First Craft Sale!

Friday morning I had just enough time to check my e-mail before work and found myself equally delighted and shocked that I had been invited by my friend Betsy to to a craft show! The Soo Sweet Crafty and Bake sale had it's first go this past Saturday at the CW Lofts in Minneapolis, MN. I used my meager lunch break making a list of what to buy,organize, and make. After some frantic running around after work my dear friend Kelly came over to help. She created the hang tags and made this super-amazing sign for my table!!!

Went to bed way too late, woke up a little too late. My sister Karen met me at the lofts and had armed herself with coffee, chai, and scones for the both of us. Not a coffee drinker, but dang that Chai hit the spot that morning! The woman who was running the show, Jenny, was so kind and helped me out with a a portable clothing rack for my little outfits. And Ta Da, we had a table set up!

Betsy (Tart Design - please check it out! ) was set up next to me so we had a fab time chatting it up.



I had managed to score an excellent spot near the entry and across from the fireplace. Didn't exactly get toasty warm by it, but the ambiance was nice...

In all, it wasn't as crazy busy at No Coast, which I think draws in thousands of people, but I have to say I was very happy with how my sales turned out! I sold a couple of onesies, a dress, pinafore, two pincushions, and a couple sets of hairpins. In all, I learned some VERY valuable lessons for next time....

1. Give yourself weeks and weeks to make things. I wish I had more on stock, but that was the situation.


2. Don't do ANYTHING last minute. Granted this was the situation, but prepare far in advance.


3. Have a friend help you get ready, set up, and be with you at the sale. Kelly was there to help me prepare, my sister to set up, and Betsy and I watched eachother's tables for our quick little "I gotta check out their stuff!" runs. Kelly also came by at the end of the evening to help me take stuff down.


4. Bring food. Bring water. No exceptions.


5. Use hang tags to price everything. Groupings of things (hairpins, pincushions for example) use a sign. I found cool little chalkboards at Michaels.


6. Bring a calculator that works.


7. Have a receipt book with carbon copies. I didn't have enough time to make an inventory list, but the carbon copy receipts helped me keep track.


8. Have change on hand. Bills of $20's, $10's, $5's, and $1's. I didn't end up needing quarters as everything was rounded to the nearest dollar.


9. I found an apron with pockets the most useful and safe way to hold onto my cash. I did take checks, but only with seeing and writing down the information from their driver's liscence.


10. Have fun!!! Meet other crafters, talk to new customer's, enjoy seeing new products! I had a great time meeting some new people and learning a bit about who they are and their craft.

Outraged!

I was so excited to get my first big sale. The Kimono dress...

and my little Pagoda set sold!

But I just found out about a new law that just passed this fall, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). According to this new law, my hand-made goods are deemed dangerous for small children. It's still a little unclear what exactly has to be tested, but items made for children under the age of 12 would have to be tested for lead and other chemicals. I would like to say that while I am not against the idea of testing children's products, I see this law as an axe to small business owners like myself. Those who enjoy and create crafts, in this case children's goods, take great care into what they make. These tests would make us all bankrupt! We can not aford these tests. Below is a great article written by the administration at Etsy:

The following is an open letter regarding the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). This Act, which will go into effect on February 10th, 2009, puts forth much more stringent safety measures for products intended for children under the age of 12.

Under the very important auspices of child safety, the Act may have grave unintended consequences: fewer choices for families who are looking for handcrafted alternatives. Many Etsy artists and craftspeople have expressed fears that they won't be able stay in business due to the burdensome cost of testing and certification pursuant to the proposed legislation.

As a venue for handcrafted and vintage items from small entrepreneurs, Etsy has invited the Ombudsman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to join us in a webchat in our Virtual Lab. Etsy would very much appreciate the opportunity to provide a forum for discussing the concerns of artisans who make toys and children's products as well as their customers who support handmade products.

We urge members of the Etsy community and anyone concerned with both child safety and conscientious consumption to contact their governmental representatives; ask them to consider how the Act will impact independent craftspeople.

