Craft Fair Part I: What I Made

Brace yourselves for a LONG post!  

I am slowly recovering from the craft fairs I participated in and I think I am finally ready to blog about it all.  I will break up my "review" in several parts.  Today, I am going to share what I made.  There are a lot of pictures and I hope you enjoy all of the color.  Uploading all of these photos just makes me tired, let alone thinking about all that I made!  I will definitely admit that I accomplished far more than I thought I would be able to in a relatively short amount of time.  Here's how:

• I stayed up really late most nights.  I didn't go to bed before 1 on most evenings for many weeks.  This wasn't ideal and I wouldn't have done this if it hadn't been for my tight timeline.  
• I relied on my husband for lots of help and he pitched in with the kids, errands, and meal preparation.  He's always very helpful, so this wasn't too much out of the routine but I do think he did a whole lot more than normal and I give him a lot of credit for his help.
• On a related note to that above, my husband has had lots of days off lately thanks to an adjusted work schedule that has given him many Fridays off lately.  We also had his dad visit just before Halloween and I sewed a lot while they did things with the kids and I stayed home with the baby (who is a champion napper).  
• Did I mentioned my baby is a good sleeper?  My 18 month old always naps while my daughter is at preschool, this equals almost 9 full hours of sewing time each week.
• We had a lot of illness leading up to the craft fairs and it was difficult.  There were many times where I just sat with my kids while they rested and they wanted mom nearby.  There were other times, however, where they slept and I sewed.  
• I gave up a lot of other personal pursuits: exercising in the morning, leisure reading, time on social media, and some socializing with friends.  I still participated in church and church activities, my MOPS group, book club, and even went to Denver to met Liesl Gibson.  I tried to not completely abandon other priorities but I'll admit that I didn't initiate play-dates and get-togethers as often as I normally try to do.  This wasn't ideal and I couldn't have sustained this long term.  

One last note before all of my pictures; I did end up participating in two craft fairs, as opposed to just doing the one I initially signed up for for November 12.  Two weeks prior, I got off of the waitlist for the November 5 Sunnyside Christian Church craft fair (which proved to be a huge blessing, as I did really well there and the 12th was a bit of a disappointment).  More on all of that on another post.....

On to my "makes".....  

Reusable snack bags.  A few friends suggested I make these and they proved to be my bestseller.  They also might be my least favorite sew out of all the craft fair projects, as they are quite mindless and a bit tedious:

I lined these bags with PUL.  I sold these for $8 each.  It is a simple zip-bag, but the higher price reflects the difficulty and annoyance of working with the slippery lining fabric.

I really focused a lot on making patchwork dish towels, as a friend told me she completely sold out of these at a craft fair.  I thought it was a good idea because everyone has a kitchen, not everyone has a baby or child to shop for.

I bought these nice quality, large kitchen towels at Marshall's and TJ Maxx in 3-pack sets for $5.99.  I embellished each one with strips of 2" finished patchwork.

These were big sellers at the first craft fair, which compelled me to make more for the next one.  I sold them for $9 each or 3 for $25.

My chosen method of patchwork proved to be too time-consuming for the profit I made on each towel (about $7).  It would've been better if I added patchwork to these towels in a more time-efficient manner.  It might have been wise if I had kept my receipts for the towels, returned them, and moved on to another project, but I really did enjoy making them (especially choosing the "perfect" fabric combinations).  I will use them in my own kitchen and use them as gifts as well.  And like almost all of my "leftovers," I can bring them to another craft fair to sell.  I've also come to learn that $2 per towel is a good price and I'd really have a hard time finding a lower price.

These towels are similar but more scrappy and the style of towel is more of a "tea towel."  I purchased a pack of 12 on Amazon, they ran a little under $2 per towel.

Bibs, bibs, and more bibs.  These were quite popular at both fairs.  I learned that I needed more girl bibs and a few more "gender neutral" options as well.  I think I more heavily made boy-ish bibs because I have more boy-themed fabrics thanks to over-buying when I had my first baby.

