Nearly ready (ha, ha)

17 Nov

If you didn’t know I’ve got my first fair of the season on Saturday.  I’ll be at the ‘Crikey It’s Vintage and Handmade Haven’ at the Thistle Hotel on Queen Street in Exeter.  I’ve been sort of crazily sewing, writing, planning and thinking in preparation for it.

One of the many things that needed doing was a sign for my stall, I’ve seen lots of different ideas, some obviously had hours spent on them and some just whizzed out of a printer.  I didn’t have hours to spare but I didn’t want to just print something either, so I came up with the idea of doing something with my ‘logo’ in an embroidery hoop.  Originally it was going to be applique but then I looked at the printout of my logo and it was too fiddly for my state of mind so I decided to put my almost non-existent embroidery skills to use and stitched it instead:

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I used a vintage pillowcase for the base fabric (I expect there is a proper term for that, someone please let me know) and some thread I picked up at the car boot one day. I’m pretty pleased with it for a quick bit of stitching, the pillowcase is thin so I just put my logo behind it and traced through with a pencil.

I’ve been cutting, ironing and folding vintage sheets into fat quarters ready for sale:

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They have many uses, make your own vintage bunting, make a patchwork cushion cover, or save them up, collect your own and make a vintage sheet quilt.

I made a couple more vintage bags, mostly because I really like them but obviously hoping that others do too, I’m not aware that anyone runs a successful business on things they really like without any more thought going into it!

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I also made a stack of selvedge notebook/journal covers, I had really positive feedback about the one I made for myself earlier this year and I had a collection of selvedges:

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I used up a good amount of the selvedges but then while reading Johannas blog here I read that she had selvedges to get rid of, she had been collecting them and now decided that she didn’t have time to do anything with them, so I said ‘yes please’ and this week I received a large jiffy bag full of them!

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Very, very delicious and interesting too (ok maybe that’s just me!), so when I have a free hour or so I’ll be doing something with them.  For now I’m posting inspiring pictures on my pinterest, let me know if you see any projects using selvedges.

Anyway there is more but it will have to wait as I’ve labels and stock lists to write. I’ll leave you with this amusing picture of Mathias making himself at home in my new sewing cupboard.

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2 Replies to “Nearly ready (ha, ha)

  1. You have made such lovely things that I am sure you will do well! And the notebook covers are inspirational – I always guiltily throw my selvedges in the bin – but it is the compost bin, so they are not completely wasted.

    Pomona x

  2. Hi Mary

    Good Luck for Saturday and hope the day is a successful one. I love the items you have made and am sure others will too. It is extremely hard work preparing for fairs, but once you start to receive positive comments it makes all the hard work worthwhile. I too, keep all my selvedges in with my tiny scraps. This started off as a shoe box size and has now grown to a large plastic container,that I rummage through and can’t find anything. Every now and then I try and group things together, without much success. You little boy reminds me of my son when he was younger (he is now 12). We used to have a piece of furniture from Ikea with a TV in the middle and cupboards either side. Ben would clamber in one of the smallest spaces he could find (harry houdini style) and then shut the door. He also used to love hiding under the laundry basket, in fact any small, box-like space he could. Even now, I think he likes small spaces!!!!

    Good luck Mary, speak to you soon
    Jane
    xx

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