The office of the CPSC ombudsman: 888-531-9070.
Visit the Handmade Toy Alliance for information about writing your representatives.

Over 200,000 artists, crafters and vintage collectors sell their items on Etsy.com. Many of these artisans make toys and other items for children. Made with love, care, the human touch and—often—all-natural materials, these items bring the consumer marketplace back to a personal level where customers can chat with toy makers and even create custom items for specific needs. Etsy members are part of a larger movement that seeks to creatively provide people across the globe with alternatives to mass-produced goods.

Many Etsy sellers are work-at-home-moms and dads. Among them are crafters with the skill and heart to preserve traditions of toy-making or to innovate their own methods of making children's items with a DIY (Do-It-Yourself) hands-on philosophy. You can meet an Etsy toy maker and seller by watching this five minute video portrait (all of our videos are published under open Creative Commons, so please feel free to repost). Amber Dusick, aka woodmouse.etsy.com and Los Angeles-based toy-maker/work-at-home-mama, is an artist who would be impacted by this proposed legislation if it is enacted. Amber uses sustainably harvested woods, non-toxic paints and beeswax along with her wood-burning tool to create simple, natural wooden toys. Her imagery is reminiscent of a child's crayon drawing come to life in wood.

Amber, like other Etsy toy makers and sellers, is fearful that as a sole proprietor she will not be able to afford the stricter regulations of the Act; the cost of testing and certification is likely beyond her means. She told Etsy, “I'd be more than happy to have each of my toys tested, if it wasn't so cost prohibitive. It is the COST involved in testing that will shut us down, it isn't that anyone refuses to have their work tested."

The Small Business Administration defines "small business" as under 500 employees. Most of our Etsy members are either sole proprietors or maybe a family or studio of friends working together. Many craftspeople on Etsy have told us that they could be put out of business if forced to comply with the proposed legislation. This is the painful irony bound up in the CPSIA.

Etsy wanted to reach out with this open letter to see what can be done to ensure that small businesses and micro enterprises are being taken into account with this legislation. Our members would like to better understand how the CPSIA took into account these smaller businesses operating with fewer resources for testing and compliance. We believe Etsy artisans are pro-testing and pro-safety; the problem is the prohibitive certification costs relative to their small businesses' incomes. Our community is concerned that this legislature disregards small businesses in its attempts to regulate large corporate entities.

The U.S. House and Senate passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (the CPSIA), and on August 14, 2008, President Bush signed the Act into law. Further information on the Act is available at the CPSC website at http://www.cpsc.gov/ and helpful FAQs are located http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/faq/faq.pdf.

Please, I urge anyone reading this blog to contact your goverment whether that be your representative or sentor. You can also sign a petition created by the handmade toy alliance.

I love what I do and I refuse to put away my sewing needle and thread just yet....

For The Guys

If you are like me - and I hope I'm not the only one - the guys in your life are impossible to buy for. Perusing Etsy lately I have found so many cool guy gifts. I would just like to say thank you to those people. You make my X-mas shopping so much easier. Here's a sample....

(click on the picture to be taken to their shop)

A Handmade Holiday for the Wee Ones...

Peanut the Wee Elephant

Go down any toy aisle in a big box store and you will find row after row of mass-manufactured plastic toys. Things that make noise, light up, and as we are finding out possibly made with toxic chemicals. My point is not to scare you, but to encourage parents and those buying for children to look for hand-made toys this holiday. There are so many books, patterns, and creative crafters out there who have patterns or have created great hand-made toys for children. Here's just a sampling of what you can find out there.


Joelle Hoverson's great book, Last Minute Patchwork+Quilted Gifts has a couple of sweet gifts including Peanut the Elephant and a sweet idea for a baby quilt.

No loud obnoxious noises here!

Heather Baily just came out with a slew of fabulous patterns including a pincushion set that will eventually need to go home with me. These stacking toys pulled at my heartstrings as I had the same type of toy - in plastic - at my grandmother's house.

These puppies are very cute!

Indygo Junction has many fun stuffed toy patterns out. Check out Repotdepot.com and PurlSoho.com to find these.



