Creative Minds are Rarely Tidy

One of my favorite blogs to check in with is Sew, Mama, Sew. The February 4th posting was all about fabric stashes, and they asked readers to write about their own stashes by answering a set of questions that they posted. I am really enjoying looking at everyone's stashes and seeing how they like to organize them, so I thought I would write about my own stash.

And it just so happens that my sewing room is clean right now. (Trust me, it's usually a minor disaster area!) It is also used as the guest room, and since we have company coming in this evening, I had to get in there and pick up my mess.

This is where I like to hole up and hang out. My "Mom Cave." I even have a TV in here so I can sew and watch my favorite shows. And my "sewing table?" A heavy, wooden desk from a yard sale for $15 put back-to-back with a small shelving unit which I got free from my inlaws. Works for me!

My sewing room motto:

Now, onto the "stash" questions!

What do you usually sew?

I mostly sew children's clothing and I sew a lot of gifts for people. I also sew a lot of my own home decor items like bedding and curtains.

When you shop for fabric, what size cuts do you usually buy? (i.e. If you see something beautiful, but you don’t have a use for it right away, how much do you buy?)

If I'm buying for a specific project, I'll just buy what I need. If it's something for my Etsy shop, and I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with it, I'll buy 1 to 2 yards. A lot of times I'll have a specific pattern in mind and I'll buy enough to make 2 or 3 of them in different sizes.

Do you buy on impulse or do you go out looking for something you need?

A little of both. But I rarely buy something that isn't on some kind of sale! Oh, and my mom is the Queen of Second Hand...she's always picking up fabric at yard sales and estate sales. Usually some of it ends up at my house!

Are you a pre-washer? If you are, do you wash your fabric before you need it, or only when you’re ready to use it?

I am definitely a pre-washer, especially because I mostly sew clothing and I almost always use 100% cottons. I would hate to put something together, wash it, then it shrinks and doesn't look right. Plus, my Momma would die if she found out I didn't wash my fabrics!

Do you iron it?

Yep, as soon as it comes out of the dryer, before I fold it and put it on the shelf. That way when I pull it out to use it, it's ready to go!

How do you sort it? (color, print size, collection, etc.)

There is no real method to my madness. I do put all my Christmas fabrics together and keep most of my novelty or children's fabrics together. All my fleece is in a box, and all my heavier fabrics (like denims, bottom-weight twills, etc) are on the bottom shelf.

The shelf behind where I sit usually holds things I'm currently working on or things that are upcoming.

Do you have any special folding techniques?

Nope, just flat and as neatly as I can.

How do you store your fabric?

I used to have all of my fabric in bins. I hated it. I couldn't see everything, and I would forget what I had in there. Now that I have it all out on shelves, it is so much nicer. I can scan it and make a quick inventory of what I have and what I need to get. I do keep my small scraps in a box and my fleece in a box.

What tips do you have for building up a well-rounded stash?

No real tips!

When do you say enough is enough?

Can you ever have enough?

What are some of your favorite stash-busting projects?

Nightgowns and skirts for my daughter. And anytime I'm making a gift for someone, I try to use out of my stash first.

Do you have a current favorite print in your stash? Let’s see it!

I just picked these up at my local JoAnn Fabrics....I love them! They look like the kind of print my mom would have used in the 70's to make our clothes. I can't wait to make some spring outfits out of these.

What’s your definition of the perfect stash?

Something well-stocked and well-organized. I don't think mine is perfect, but it's working for me!

"A Government That Is Big Enough to Give You All You Want Is Big Enough to Take It All Away"

Once again, the federal government, in all their infinite wisdom, has had a knee-jerk reaction to something. Have you heard of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA)? The CPSIA was passed in 2008 in reaction to the thousands of unsafe toys from China and other countries making their way to shelves in American stores. In a nutshell (a small nutshell), the CPSIA requires any product for children under 12 be tested and certified by an independent 3rd party laboratory that it meets the new levels for lead and phthalates. That’s any product: toys, clothes, books, school supplies, sports equipment, etc. etc.

We all remember the many toy recalls over the past few years…I spent lots of time inspecting all the lot numbers on my son’s numerous Thomas the Tank Engine toys and my daughter’s Dora the Explorer toys when they were recalled for possible lead-based paint contamination. So the CPSIA is a good thing, right? It will help keep our children safe right? Well, it’s not exactly that black & white.

You see, all the toys, clothes and other great handmade products made by myself and other artisans on ebay, Etsy, and other websites would also fall under CPSIA.

So I should just make sure that I purchase all my supplies from companies that test everything for lead, right? No. As it stands now, the law requires each component of every end product to be tested. So if I make a dress out of cotton fabric with a zipper and two buttons, I have to test the fabric, the thread, the buttons, and the zipper. And if I buy enough of those supplies to make 5 dresses, I can’t just test them once. I have to test them 5 different times because I have 5 separate end products. And the testing cost could be upwards of hundreds of dollars per item. My $35 sundress just got REALLY pricey! Not to mention that the wet chemistry tests performed by labs destroys the product. So much for my one-of-kind item handmade with love.