I sold these for $8 each or 3 for $21.

In hindsight, I should've emphasized that they're reversible:

Crayon Wallets!  I priced these at $12 each and sold four.  I came prepared to offer people crayons and paper (at cost) so that they could leave with a "complete gift," but no one was interested in that option.

Chapstick key rings.  I priced these at $4 each, $5 if you wanted it with a chapstick.  These were decently popular but surprisingly a bit of a pain to make.  My machine did not like the combination of bulk+small size and wanted to "eat" the edges of them as I began top-stitching the sides to make the "pocket."  Still, they are a great scrap buster and they sold well enough that I would make them again.

I made lots of these ornaments last year and figured I'd try selling them this year and use the leftovers for gifts.  I made much more than I originally planned because an eBay seller of the 4" hoops sent me 3 defective hoops and sent me 15 more as replacements.  Great customer service for sure but it did compel me to make much more than I'd planned.

These are a ball to make and definitely made my sewing room look like a bomb went off: practically all of my scrap bins were opened and bursting onto the floor everywhere.  Unfortunately, these did not sell well at all.  At the first fair I priced them for $8 each.  I figured that's about what you would pay at Kohl's for a decent ornament and mine are handmade and better quality.  No one bought any at the first fair and I only sold two at the next one (and I lowered the price to $6).  I'm okay with it though, it's become a little tradition for me to gift handmade ornaments every Christmas and now I am really stocked up.

I sold these tissue covers for $4 each, with a "special" of buy 3, get 1 free.  These were quite popular at the first fair, I don't think anyone looked at them at the next fair.

A kind friend, Melissa from my guild, suggested I try selling "folded hexagon coasters" and she offered to let me use her Accu-Quilt cutter to cut the hexagons.  I came to her house and cut a TON of hexagons, after spending the previous evening cutting a TON of 5" squares from my stash.  I didn't make the time to make all of the coasters that I pre-cut fabrics for, but I managed to finish six sets of four coasters out of Brambleberry Ridge fabrics.  I only sold one set.

On November 11, I was really ahead of schedule with all of my making.  I decided I could allow myself to make one more project to add to my stock.  A friend on Facebook told me about a "travel chalkboard roll-up" she'd received as a gift for her two year old daughter.  Lots of my friends on FB commented that they loved the idea and would buy some if I made them.  I was intimidated because I had no idea how to source the chalkboard fabric and I didn't know how to make one.... well, I figured it out (Blackboard fabric at Joanns is in the utility section and only came to about $3.40 per yard with a coupon) and made ten.

The last craft fair was a bomb and I didn't sell any of these!  But I did sell three to a friend on FB and my kids were super happy to get their own as well.  My pricing for these was $12 each or 3 for $30.

Thanks for reading if you've stayed with me this far.  On my next post, I'll share pictures of my craft fair set-up and displays and give you more detail about my experiences selling.

Scraptastic Link Up: Guild Scrap Pillow Swap

I am happy to be back to the blog today.  I finished my last craft fair yesterday and almost our whole household has been under the weather.  I am feeling pretty exhausted.  I plan to do several posts about my craft fairs, but since that's all I've eating, breathing, and sleeping, I wanted to take the opportunity to focus on something else for this post: the FRMQG scrap pillow swap I participated in, all in the midst of the craft fairs.  

Participants were asked to submit a small parcel of scraps and stash for another member to make them a pillow.  It was a "blind" swap where we didn't choose our partners.  In August, I won a prize in the Scraptastic Tuesday monthly linkup: a pack of Blueberry Park scraps from the designer, Karen Lewis.  I love this fabric line but haven't had the opportunity to purchase these fabrics.  One of my favorite friends from the guild received me as a partner and this is what she made me:

I love everything about it!  She did a great job.  You've got to take in the amazing quilting, it's a technique she's been practicing from the new book by Jacquie Gering Walk: Master Machine Quilting with Your Walking Foot.

