Handmade Monday Week 8 - Bags, Fabrics and Cushions

Welcome to week 8 of Handmade Monday run by Wendy of 1stUniqueGifts. I feel quite a sense of achievement to still be joining in with the challenge of weekly blogging and still being spurred into keeping up with my sewing because of it.
Have to admit failure on The March Hares listing club on Folksy though, managing only to list for 5 days of the month!!!! Maybe try again in April!!
So this week was a positive sales week for me. If you popped by earlier in the week you will know i did a fair on Tuesday at Blooms Garden centre in Rugby and did really well. 4 bags sold and i now have 5 on order so a lot of sewing going on in the evenings after work at the moment.
Before doing anything new this week i finished off a bag i had been making from some left over William Morris fabric i had from a customers order earlier in the year.
As yet i havent put flowers on the front as i'm not sure they will look as good on this fabric and am wondering whether to try a small bow instead. As that bag was finally finished i visited The Bramble Patch and spent rather a lot on fabric!! It probably is a much dearer way of making things when i only buy by the quarter but it means i can always keep fresh with different designs and colours rather than mass producing the same product all the time and getting bored by what i do.
So i got some more dotty and daisy fabric but also some blue, red and even pink corduroy.

Preparation is the boring part so i cut, pinned and sewed darts in all of them at the same time, and also the linings.

Then the best bit, sewing them together!!

So that's the bases done and next job this week is to do all the pelmets.

As well taking all my new stock to the fairs last week i took some of my old stuff as well and put on at a bargain price just to destash.

Among these items were the bolster cushions i made a couple of years back for kids. Filled with small polyester beads they are brilliant cushions for kids, especially on long car journeys.

And i did well and sold half a dozen and even had a lady asking if i could make her one in chicken fabric, which i have!!

Now to clear up the mess on the floor!!!

Thanks for popping by and dont forget to pop by 1stUniqueGifts blog and see what other clever crafters have been up to this week.

Until Next Time.

xxx

Blooms Garden Centre Craft fair March 15th

On Tuesday i took a days holiday from work to attend another craft fair at Blooms Garden Centre in Rugby.
I had been told about the fair from a fellow crafter from the craft forum and, as it was local, decided it would be a great opportunity for me.
As usual it was a mad rush for me as i was one of the last to arrive but it didnt take me too long to set up.
Blooms runs a gardening club and on this particular day they were offering double points to their members so we knew there would be quite a few people around.
We didnt anticipate how many though!!
All morning there seemed to be people everywhere and quite often i found that there was quite a gathering around my table.
It was a lovely feeling having people looking at my table and an even better feeling when they started buying. And buy they did!
I managed to sell 4 out of the 6 bags that i had made plus orders for 3 more. The fabric flowers also went well as did the pen cases and mobile phone cases. Several of my cards were picked up plus an invite to attend fairs in Bourton on the Water.
It was a great day and a good morale boost plus great to catch up with fellow crafters that i havent seen for a while.
But now i need to retreat to my machine and get sewing. The next fair is a big one so lots to be done!!
Until next time
xxx