De-stashing

The remnant collection in The Lair is getting out of hand, so a little de-stashing was in order. I’ve been meaning to try making infinity scarves, so seized the opportunity to make something a little new (at least to me) and tried one. Hmm, like many new things I try, making infinity scarves turned into a little obsession and before I knew it, I’d made five! They’re fun and fairly quick to make, just a long tube joined at the ends to make a loop. Next time, I’ll try putting a twist in the tube and turn it into a mobius scarf. They can be worn as a long scarf or wrapped to make a cosy cowl snug about the neck, and their beauty is that they stay in place and don’t unwrap themselves at inopportune moments.

Find them here: http://www.rethreading.etsy.com

My delving fingers first encountered the pink and purple strata of the remnant pile (I tend to work in colour themes, usually because it’s quicker than rethreading the sewing machine with another colour: hmm, what else do I have that I could sew with pink or purple thread?), so the first couple are a patchwork of those colours. I also had some lovely long strips left from a couple of saris; the border prints make a very pretty scarf. Only four pictured, the camera batteries ceased cooperating.

After five I made myself work on something else 🙂

A friend phoned in high excitement to alert me to a fabric find at Vinnies in Pinewood. It was too late in the day to make it up there, but I was on their doorstep first thing the next morning (even before the shop was open, because I thought opening time was 9.30 rather than 10!)
Look what I found:

A bolt (or perhaps, part bolt) of John Kaldor fabric in a pinky-red and white houndstooth. There’s at least 10 metres, maybe more, on there. A mere $10! Enough fabric to make several garments, methinks.

Also:

A metre of quilting cotton featuring cats for $1, a pretty silk scarf with a maple leaf and “Quebec, Canada” (silk and a Canadian association, might have been meant for me) $2, and a glass and faux pearl beaded necklace also $2.

Plus my friend bought some fabric for me, below – there’s about 4m. I’m a lucky crafter 🙂
These treasures should keep me busy for a while!

O frabjous day!

Callooh, callay!

Perhaps I shouldn’t be crowing – once again, I succumbed to the siren call of the fabric shop and bought new stuff. I didn’t mean to, really. The errand was for some bias binding, hooks ‘n’ eyes, maybe some thread to finish a couple of projects; odds and ends I wasn’t able to furnish from my studio. I could be strong, turn a blind eye to all the lovely, luscious, delicious prints and colours and textures calling out to me to come admire, fondle, BUY.

Yeah, not so much 🙂

I regret nothing!

Here are some of the resulting garments, now up in my shop at http://www.rethreading.etsy.com

To market, to market…

I had a stall last Sunday at A+ Market, a market dedicated to clothing (and accessories) in size 16 and up. Whoo! Lots of ladies, heaps of lovely wearables, it was all a bit overwhelming. As was the weather, 37 degrees Celsius, thank the goddess for an airconditioned venue. I almost melted when hauling all my stall stuff back to the car and by the time I drove home in a vehicle with temps approaching OVEN, I was all but a puddle. Rehydrating was the first order of business! I have finally unpacked all the stock I brought home, tidied The Lair (trashed in the lead up to going to market), and regained my even keel. At least, as even as it ever gets around here 🙂

Now I can get back to the bit I really enjoy: creating.

The market was a worthwhile exercise. While I didn’t sell as much I’d hoped, I did sell some, gave out lots of business cards, received a lot of useful feedback (some intended, some merely eavesdropped! People are very free with their comments…), and talked to some lovely people. Working from home, conversations are few and far between some weeks, and it was great to interact with some customers/potential customers.

And I got the most useful tip: some of my garments were slipping off their coathangers, and a shopper told me about winding an elastic band around the ends of the hangers. I tried it yesterday when re-sorting everything and it works a treat! The elastic band provides enough traction to keep the sliding at bay. Thank you, anonymous tipster 🙂

Here are some photos of my stall:

And a bonus street piano:

Milestone

I’ve been making this style of tunic for a few years now, first for myself, then for sale on Ebay and now on Etsy. The soft grey and cream one below is number 250 in that series! I know because I’ve kept all the “holes” cut out for the neck, counted them a couple of months ago and have been keeping a tally since. One day I will make something with all the roundels of wildly varying fabric 🙂

Available here: https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/220585489/tunic-caftan-plus-size-1x-2x-3x-4x-5x?ref=shop_home_active_6

To celebrate, I made myself a new pattern from the old, which had become a bit grotty and torn after being pinned 250 times.