From my partner, Melissa, I received a half yard of Kona white with a note basically asking that I "sew anything I want, just nothing Christmas themed."  That's very broad!  I definitely had a lot of freedom to do whatever I wanted.  I decided it would be fun to do some paper piecing; a time consuming/challenging technique that was quite the opposite to the mass-producing/easy sewing projects that consumed me for the craft fairs recently.

I already had a copy of the Forest Abstractions pattern by Violet Craft and decided to make a bunny:

Melissa loves everything "rainbow" and "color order" and I considered making a rainbow bunny, but I decided against that idea because I feared it might become too "Lisa Frank" and I didn't have a lot of confidence in my ability to place the fabrics in the right order.

Linking up to Scraptastic Tuesday!  I'll be back soon with all of my craft fair adventures.

Craft Fair Update

Just a quick post to update and share what I've been making for the upcoming craft fair.  Lately I've been focusing on having more "grown-up" items available for sale.  

Zip pouches:

Deciding on the fabric/color combinations is one of my favorite parts.  There isn't too much strategy involved on what I've chosen to use from my stash, but a big factor has been what color zippers I've had on hand.

Incidentally, I have lots of blue zippers.

I found these awesome kitchen towels at my local TJ Maxx and Marshalls.  They're the perfect size to put a strip of 2" finished 9 x 3 rows of squares patchwork.  Getting these made neatly and efficiently was a little bit of a trial and error process.  I finally settled on sewing the patchwork together and putting it together with sew-in (non-fusible) interfacing- it's really working well and resulting in very neat edges.

I have lots of the towels left to embellish and I'm making some Christmas ones now too.  If this craft fair/Etsy idea of mine is a flop, I will definitely have lots of handmade gifts on hand for years to come!  But I'm feeling optimistic and still having fun.

One thing I failed to address as I've talked about this craft fair preparation and commitment is that around the time I committed to the craft fair, my husband and I witnessed a fatal motorcycle accident.  It was so horrendous and traumatic and the disruption to my mental health has been significant.  It would be easy for me to dive into what happened and my many thoughts on that difficult experience, but this isn't really the place for that discussion.  I bring all of this up, however, to take the opportunity to praise the hobby of sewing and the value in having a pursuit that you are passionate about.  It really has been the best coping skill over the past few weeks.  The craft fair projects have proven to be perfect for my state of mind: they are simple and repetitive- and that's all I need right now.  I really am so grateful that I have a hobby that I love, it's a real blessing in my life.  I could sew all day, everyday- sometimes my obsession can impede making progress in other parts of my life..... but it really is an amazing gift to have this passion that can carry me through hard times, has connected me to wonderful friends near and far, and blesses my home and family through the enjoyment of handmade/personalized quilts, clothing, and decor.  I know a lot of you reading this are fellow makers and you get what I'm saying but I just wanted to remind you that we're lucky to have this crazy fun, hobby that is so dynamic. I don't mean to put others down, but I am so glad I am making things rather than watching TV in my rare spare time (and of course there are times when I watch TV and enjoy simply vegging out- of course!).

Thanks for reading!

Scrap Tuesday: Craft Fair Scrappiness

I appreciate everyone's kind feedback to my last post. I've really dived into making items for an upcoming craft fair and I wanted to link up to Scraptastic Tuesday to share my makes, as almost everything, so far, has been made with lots of scraps.

Last night, I made these patchwork tea towels with blue/navy and white scraps.  The stash fabric I added was a bit of the Cotton and Steel silverware print.  I bought these flour sack towels off of Amazon and I have to say they are really wonky and their shape is very uneven.  I hope I can still sell them despite the crookedness.

Anyway, this is a quick project and perfect for scraps:

Here's my stack of 25 reversible patchwork bibs: these are such a satisfying make.  I spot scraps from many previous projects in here, e.g. Dotty Dresden quilt, To Kill a Mockingbird apron for book club, binding on my Lizzy House rainbow quilt, etc.  It's so fun to revisit those tangible "memories" of previous projects.