Starting February 10, 2009, the Consumer Products Safety Commission will start enforcing the CPSIA. Does that mean that they are going to throw Granny in jail for selling those little baby booties that she so carefully knitted? Not likely. But remember when they started to really crack down on people who were pirating music? You would see newscasts of normal everyday people who “shared” their music with three friends and got busted by the feds….they were “made an example.” Do I want to risk it? Not really. For me, this is something I love to do that lets me make some extra money to pay for my kids’ extra curricular activities and my hobbies. But for others, this is their livelihood.

And the other thing that I find tragic is that if left as is, this law is another nail in the coffin for handmade. In a world where everything is so cookie-cutter and manufactured, handmade items are a breath of fresh air. Not to mention that some skills, like sewing, are becoming lost art forms.

And let’s face it: you and I (and the people in Congress) know that handmade toys, clothing and other items are not what are posing a threat to our children. It’s the tons of plastic crap that comes in from countries where testing requirements for dangerous chemicals are minimal, if not non-existent. In fact, many people like to buy handmade because they know that it is almost always safer than buying something that was imported from overseas. So although I think the intent behind this law was good, I believe minimal thought was put into how this law would be implemented and what a wide-reaching negative effect it could have on some small businesses. Right now, there are a lot of letters being written and petitions being signed, and with any luck, our voices will be heard.

As for me, right now I’m going to lay low and try to come up with product ideas that are not necessarily marketed towards kids. (If you buy them and give them to your kids, that’s your prerogative.) And my friends know that they can contact me for custom requests. I am very optimistic that this will get sorted out, and then I will be back to making the children’s items that I love. I cannot believe that they will let the handmade community die on the vine.


More info on the CPSIA:

The actual public law (this will make your eyes cross) http://www.cpsc.gov/cpsia.Pdf

An excellent Forbes commentary on CPSIA: http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/16/cpsia-safety-toys-oped-cx_wo_0116olson.html

You Don't Have to Brush Your Teeth - Just the Ones You Want to Keep

Before the holidays, a friend of mine asked me if I could make a tooth fairy pillow for her daughter, who was just about to lose her first tooth. Well, in the rush of the holidays, I didn't get it finished before Christmas. So this week I tackled the project.

My friend had sent me a link to a basic tutorial and pattern for a pillow with the directions "something like this." After looking at the link, I thought I could come up with something with a little more "oomph." A little bigger, a little cuter, a little more personal.

And then I remembered the tooth fairy pillow that my mom made for me when I was a little girl. It was shaped like a tooth and pink, with a star-shaped pocket that she had stitched my name onto. I sketched up a quick pattern based on my Swiss-cheese "Mommy memory" and dug into my scrap pile.

This is what I came up with:

The picture doesn't really show it too well, but the tooth is a nice white satin with silver "sparkles." To create the pocket, I sandwiched interfacing between two pieces of cotton fabric, drew a heart, satin stitched around it like it was an applique, then carefully cut it out, cutting as close as I could to the stitching. I used fray check (the BEST invention ever!) on the edges to prevent any fraying. Then I wrote her name in cursive with a fabric pin and used cross-stitch thread and a backstitch to embroider her name. I dressed it up with a cute ribbon, sewed on the heart, leaving the top edge open to form a pocket, then assembled the pillow. I think it came out really cute and I hope she likes it!

I am probably going to offer these in my shop (girl and boy versions!)...when I do, I'll be sure to let you know!

Happy Sewing!

Holiday Wishes....

Crafty Christmas, Part Deux

In my quest to make as many gifts as I have time for, I have relied on the wealth of knowledge of other crafters and artisans through the many great tutorials on the web. Having written one tutorial myself, I can truly appreciate the time and effort that is put into writing something with clear, easy-to-follow instructions and good quality photos.

You can find tutorials for just about anything on the web. Want a tutorial for a drawstring backpack? Just type "drawstring backpack tutorial" into your favorite search engine and voila! A whole list of them will appear.

One of my gifts makes use of two great tutorials.

Having school age children, there is always the dilemma of what to do for the teachers. My son is in 1st grade and just has one teacher. My daughter is in preschool and has three teachers. I'm sure every teacher has more "#1 Teacher" tchotchkes than they know what to do with, so I try to come up with something useful....or at the very least, a creative and different tchotchke.

This year I decided to do mugs and tea wallets. First of all, the mug. During the month of November, one of my favorite blogs, Sew, Mama, Sew, did their second annual "Handmade Holidays," where they posted gift ideas and links to tutorials daily, with each day having a different theme.