And now the tally is 252 tunics and counting…

Fabric scrap reduction? Not so much…

I’m working on another obi belt, in a blue palette this time.

My aim is to have as close to zero waste when I’m sewing as is humanly possible. These obis (or is obi one of those words that are both singular and plural, like moose, or sheep?) are a gesture towards that, using bits and bobs of fabrics from other projects, a pinch of this, a length of that, plucked from the scraps that aren’t big enough to make a whole other thing on their own.

And yet, my collection of fabric scraps never seems to diminish. How does that work?

Clutch

When I’m sewing, my aim is to have as close to zero waste as possible, if not in the current project then in a future one. I save even the tiniest scraps! Mostly I’m not sure what I’ll do with them, but they’ll get used at some point. Hoarder, moi? Not quite yet 🙂

With this intention in mind, I started making obi belts like this one:

And now I’ve been experimenting with bags, clutch purses this time. They require largish scraps, but, hey, I have plenty of those. The bonus is that because the pattern pieces are rectangles there are no awkwardly shaped remainders, which both appeals to my mercurial sense of order and minimizes leftovers. I’ve been quilting the inner and outer layers together, sometimes with matching and sometimes with contrasting thread, including some heavy curtain blockout fabric as an interfacing layer – it gives a good heft to the resulting clutch, not stiff but self-supporting. The red/white/blue print, purple geometric print and red lining fabric are all vintage, while the gray/black hexagons is crisp new cotton. The red fabric has been in my fabric stash for a loooooong time, and I suspect it came from either my grandmother or aunt’s sewing – they couldn’t throw out a good scrap either 🙂

There are three clutches so far, all in my Etsy shop http://www.rethreading.etsy.com

 

 

Making and making

I’ve been busy making new things for my Etsy shop. Garments and bags and belts and collars, oh my! – too many ideas, too little time. Not all have been listed as yet but here’s a little selection. Want to see more?

http://www.rethreading.etsy.com

I’m trying out some new styles: halter tops, obi belts, hand painted garments, quilted clutch bags. The obis were the most fun to make. So far I’ve tried black and white, purple, and red. Hmmm, what colour next? Maybe blue? I foresee a session of dragging out remnants to audition, and making a glorious mess doing so, coming on. Shame there isn’t anyone but me to clean it up afterwards…

New things

There are new things in my shop, http://www.rethreading.etsy.com

I’ve started sewing with knits, a new skill set and a steep learning curve 🙂

I do love chopping things up and putting them back together in new ways.

And I’ve added several items to the sale section of Rethreading. I am fast running out of space for stock, so fast that I’ll have to consider where to put the new things I’m making – some of it needs to find a new home (ie. go live with someone else who will cherish it!). Since I produce something new most days, I’m continually adding to the bulging clothes rack in the studio. Something has to give! And since I can’t stop making…

Some of the sale stock (most at 25% off the original price):

Reducing the fabric stash

Sewing for business most of the time I haven’t made much for myself lately. This oversized tee shirt was a bit of an experiment, made on the fly without a pattern but with a general destination in mind. It has black jersey contrast cuffs, a roundneck and I love the flat cat design. I’ve worn this several times already! It’s very, very comfy. And I had just enough flat cat jersey to squeak out a similar top for my Etsy shop, http://www.rethreading.etsy.com

But this one is mine 🙂

This black asymmetrical poncho has been sitting unloved in a drawer since I made it several years ago. Again, no pattern, just crocheted till it looked done. It’s basically a long scarf partly sewn up along one long edge, with fringes on the short ends. It always sat oddly and, in my quest to re-home or re-fashion things I’m not using, I had a long look at this. I undid the seam, then crocheted it back together but with a wider opening. Bingo! That did the trick, and I wore it a couple of times before the weather turned warm. Took about twenty minutes or so – if only I had figured out the problem earlier it would’ve been a useful winter layer ages ago…

Oh, and it looks better on me than it does on the mannequin – she’s much more svelte and doesn’t quite fill out the poncho in the proper manner.