Whenever I need a little mental break, I've been making a few tissue cozies.  These are so fast and simple.  I don't expect them to be real show-stoppers at the sale but I've been told that having lots of low-price/impulse items are good for craft fairs.

I will admit that using scraps so much has proved to be a time suck as well as a time saver- it depends what I'm making.  Making the flour sack tea towels from scraps was easy: just pulling out blue and white scraps from a bin was better than selecting lots of prints from my stash and cutting random strips off of yardage.  The tissue cozies are a little trickier: finding two coordinating fabrics in the right sizes to pair together has often proven time consuming.  I think I may go a different route with those from now on.

Linking up at Scraptastic Tuesday.  Thanks for reading.

Craft Fair Preparation

Previously, I blogged about my curiosity about selling handmade items.  It's an idea that has been on my mind for a while.  I dismissed the idea recently, feeling concerned about my son's behavioral issues he exhibited towards the end of our stay in New Hampshire- pledging to myself that he needs me and my attention more than I need to try out selling handmade items.  Well, those behavior problems completely disappeared not long after our return to Colorado (a good lesson for me to keep him in his own space and routine and not be separate from his father for too long).  And I just haven't gotten it out of my mind.... so I decided to sign up for my son's school "Market Day" as a way to try out this idea without diving too deep.

Honestly, it feels almost embarrassing to admit that I am going to try selling handmade items at a craft fair or Etsy.  I feel like there is a bit of stigma attached to this endeavor.  Lots of people have encouraged me that I should "sell my stuff" but they are never fellow sewing/quilting friends.  These friends understand that we are makers for the joy of it and the creative expression, not to the unrefined task of trying to make money.  I do feel like it's a bit of a double standard because so many people that are critical of selling handmade items would jump at the chance to sew for a fabric manufacturer or designer to get free fabric or a little press/notoriety- so we are often motivated by other factors than simple artistic expression.

I think the other reason I feel a bit embarrassed/shy to talk about my efforts to sell handmade items is because I am a bit fearful that it will be a big failure.  This is very new territory for me.  I don't know very much about what will sell the best, how to price my items, what craft fairs are worthwhile, how to best utilize Etsy.....  I have observed IG posts of people bemoaning very disappointing craft fairs and feeling so bereft because they barely made their booth fair back.  It definitely feels safe to just keep making stuff for myself, family, and friends.

I don't like to be a slave to fear.  I think it's worth a shot to give this new adventure a try.  Here are my reasons I would like to sell handmade items:

• I enjoy making small items that are quick and fun to make.  
• To my own surprise, I don't mind making the same thing over and over (yet.....?  I realize this might change).  I have already made 25 bibs, 3 zip pouches, a few crayon wallets (that my kids keep stealing for their own) and I am knee-deep in making 20 tissue cozies.  Still smiling.
• I already have a lot of the materials necessary to make these items.  I have a lot of fabric that may not be my favorite fabric that I am dying to transition into a heirloom quilt but it sure makes a fun zip pouch that I am hoping someone else will enjoy.  A lot of the items I have made already are from scraps.... I have a lot of scraps......  
• I enjoy making for my friends and family and most people are grateful and kind; but honestly, I definitely get the feeling that people would probably have been just as grateful to receive a gift card or store bought item.  I like making small items- why not try to sell a few instead of gift them to people who don't care?
• I am hoping to learn how to make a profit and enjoy the earnings.  My sewing habit is not cheap and being able to bring in some money instead of constantly spending it would be a thrill.  I can only imagine my husband's delight if I made my hobby self-sustaining, or, even better- was able to contribute to extras for the kids and so on....

I recently bought a KAM-Snap Setter on Amazon and I am in love!  No more velcro bibs for me!  It is awesome.  I really recommend it.