I'm so in love with these! I just saw these for the first time at Crafty Planet and love these patterns by WeeWonderfuls. These patterns are simple enough the older kids could make them themselves. Check out the awesome butterfly!



The Cute Book is a series of books that feature fun hand-made toys. The designer, Aranzi Aronzo, creates these Japanese inspired toys. Many many more Japanese craft books are now coming into the country. A few are being translated into English, otherwise you can find several in Japanese. That's a whole other blog post right there...


Here's a list of some wonderful online tutorials of toys and baby/children gifts that you can make!

Martha Stewart

• Baby Kimono shirt
• Applique Onesie
• Recycled Sweater Stuffed Animals
• Baby Bibs
• Potato Print Clothes
• Felt Slippers

Purl Bee

• Toys
• Babies
• Girls

Sew Mama Sew! Baby and Toddler Ideas

Craftzine Magazine

• Firefly Booties

Home-made playdough (everyone loves playdough!)

Yes, I'm a dork.....

When you have a chance stop by The Cotton Factory and check out there really fun T-Shirts. I absolutely had to have this shirt.......

and I love it!!! So that must make me a little bit dorky...

A thing for vintage

Perhaps this will be made into something?

I don't know what it is about vintage goods but I love them. Put me in an antique store and while I love looking at dishes, painting, and just about anything show me a little tucked away corner of vintage sewing notions and the rare pile of fabric and I'm a kid in a candy shop! Spools or ribbon, cards of rickrack still in their packaging (the designs on the package enough are worth looking at), loops of old lace.....I love it all.

I can't bear to part with these yet

I also like finding vintage patterns. Children's patterns are especially cute because the designs are so intricate and well thought out. The downer however is that they are usually much more complicated than modern ones. Adult patterns are easier to come by but to find a size that fits a woman a size 8, 10 or larger is hard to find. Most vintage patterns come in one size only unlike modern ones that are broken up into 2-8 and 10-14/16. Don't look for your dress size, but rather your individual measurements like bust and waist. If you can find something close but perhaps a little larger or maybe smaller, you can adjust the pattern and finished piece to fit you.

I'd like to think Sophia Loren
would have worn this

When looking at yardage it helps to remember that most fabric came about 33-36 inches wide, not 44". So generally you can get away with a little less than it requires, but check the directions for how they lay it out first. Also pre-wash your fabric! If it was made before the 1970's it has a very good chance it will bleed the colors. With trims you should try handwashing it, though lighter colors should be fine. Red's should be washed, don't mess with those..... You may be surprised - if you find a very old pattern - to come across one without any type on it what so ever! In that case look at the directions to see what each piece actually is and good luck!

Happy November 4th!

This is a friendly reminder to......

Get out and VOTE!!!!!

In the 2004 election only %60 of Americans voted, let's see if we can beat that this time!

Holiday Gift Tags

I've been having fun with Adobe Creative Suite and TA DA, gift tags! You can download these here.

Print tags on heavy card stock and cut out, use a small paper punch for a hole and add a ribbon!

The anatomy of a pincusion

I found a great use for all those fabrics scraps I accumulate... Pincushions! I love pincushions. So many different styles, colors, shapes. I like the patchwork style of these.

Cute!

Start by creating or using a pattern. I lay several pieces of fabric in a stack to make the process go a little faster....

I love these prints from Denyse Schmidt. You can go for a certain color scheme (think all blues and browns) or go for a kaleidoscope of color like here.


Buy this from Etsy!

Out of the Ordinary

So this is not a typical post for me, but I wanted to share some advice to anyone who reads this blog....

Our home was broken into and they took our iMac and my jewelry box. Everything was on that computer. All our music, our pictures, budget, and anything and everything that had to do with my shop. And our tax information...

I see the importance now to backing EVERYTHING up. Put all your pictures and important documents on a separate flash drive or burn them to a CD. If you have passwords saved, don't. At least not for anything that could be compromised. If you have homework or in my case the beginnings of a portfolio, keep that on a separate flash drive too. And most importantly don't forget to take your flash out of the computer.....

