit I've had a tendency to hoard but you never know when something will come in handy.

The result of my hoarding was not only the built in wardrobe packed to the rafters but fabric being stacked over every surface and also overflowing onto the floor.  Trying to get to my sales stock in the wardrobe was a nightmare as I was constantly having to shift everything stacked up in front of the doors.  The bookcase was groaning under the weight of fabric piled on top, the shelves were bowing and the sides were falling apart. I realised a few months ago that I really needed a sort out.

Having mulled over the problem for a while, I decided to invest in some heavy duty racking.  Whilst it may look a bit industrial it was the most practical solution.  I was going to buy cupboards but I was worried about the load bearing capabilities of the shelves and also realised that having to constantly open and shut the doors would wear thin eventually.

I was pleasantly surprised when I searched online for racking, to find that it came in a variety of colours, including a royal blue which matched my chair and curtains.  The shelves could also hold up to 250Kg each.  Perfect!

I have spent the last couple of days sorting through every single piece of fabric, trying to decide if I liked it and more importantly if I would ever use it.  Some has gone in the rag bag which I donate to a local wildlife charity.  They in turn sell it to a rag merchant for recycling, so nothing is wasted.  The useful remnants I discarded (which was a really big bag full) have gone off to the local hospice shop for them to sell and raise funds.  The remainder, is now neatly sorted and stacked in plastic storage boxes on the racking.  My sales stock is also easily accessible now on the top with the remainder in the wardrobe which I can now get to as well.  I can't believe I have so much more room again now either.

However, I am now fighting the universal laws of physics.  I am convinced that as soon as you declutter and make space an invisible force field kicks in sucking new items back into the void.  I popped into town yesterday to drop off the large bag of remnants into the charity shop, only to find myself ten minutes later buying a fabric sample book from the soft furnishings shop on the way back to the car park! The shop had very helpfully put the book outside with their remnants so I couldn't miss it.  They label they had stuck on the book suggested patchwork but the fabric is perfect for my doorstops.  How could I resist?

So, once again, I found myself this morning sorting through more new fabric, trying to decide which bits to keep and then trying to cram them all into the already over full storage boxes.  Perhaps if I have paid more attention in my physics lessons at school I would know how to avoid the magnetic laws of attraction.  I blame Newton personally, I'm sure he would have had a theory about it.

Butterflies Clothes Peg Bag Give Away

Want to win a pretty butterflies clothes peg bag?  Then simply follow the link and enter the competition From Rags To Bags is running in conjunction with the website Wow Thank You.

Entering is easy, all you need to do is browse the From Rags To Bags shop on Wow Thank You and find the answer to the question, "There is a peg bag in From Rags To Bags’ WowThankYou store that depicts a famous city – which city?".

Answer a, b or c to the options and leave your name and email address in the boxes provided. 

The competition closes at midnight UK time on 15th March, so you have plenty of time to get your entry in.  Everyone is welcome, regardless of where you are in the world.

Click here to enter competition.

Good luck! 

Behind The Costumes

In recent years the fashion for bling has grown considerably with everything from mobile phones to trainers being customised with diamantés. One of the founding fathers of bling though has to be the late entertainer, Liberace, who was world famous for not only his vocal and piano playing skills but also his flamboyant stage costumes.

The release of the biopic film "Behind the Candelabra", starring Michael Douglas as Liberace, has certainly brought Liberace back into the limelight.  If you are in Las Vegas soon, don't miss the free exhibition of some of Liberace's costumes, his diamanté covered grand piano and car, at The Cosmopolitan Hotel.

Having seen this car (you really can't miss it!) prominently displayed at the entrance to The Cosmpolitan's casino, I wandered into the exhibition of costumes. Once you are over the shock of so much bling in one place, you can't help but be amazed at the amount of work which went into each suit, not to mention the full length capes.

Thousands of beads and crystals were appliqued all over the costumes in intricate designs, making some suits alone weigh about 80lb.  Capes could add a further 40lb in weight.  Looking at the mannequins displaying the costumes, you soon realise that Liberace was not overly tall and also a relatively slight build.  In order to counter balance the weight of the costumes he was wearing, Liberace had extra lead in his shoes.