So I am starting this really slow.  Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately?!) I missed a lot of deadlines for most of the local holiday craft shows.  Even if I had prepared better, I wasn't super comfortable with fronting several booth fees all at once anyhow, especially because of my inexperience.  I am committed to my son's school Holiday Market and I hope that that one experience will give me the feedback I need to proceed with an Etsy shop as well as how to prepare for craft fairs next year.  I am on the waiting list for one other fair.  Time is tight and I am realizing that I will have some late nights to prepare, so as not to neglect my family.  I can already say that my "personal" sewing is on the back burner for now but I am okay with that.  We've got a lot of little girl dresses and quilts in this house to tide us over for the next month or so ;)

Finish it up Friday: Hello Kitty Quilt Top

 I've been excited to share this finish.  I really worked hard at finishing this Hello Kitty top.  I truly considered giving up on this project because all of those tiny squares!  But one thing that kept me going was that I already had cut all of those squares and I didn't want all of that time and effort (and dull rotary blades!) to go to waste.

Once the head of HK really became apparent, working on the rest of the quilt felt more exciting.  And another fun thing that happened with this project is that my daughter, Charlotte (for whom this is for), really got excited about helping me with it.  For about the last 1/3 of the quilt, I would tell her what color squares I needed, and she would choose them and lay them out for me.  It was fun doing a "team" project.

I also have to say that it is SO satisfying to look at this quilt and marvel that most of it came from my scrap bins.  The only squares that weren't were the bright solid white and the dark gray prints (because I didn't have scraps of those).  It's just so cool to make "something" out of "nothing."

I added the purple border to make this quilt twin sized.  The approximate size of this top is 72 x 88.

When we finished the top, I had Charlotte wear some of her Hello Kitty gear and pose for a picture:

I thought this was kind of a fun photo (below), it shows you how big this quilt really is/feels: like a giant stuffed cat is taking over our house.

I am going to look into renting a longarm from a new rental source I discovered in Colorado Springs in order to quilt this quilt top.  Cat fabric is so big right now- there are many lovely options for purchasing backing - especially this one- but I am pretty confident I will "force" myself to piece together something scrappy from my plentiful stash.  Within this past week, I have been doing a lot of de-junking, purge/cleaning and I just have got to use what I already have!

The Hello Kitty QAL was designed and hosted by Amy at Sukiedontyaknow.  I've been in contact with her a bit about this quilt and have made sure to repeatedly voice my gratitude for putting together this tutorial.  She really put a lot of work into it and it was well done and easy to follow.  Check it out and make a HK quilt of your own.

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday.

Blogger's Quilt Festival: Fancy Fox Edition

I finished this quilt over the summer but haven't blogged it yet because it's been really difficult to find the time and opportunity to photograph this quilt.  The Blogger's Quilter Festival, hosted by Amy's Creative Side (happening right now) gave me the push to finally get a few outdoor photographs.

It was super windy yesterday, but we made the best of it:

This, of course, is the infamous "Fancy Fox" quilt, pattern by Elizabeth Hartman.  I made it twin-sized with primarily my stash of Jennifer Paganelli's Crazy Love collection as well as other fabrics by Lizzy House, Anna Maria Horner, and Tula Pink.  I used a Cloud9 solid available at Joann's for the background.

I thought it was fun to choose bright, girly fabrics for this pattern because so many people make this quilt for boys and choose limited and more subdued palettes.  I wanted to do something a little different and knew the gray background would make it all pop.

This project was begun in earnest at the February FRMQG retreat and I let it sit for a while after that.  I finished it in time to bring to Laurena's Longarm Quilting business this summer and rented a Statler Stitcher to quilt the rose pattern all over the quilt.

I decided to use some voile from my stash from the backing.  Laurena told me she would be concerned about the longevity of an apparel fabric on the back, which sent me into a minor panic, but I went with it anyway.  Very few of our quilts get constant use, so I hope we will be okay in the long term.