I will probably never get my jewelry back. There are things in there that can never be replaced and hold sentimental value to me. To some jerk who took it it's worth nothing and I hate to think of which dumpster it ended up in. Scan or take pictures of all your jewelry. Save receipts or photocopy them.

It sounds so paranoid to do this but I never imagined getting robbed. I have equal bouts of extreme anger, helplessness, and sadness. I don't know if I will ever see the necklace my grandmother made me or my hair comb I wore in my wedding, but take pre-cautions and safeguard your possessions.

The Stash

We've all been there. You find a cute piece or something unique and YOU HAVE TO HAVE IT! This is how fabric stashes are formed. It's like collecting pieces of artwork or cute sweaters. I inherited this trait (passed down on the X chromosome) and have my very own fabric stash.......



I came across this article from Craftzine.com and the similarities are eerie....

This article has some good advice for de-stashing that stash. I'm just happy I haven't gotten to this point yet....

So I stumbled upon this woman, Anna Maria Horner, and I just have to say how AWESOME is her fabric!?

Just a wee sample of the awesome goods

She has a link to her online shop and blog plus information about a book she wrote that will be coming out October 20th.

The Woman of Honor Dress

My dearest friend had a beautiful outdoor wedding at her parents on a lake this fall. An amazing crafter, she created everything from the invitations to the boutonnieres. As the Matron of Honor I chose to make my dress and she and I picked out the fabric. I used Amy Butler's Lotus Dress pattern.

We also made a little shrug out of some knitted delicious orange fabric. After I put the dress together I decided it needed a belt to give me a little bit more of a waist. I found some great pumpkin orange velvet ribbon that did the trick and a leather belt loop.

In typical Rachel mode of operation I finished this the day before the wedding. Overall this was a great pattern to use. Butler's directions are very straightforward and takes you step by step. Where it could use improvements is by having more diagrams of some of the steps. I follow directions easier with visuals than with the written directions. If you do the same, a few steps may be a little frustrating. This was also my first lining and it went rather smoothly. A few tips:

• Use the silky nylon lining, don't bother with cotton. You will want something that lays smoother under the dress.
• When doing the lining on the top where the neckline meets the dress panels, hand sew it first to match it up.
• Hand sew the hem. It looks 10 times nicer and gives a smoother finish at the bottom.
• Try it on and adjust the darts. I did a few times and was able to get a better fit.

Coin Quilt

This is a stacked coin quilt I've started. The pattern came from Joelle Hoverson's book Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts . Most of these fabrics are now out of print. I had enough that I should be able to make a second quilt. I'm thinking a railroad pattern....

Business Cards

Yeah they finally Came! The top picture is the back, the bottom would be the front. I ordered them from Overnight Prints. Not quite overnight (about 5 days), but the quality is amazing. Now to find a business card holder.......

Overdue

Orange reversible dress

and the inside (or is it the outside?)

I'm embarrassed by how much time has lapsed since I last wrote, my apologies! So I have a bunch of new fun things up. Last weekend was totally devoted to my sewing machine and I loved it! I have some more that are waiting in the basket that are calling my name.

I just ordered some Onesies from Zee Spot. Brown, blue, red, orange, and yellow. I'm sketching down ideas....

In the works

My first few pieces are almost ready. The fabric for the dress I bought a few years ago from an amazing shop in New York City. I'm excited to have a good use for it. The apron fabric was just dying to be turned into an apron. Perfect for a little one to help out in the kitchen...

Hello Hello!!

You say goodbye...

and I say hello!

She's been a strong and reliable girl, but the old Singer had to go. I recently acquired a beautiful new Janome that purs softly like a kitten. It's been fun playing around with the fun different stitches and my fingers are now aching to sew! I have a whole stack of dresses and outfits cut out and ready to assemble.

Welcome!

Too much fabric....not a big enough closet....

I will soon be setting up a shop through Etsy.com once I get all the not so fun things like obtaining a Tax ID number done. I'll be creating baby clothes like really sweet embroidered Onsies, frilly girlie dresses, bibs, shoes, and who know what else!

Check back soon....