A museum of Liberace's costumes and personal effects was open to the public in Las Vegas for 31 year but sadly closed a couple of years ago.  There are plans to hopefully reopen the museum in the downtown area in 2014 though.  In the meantime, you can view the Cosmpolitan exhibition from 3pm to 10pm daily.

A Tale of Two Tea Towels

I am constantly on the look out for interesting fabrics.  I think I actually do it subconsciously,  whether it be in fabric shops, car boot sales, charity shops or jumble sales.  Or as was the case the other day, the local supermarket whilst doing my weekly shop.

A couple of weeks ago, I was drifting past the home ware aisles in the supermarket, no doubt thinking about something else entirely, when I spotted a pack of tea towels.  One had small yachts sailing across it, one was red with thin white stripes and the third was plain white.  The similarity between the tea towel with the yachts on instantly jogged my memory back to my fabric with larger yachts on it, so the tea towels ended up in my trolley.  I can't help myself sometimes, I just love fabric.

Having discarded the plain white tea towel, it took me another week or so to ponder what to do with the other two.  I finally came up with the idea of a patchwork cushion.  I thought about including the wooden anchor which start the whole chain of buying but decided it wasn't really practical.

The narrow red and cream fabric was a remnant picked up recently in Marlborough when out with a friend shopping. I had the cushion in mind and knew I needed another fabric to complete it. Thankfully my friend is a sewer and fabric hoarder too, so is quite patient when it comes to trawling through fabric shops.  The red and white spotty strip was a piece I had floating around in my ribbon box.  I have to admit, I am pretty pleased with the result and even have enough fabric left to make a few more.  As for what to do with the wooden anchor, I still have no idea!

Wow Thank You

Having successfully sold my creations on my own website, Etsy, Folksy and Dawanda for quite a few years, I decided to try my luck on another similar site - Wow Thank You.

Based in the UK, the site was launched in March 2010 by Tracey Kifford and a friend but is now solely run by Tracey.  The aim of the site is to support and promote small, UK based art and craft businesses.  Having seen the name Wow Thank You pop up regularly in magazines over the last couple of years, I believe that is certainly being done very well.  With a background in journalism, I am sure Tracey certainly has the knowledge to not only market the site but also the members in the media.

The one off joining fee for the site is usually £40 but with promotion at the moment, I only had to pay £20.  With no listing fees to pay, regardless of how many items I list on the site, joining didn't really seem much of a gamble.  When I make a sale (fingers crossed) I will have to pay a seller's commission of 10% which again seems very reasonable and is certainly in line with other websites.

Even setting up my Wow Thank You store was easy.  I had to fill in a form with all of my business details and the Wow Thank You team did the rest.  As soon as I received my log in details, all of my information we already filled in for me, so all I needed to do was start listing my products.  With a very useful duplicate option, I could very quickly list all my door stops, just changing titles, some of the description and the photos.  The remaining details such as postage costs etc we all copied from the previous listing.

My Wow Thank You shop is now offering 49 products for sale and I am awaiting my first customer.  If you order in September, I am offering a 10% discount on your order.  Simply visit my store at:

http://www.wowthankyou.co.uk/from-rags-to-bags/

And quote "WOW10%" at checkout for your discount.

Upcycling Patchwork

One of my favourite shopping haunts is Salisbury as it offers an array of shops as well as numerous charity shops, craft/fabric shops and also an antique centre over three floors.  As I am always on the hunt for interesting fabrics and old textiles, I am usually spoilt for choice and never fail to come home armed with more fabric for my pile.

A few months ago, I was browsing the items for sale on a vintage clothing stall in the antiques centre, when I spotted a piece of folded up patchwork.  It caught my eye instantly as it was made from pieces of tweed and other suit fabrics.  Whether is was actually made from old clothing or just off cuts of fabric I shall never know but it was the perfect weight for handbag fabric.

