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

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

Massive Disappointment. What now?!!

Was so excited this morning. Was so sure that we were going to be offered the lease on the shop and then Niki phoned at lunchtime with the soul destroying news that one of the company directors/partners had returned from his holiday and had said that he didn't want the shop to be used to sell food at all full stop. So that was that. Dream shattered. Again!!
So i spent lunchtime at work in silence instead of the usual jovial manner that i have. Couldn't even really discuss it with anyone, just mull it over in my head. It is a temptation just to have a gift shop. I know we could fill it with so many lovely things from all the talented people I've met on the craft forum, folksy and craft fairs but would it be enough. First would it raise enough capital to pay the bills plus 2 wages and secondly would we find it mind numbingly boring ? So hard to make a descision on something so important. My OH tells me there are 30 shop units to rent in Rugby, but would we get lost in a busier town? My head aches just thinking about it.
On a lighter note i have cracked on with the tooth fairy pillows tonight and forced myself to stay away from the craft forum. Until now!!! Have worked out if i make 35 and sell them all that will just cover the cost of the table in Milton Keynes! Must be easier ways to get rich! xx