Handmade Monday Week 17 - A Nervous Commission

It has been a busy week for me this week and a rather nervous one.
I had a lovely surprise in my Folksy inbox last weekend when a lady messaged me saying that she had purchased a bag a couple of weeks ago and loves it so much that would now like one exactly the same but double the size and could i do that?





Yes of course i said, quoted a price and got to work on a pattern. I doubled the length and width of the bottom and straight away went into panic mode, it looked enormous!




But i continued and doubled the pelmet size too.





I cut and stitched the base.

Prepared the pelmet.

Sewed and attached longer ,wider straps.

Then panic set in more! It seemed enormous, what was i to do? So much easier when the customer sees and buys.

So i decided to take photos before doing the final sew and email the customer.

I felt that you still couldnt see just how big it was so i took another putting one of my bags beside to show the difference in size.

I nervously awaited a reply and PHEW she replied that it was perfect!!!!!

So i stitched it all together, added my famous trait of a flower.

Then listed and she bought straight away!

With that out the way i turned my attention to trying a new bag. A basic design but very pretty.

Little girls will love this one.

And now to turn my attention to preparing stock for this weekends fair. Held in the gardens of Castle Ashby in Northampton and organised by "The Anns" of Pennine fairs i am really looking forward to this one and hoping to do well.

Mobile phone cases are a good seller.

So i've cut out loads ready to sew.

These pen cases are also a good seller, ideal for your handbag.

So i've made loads of them and now need to attach the flowers to finish them off.

And finally my new bag charms are also proving to be really popular.

So i have flowers everywhere!!!! And also some butterflies too! I think there will be a real summery feel to my stall this time.

Thanks for taking time to pop by and if you want to see what other crafters have been up to this week pop along to 1stUniquegifts blog and follow the links.

Until next time

xxx

How To Make A Bow

You may remember a few weeks back i posted a photo of this bag made from William Morris fabric and said that i felt it wouldnt look right with my usual Kanzashi flower and wondered if a bow would suit it better.
Well i havent made bows before so this was a new one on me and finally this week i got round to making one. I folded a strip of fabric in half and marked out 2 parallel lines 13ins long and 1.75ins wide finishing the ends off to a point and sewed around them leaving an opening at the centre for reversing. After stitching i trimmed around to leave a small seam allowance.

Turn right side out and press.

Fold and stitch 2 tucks at the centre of the strip and 2 tucks 3ins in from either end.

Fold the strip into a bow shape and stitch into place.

Add a small strip of fabric accross the centre made in the same way as the bow to create the bow knot. You can make this any width you prefer, mine is an inch wide. Secure with a few stitches at the back.

Decorate with a button or brooch.

My lovely brass button was acquired from a lovely 50 year button stash that i have just been given by a family member.

Attach to the bag with small hidden stitches and VOILA here it is and definately suits the bag i think!

And if you dont fancy making this yourself you can find the bag for sale in my Folksy shop CottonsAndDreams.

Many thanks for popping by and if you would like to see what other clever crafty folks have been up to this week follow the link to 1stuniquegifts and have a read of everyones blog for Handmade Monday.

Until next time.

xxx

Handmade Monday Week 7 - Benn Hall Craft Fair

Welcome back for this weeks handmade Monday organised by Wendy of 1st Unique Gifts.
This week i have avoided the lure of the internet in order to get myself organised for my first fair of the year.
For those of you who dont know me i began attending fairs about a year and a half ago with my best friend. Unfortunately, due to personal differences, we went our seperate ways just before Christmas and i made the decision in the New Year that i was going to start my own solo journey.
So today was the first fair for the newly formed CottonsAndDreams.
There were plenty of things to organise this week so on my day off from my "proper job"on Friday i took a trip round the shops to get final bits and pieces.
I found a lovely haberdashery stall on Northampton market and bought a lovely selection of buttons and a lovely string of embroidered coloured flowers.


Then off to The Bramble Patch for MORE fabric! They will know me by my first name soon!

In Wilkinsons i found these cool black fruit baskets and thought they would go well on my stall.

Also in Willkinsons some cream bowls for smaller items.

And after a lovely pub lunch with my mum i went home and organised myself into bag making mode!

I managed 4 more bags for the collection.

I finally crashed into my bed at 1am last night and up again at 7 this morning to finish little bits, pack and head off for The Benn Hall in Rugby town center.

It was a decent sized fair and it was good to see a few familiar faces.

I used some long boxes at the back of the table to give me a bit of height and was overall pleased with my first attempt at setting up the stall. I know it takes a while to get your desired layout sorted. The photo below doesnt really do it justice as it looks a bit cramped and slightly cluttered.

So how did i do?

Well i didnt make a million and was a bit disappointed that there wasnt a lot of interest in the bags but i DID sell quite a few of my fabric flower brooches and a really good selection of everything else plus an order for a bolster cushion so i am a very happy and very tired lady this evening!

And i have another fair on Tuesday at Blooms garden center so fingers crossed for more sales.

Thanks for taking the time to pop by and if you have the time check out what the other participants of Handmade Monday have been up to this week by visiting Wendys blog and clicking on the links.

Until next time.

xxx

The Folksy March Hares!

Well what a day!

Having spent a bit of time browsing thru the folksy forum last week i decided to join in the March listing club or The March Hares as it has been named!

The idea is to list an item each day thru March, view all others items and promote things that you like in order to create more sales for sellers.

The first day has been very successful with many sellers joining in and, i think, a few sales have been made.

So i decided to blog my 6 favourite items.

This was a chore in itself as i have never done a grid of 6 clickable photos before!

Having followed a template on a blog i have just done the mammoth task of teaching myself to use Html code. And it worked!!

So here are my favourite 6 items of today, tho i could have easily picked more. Click on the photo to take you to the sellers shop.

If you, like me, have never done a clickable photo or grid you can read all about it here

And if you have a Folksy shop and want to join in the challenge pop along to the Folksy forum and join in.