When I unfolded the patchwork, I discovered it was in fact a long patchwork skirt.  It had been completely hand stitched with even the zip and lining sewn in by hand.  It was quite weighty and I would imagine too warm to be practical with modern central heating.  I loved the skirt as it was but my thoughts were to actually cut it up and turn it into handbags.  At a cost of £22 it seemed a bargain to me.  I hate to think how many hours it took someone to make, not just the sewing but also cutting out all the pieces to start with.

When I finally took the skirt apart, I did feel slightly guilty I have to admit.  Cutting through someones handiwork made me feel even worse!  As soon as I had cut the side panels for the handbag though I knew I was doing the right thing.  The patchwork matched perfectly with some pale green corduroy which I had found in a charity shop.  The inside has been lined with an old shirt and also has two mismatched shirt pockets sewn on one side for a phone and tissues.  A further zipped pocket on the other side completes the bag.


Now that it's finished, I am really pleased with the result.  I love the colours and the fact that it is a totally unique handbag which will never be repeated.  I have enough patchwork for another bag but the fabrics and colours will be different as the original skirt was made up of so many different fabrics.

 

   
 
                         












                                                

Recycling Samples

I am always on the look out for new fabrics to use.  I have to admit it is a slight obsession as no matter where I go, I keep on the look out for fabrics in any form, from new to old, remnants to clothing.

If you don't need large pieces of fabric for sewing projects fabric sample books are a really good source.  Once a range of fabric has been discontinued, the stores no longer need the fabric sample books and often sell them off cheaply.  Needless to say good ones get snapped up quickly, so it helps if you have a good contact in a store.

Yesterday, I spent a fabulous half hour or so rummaging in a shed at the back of a furnishing store - with their permission obviously!  There were shelves and boxes full of old sample books for sale.  When it comes to fabric, I know instantly what I like and also, more importantly, what I will use a particular fabric for.  Some samples are too small to be of use to me and other fabric have a design that is too big, so they get discarded as well.

I ended up with six sample books all with completely different patterns and colours of furnishing fabric.  Looking at the price lists in the back, some of the fabrics were really expensive.  I certainly would never have even considered buying them off the roll as they would not be economic to use.  The sum total for my six books was the bargain price of £20 though.

The best bit but also the hardest bit is taking the books apart.  You can simply cut the fabric out but you lose a few centimetres doing that.  If the samples are small to start with, you don't really want to lose any more that you have to.  I prefer to rip the binding apart and gradually rip the fabrics out.  Most are stuck in with really strong glue, so it's not easy.  I ended up with a large stack of gorgeous fabrics though which will last me a while, so it was definitely worth the effort.

Getting to Grips With Oven Gloves

Oven gloves have been on my ideas list for longer than I can remember.  When I am constantly spending time remaking sold items, I never seem to quite manage to try anything new.  I realised that unless I actually discontinued some items and took a break from restocking, I probably never would.

I finally decided to give oven gloves a go when I found a pattern template in a craft magazine.  I duly cut out the pattern, sewed the bits together and wondered why it had taken me so long to make a pretty simple item.  However, as I was looking at my glove, I couldn't help thinking the thumb looked a bit small.  When I tried it on, the thumb was skin tight and I hadn't even lined the glove at that point.  Looking at the pattern again, even that looked a bit out of proportion, so I don't think it was my sewing skills.

Having wasted some perfectly good fabric, I got annoyed with oven gloves and decided pot holders were far easier.  How hard could a padded square be to make?  Very easy as it turned out, until I came to put bias binding around the edge to hide the raw edges of the fabric.  I had forgotten what a complete fiasco binding things is.  Well maybe that is down to my sewing skills as lots of other people seem to make perfectly bias bound pot holders.  I got even more annoyed and shelved the whole oven glove idea again.

Having calmed down (a few months later!), I decided to have one more go at an oven glove.  This time I drew my own pattern and chose one of my favourite cotton fabrics.  If this had gone wrong I would have been really, really annoyed.  I cut it out, sewed it together and it fitted my hand, well, like a glove really!

The only tricky bit was pinning in the lining as I kept sticking myself with all of the pins.  Next time tacking it will probably solve that issue.  Yes, there will definitely be another and hopefully another after that until I realise that I really do need to make time to try out another item on my ideas list.

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.