Inspired Creatives

My how time flies.  We all know that and we all experience days, weeks, months, even years slipping through our lives without us barely noticing.  Well, we usually notice the years.  If you’re not noticing those, maybe you’re somehow related to Rip Van Winkle.  I’ve done my share of procrastinating, of putting things off till tomorrow, of being absolutely positively stuck in my tracks with no motivation to move forward.  I want this year to be a little different.  I want to be as productive as possible (don’t we all?).  I want to complete more projects (don’t we all?).  Yes, that means start to finish.  Not start to “just need to put the clasp or the zipper or the button or the glaze on and then it’ll be finished.”  No, no, no.  Got enough of those lying around.  To kick start my year I’ve joined two challenges.  One is Creative Every Day (#CED2010 on twitter) which goes all year.  The other is Thing A Day which lasts through the month of February.

I know both these challenges will help me out.  I’ve already started thinking in terms of integrating creativity into my daily round instead of viewing it as something separate, detached from my life.  I’m also becoming more forgiving of myself.  I’ve got a lot of interests.  I’ve found out that’s not a bad thing.  I can jump from one thing to another without feeling guilty and still get things accomplished.

The pics above are just a sampling of what I worked on in January (in other words, what got finished).  There’s other bits and pieces, trials and errors lying around, but some things really aren’t ready for prime time.  Maybe they’ll make the cut this month.

Well, it’s far from a masterpiece.  In fact, I’ll be including this as one of my first craft fails for the  next Craft Social, co-hosted by Barbara Forbes-Lyons (@penguintrax on twitter) and Diane Gilleland (@sisterdiane on twitter).  These are great crafty ladies.  You should definitely plan on taking part if you’re at all inclined toward the handmade or just want to see what’s bubbling up in the Maker Movement explosion.  They’ll be hosting the next one Saturday, February 20 from 3 – 5 PM, EST.  Check for hashtag #craftsocial.

Now back to my handbag escapade.  I was “inspired” by this lovely little clutch on Pfaff’s site.  The tutorial was much more focused on bead placement and using Pfaff attachments than actual purse construction.  Being a beginner, I should have opted for a much more detailed tutorial.  The fabric is a lovely retro sample piece from Waverly with a coordinating broadcloth lining.  I made two major mistakes with this fabric.  First, I pre-washed it.  Since it’s technically home decor fabric, it probably should be dry cleaned.  The feel changed dramatically.  Second, I fused Pellon Peltex #70 stabilizer to this fairly light weight fabric.  Perhaps the pre-wash contributed to my folly, but the Peltex creased pretty badly, showing through the fabric.  I think a slightly lighter weight stabilizer would have worked better.

I’m satisfied with the general structure of the clutch.  I’m even impressed with how the contrasting side inserts turned out.  I’ve learned my lesson on installing magnetic closures though – find a tutorial and follow it.  Of course, the closure is not supposed to be showing through to the top flap.  I’ve since had the aha moment that the closure goes on BEFORE the bag and lining are sewn together.  Oh well, live and learn.  This has caused me to be on the look out for a retro pin, flower broach or something to cover up my mistake.

All and all, the project was fun, and it does LOOK like a clutch.  I’ve got several weights of stabilizer now, so I think it’ll be trial and error until I get a good feel for what weight goes well with what fabric.  It’s definitely a fail, but as soon as I find something to cover the obvious closure mistake I think I’ll take it out for a test run anyway.  Like I said, it does at least look like a clutch.

WooHoo!   I did it!  It’s done!  I even kinda like it for a first try in many, many years.

So, everyone out there (there is someone out there, right?) knows by now that I’ve got kind of a cyber-crush on Blonde Chicken, aka Tara Swiger.  I’ve blogged about her here and swooned over her Learn to Knit Kit here.  She just seems to be doing things right in that crafty business sort of way, and quite frankly, she’s an inspiration.  She’s even opened a brick & mortar store, A Novel Yarn, in Jonesborough, TN.  Now that’s someone following their passion.  Tara, if you think I’m teetering on stalker status, let me know.  I’ll back off a bit, but not much.

Ok, back to my scarflet.  I really like it.  It was a breeze to knit.  I will admit that I have knitted before, but there’s been somewhat of a prolonged (and I mean looong) hiatus from it.  So long that I had to relearn how to cast on.  Enter the Learn to Knit Kit.  I found Blonde Chicken’s instructions quite clear and easy to understand with plenty of photos to help us visual learners.  She’s even got a video with the premium kit, and I’m sure that’s a bonus for first-timers.  I love the organic cotton yarn.  It’s so soft to the touch and feels great around the neck.  I’ve even taken to wearing my scarflet inside with some of my sweaters and blouses.  I like having something around my neck when it’s cold, and this is the perfect compliment.

I added two polymer clay buttons that didn’t turn out too badly.  I used this tutorial from HGTV.com.  I like the retro effect, but the extruder I have is VERY hard on the hands.  I don’t think I could make a fist for two or three days.  Ouch!!!  Time for an upgrade (anyone have a Makin’s they’re not using?  Check out the Re-crafting tab above.  Maybe we can talk).

My heartfelt thanks goes out to Tara for lighting that creative spark in me that’s been dormant for too long.  I’ve even joined her new group on ravelry.com, and by God, I’m going to put my little scarflet up there right with the best of them.  I don’t think I should be too mortified, should I?

I know I posted briefly about this early on, but I got some updated photos and really think this little gem deserves repeating.

We’ve lived in Grandview Heights for 3 years and I just discovered the absolute most wonderful fabric source on earth only 2 blocks from the house.  Chelsea House Design Source is a Trade Design Center serving the design community in Ohio, Kentucky & West Virginia.  I could never afford designer fabrics the likes of Robert Allen, Beacon Hill, Waverly or F. Schumacher & Co.  But in the warehouse of Chelsea House I can feast on discontinued designs and promotional samples to my heart’s delight.  A shopping bag full to the brim of promotional samples, called “memos” in the trade, can be had for a mere $5!  Yes, I said $5.00!!!  And these fabrics are stunning.  They’re generally 18″ to 27″ squares, but you can find larger pieces. Simply dig deeper in the bin.  Bolts of fabric can be had for as little as $2.50/yard up to maybe $6 or $10!  Fabrics whose retail prices may be well over $100!  I just couldn’t believe a find like this in my own back yard.  This is a crafter’s paradise.

Mr. Spots is learning to sew.  He goes crazy over all the beautiful fabric samples, and has found that cats who sew must be careful with pins…

Market Bag

Haven’t sewn since can’t remember when. Used to be pretty good. As can be seen, I’m a little rusty. Hubby asked pretty much in horror, “You gonna put THOSE up on the website???”  Well yeah.  What the Heck.  It’s MY site.  But I wholeheartedly agree, they are pretty awful.  I can’t seem to stitch a straight line.  To my defense though, the combined layers of fabric turned out to be a little too thick for my 1950′s-recycled-from-my-neighbor’s-back-porch White sewing machine.  But the fabric is divine.  Fabric is recycled from Chelsea House’s Warehouse in Grandview Heights, Ohio. The free Market Bag and Coupon Holder Pattern can be found here at Joann Fabrics.

Just one of the promotional sample pieces I got from Chelsea House Designer Source in Grandview Heights, OH.  Think I’m going to make a Market Bag.  Begging hubby to take pics of some of the other pieces.  Truly stunning fabrics.  You get to stuff an entire shopping bag full of samples (generally 18″ square or more, some really large) for only $5.  Yes, $5.00!!!!  Bolts of fabric go for $2.50/yard!  This is a crafter’s paradise.