The November 8th entry featured gifts for teachers, and it was there that I found the link to the tutorial for the cute "Quilty Mug." And I just have to add, this tutorial was not only great from an instructional perspective...it was funny. This blog, Lady Harvatine, has become one of my regular blog stops.

I dug through my scraps, picked out some cute calico fabrics, and string pieced it together onto a piece of muslin. Slide it into the customizable mug (which ended up being the toughest part of the whole project) and there you go....a quilty mug!

Next was the tea wallet. This was another tutorial I came across from SMS's Handmade Holidays, under "gifts for a gift exchange." My original idea for this cute tea wallet was to make one for my mother-in-law, who is English and an avid tea drinker. The one I made for her turned out so cute, and they are so quick and easy to make that I'm giving them as stocking stuffers for several people, as well as giving them to my kids' teachers.

I used some of the same calico fabrics that I used in the mug to create the tea wallet. It has room for four tea bags and has a button closure. I have no idea if any of the teachers drink tea, but oh well....if they don't, I'm sure they can find another use for it. And of course, I will be sewing some of my cute little fabric gift bags to put them in!

Overall, I'm very pleased with the teacher gifts, and I hope that they are pleased too. My children are fortunate to have wonderful teachers this year, and I just want them to know that they are very much appreciated.

Crafty Christmas, Part 1

One of my goals this Christmas was to try and make a lot of our gifts. I'm actually making about half of them, and a few others I'm picking up from other artists on Etsy. The one gift I've spent the most time on is the one I've made for my niece.

When my son was about one, my sister-in-law made him a Quiet Book. It was such a great gift, that I decided I would come up with my own. So I took the one she made, plus a lot of examples I found online from googling "Quiet Book," and came up with my own set of pages.

This gift was truly a labor of love. I had no pattern, no instructions for putting it together. Just pictures and my son's book (which was put together differently than what I ended up doing). I sketched stuff up on paper and did a "mock up" to figure out how I was going to assemble it all. I know there are people who make and sell these, and my hat is off to you. I just don't know that I could do it and make it profitable....I'd have to charge $35 + a kidney to account for the housework that didn't get done while working on this!

I "super" sewed everything down to make sure no little choking hazards would come off...even used heavy-duty upholstery thread to secure the buttons. I tried to cover several different activities on my pages: textures, counting, zipping, buttoning, velcro, "peek-a-boo," and "I Spy" to name a few. I hope she likes it. I will be making one for my nephew too when he gets old enough to play with it (hmmm....first birthday gift.)

I also picked up a few injuries on this project: I sewed my finger (not the first time I've done this. Once, the needle went through my finger and stopped....and I had to turn the hand wheel to get it out), I cut myself with the rotary cutter, and I stuck a pin into the heel of my hand. Guess I shouldn't sew while drinking tired.

They Say It's Your Birthday...

Some things in life make me feel old. I'm not old (I will only be 34 this month), but some things in life definitely make me feel that way. Like the fact that both of my siblings now have children. Even my little brother, who is 12 years younger than me (I can still clearly remember the night that he was born) has a baby boy.

I have to brag a little here: I have the cutest niece, Kaitlyn. She's adorable....like a little doll. Here she is:

Now tell me that is not cute! That's not even a decent quality picture (my sister is not known for being quick with the picture distribution) and she's still cute. The thing is, she looks so much like my sister (on the right, as if that's not obvious):

This was our annual Easter picture....circa 1982. (For those of you who know me in real life: yes, I had enough hair for 4 people even at the age of 7....it's a blessing and a curse.)

Kaitlyn is going to celebrate the big one next week: ONE YEAR OLD

My sister is having the typical big First Birthday Party. And since this is their first First Birthday Party, I'm sure it will be quite the affair. Since I am also Kaitlyn's Godmother, I wanted to make something special for her. So I asked my sister if I could make her an outfit for her first birthday party. My sister's one request: please make it very girly-girl.

Now that's a request I can oblige!

I thought it would be cute to try and follow whatever theme she was having with the fabric choices. She is using a Lil' Cupcake 1st Birthday theme:

So I started looking around, and I came across the perfect fabric online at J & O Fabric Center. It's called "My Little Cupcake"

After I had the fabric, I found the perfect "girly-girl" pattern: The Peasant Dress by Dainty Designs. I paired it with an all-purpose bloomer pattern that I happened to have, and the final result is just too cute!

Completely useless sidenote: Notice I didn't tie a bow with the sash, just a nice knot. That's because I am "bow challenged." I cannot, to save my life, tie a decent looking bow. That's because I have a really bizarre way of tying....I taught myself how to tie shoes when I was four from watching people tie my shoes. Since I was looking down watching them from a backwards angle, I now tie completely backwards....the result: ugly bows and my shoes never stay tied. Oh well....

Happy Birthday, Kaitlyn. Nanny loves you.