I did hand binding with an AMH Honor Roll print and came home to Colorado with a completed quilt.  It felt so good!  I really haven't done a lot of quilting lately and it felt great to have a WIP off of my "list."

I am entering this quilt into the "Large Quilts" category since it's approximately 304" around.  It's a generous twin sized quilt that has been nice for couch time relaxing... I am sure it will make an appearance in my daughter's room one day too.  Thanks for visiting.

Strawberry Backpack for First Day of Preschool

One more completed bag to document and then I promise, I am really going to start working on more quilts!

Over the summer, I bought the book Lovely Little Patchwork of the IG destash.  Charlotte and I squealed over the cuteness of the pattern for the "Strawberry Backpack."  I told Charlotte I would make it for her first day of preschool....

And then September 11 came (Charlotte's first day of preschool was the 12th) and it was also my husband's birthday.... and Charlotte even told me, "I can just use my Hello Kitty backpack for school, it's okay."  But one thing I try to do as a parent, is honor my promises to my kids.  I want to be dependable.  So I stayed up late that night and finished the backpack at 11:59- just before midnight!

The front of the backpack is made completely out of scraps.  (I was grateful Charlotte eventually consented to a color combination of pink and red rather than her very favorite combination: pink and purple.)

This is the back:

I did a few modifications to the bag: I quilted the front with some batting and muslin backing, I added batting to the back exterior, I added woven interfacing to the leaf piece, and I used cording found in the home dec section of Joann's rather than going with double folded bias tape as recommended.

The leaf pattern had to be copied at some odd size like 136% or something and it didn't fit the piece of fabric it was meant to be traced on very well.  It may be due to an error in copying but I must add that I always find it annoying to visit a copy place before I can even begin to start my project.  Rant over.

So here's my little cutie on her first day.  I managed to convince her to wear her 2T Cattitude rollerskate dress as a tunic- so happy I don't have to retire it yet!

She's been using the backpack consistently at preschool, I kind of expected her to jump at the chance to use her store-bought Hello Kitty one... but I am not complaining.  The strawberry backpack is not super practical but so adorable!

Linking up with Scraptastic Tuesday.

Art Student Tote for Me

I made an Art Student Tote (pattern by Anna Maria Horner) for me.  I started this as a project to do with a friend on Labor Day.  I got around to finishing it this week.  

I made a few modifications of my own: lots of interfacing within the interior and exterior bag pieces, I wrapped the strap fabric around nylon webbing instead of using interfacing, I added an interior zipper pocket, and I added a gusset with a zipper just inside of the bag.  

I've made this bag before and I really remember feeling much happier with my first version.  I'm trying to figure out what the difference is.  One thing that might improve this bag is top-stitching around the top- I didn't have the right color of coordinating thread, but will be sure to pick some up soon.  The top edge is just looking so sloppy.

Here's a picture of the back of the bag.  How I love these pretty feathers!

The interior of the bag was made from some of my AMH stash fabrics- they coordinated quite well without looking too matchy-matchy.

Admittedly, this project is leaving me feeling a bit dejected.  Maybe I am just tired, I don't know.  I just don't love it like I loved the first Art Student tote I made.  I don't understand the big difference.  I am eager to return to some quilt WIP's now- something a little more "2D" is what I am craving.

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday.

New Fabric Pull

I am kind of forcing myself to work on WIPs lately- the space they are taking up is driving me a little insane.   But I recently couldn't resist a new fabric pull centered around some of my favorite colors: red and pink.  I decided to add in the dark brown to add contrast and not make it too Valentine's Day.

Now I am on the hunt for more of the dark brown "Kitty Dreams" Lizzy House Catnap fabric.  Any ideas?  Do any of you readers know of a local or online source?  And hopefully a more difficult question to answer, why is it so easy to fall in love with fabrics that are out of print and hard to find?!

During my search for this fabric, I came across an online fabric store that specializes in only selling cat fabrics.  Check it out.  You're welcome.