polkadotbug

Go Buffalo

I had to do it. It seems that people around here are just eating up the Buffalo items.  There’s City Love, an entire store dedicated to Buffalo merchandise, and now the "Believe in Buffalo” apparel is rapidly becoming a hit. 

We all know that appliques are popular, so why not a buffalo in fabulous fabric on a cute little tee or onesie? 

It would be even cuter on Abby but I keep forgetting to put it on her and take a picture.

I also had a little project to work on for a friend of mine.  Her friend is having a baby boy and she wanted some gifts.  I found this adorable robot fabric by David Walker and ran with it.

I made 2 bibs, 3 burp cloths, a diaper and wipe case, and even a little ball and bunny.

Hope she likes it!

For all of you fabric and craft addicts, Fabric Family and Fun is having a great give-away.  She runs the wonderful Above All Fabric shop on Etsy that I frequently purchase from.  As always, feel free to enter and give the stuff to me if you win.  :)  I still haven’t won a give-away yet!  Too many darn eager crafters to compete with. 

Zippers!

I did it.  I conquered my fear of sewing in a zipper.

Our aunt was here for Thanksgiving (hi Jeanne!) and requested one of my tote bags, but with a zipper.  I have to admit that I did panic a bit.  I’ve been admiring and fearing them since I started sewing last year. 

I did my internet research and found a few zipper tutorials to work off of. Like here and here and here.

Then I went to the store and bought an enormous zipper.  I ended up buying a coat zipper.  I didn’t realize that until afterwards, but that’s ok.  It does its job well on a bag too.

Not too bad for my first shot.  The one thing that I couldn’t do was the top stitch.  My mighty strong Singer can’t go through both the quilted lining and the zipper.  Maybe I’ll get a stronger machine some day…

Jeanne made some good fabric choices too,from Amy Butlers Daisy Chain line. 

I was so excited that I did it that I just had to try a few little bags.  It’s cake!

Please don’t mind the wrinkles. :)  I didn’t add interfacing to the larger one so it’s quite a flopper.  It definitely makes a difference to just add a lightweight interfacing. 

On a different subject, Andrew and I are getting very excited for the trip we’re planning.  It looks like we’ll be sitting on the beach for a week on Cape Cod in July.  SWEET!!  This will be our first little family trip and I can’t wait. 

It feels so good just thinking about a beach after the past week of frigid temps.  We had to miss Andrew’s company party on Friday night.  He left work at 4:30 and didn’t get home until 7 – it’s normally a 20 minute commute.  There was no way we were getting back in the car and heading back downtown.  I had already driven the kids to Grams (in a white-out) for a sleepover to prepare for our evening out.  Kinda disappointing, but we did go out to dinner close to home.  That was followed by a movie on the couch and a night of uninterrupted sleep.  

It was a treat.  At the same time, it’s so sad going to bed and walking past the empty bedrooms.  That’s just the emotional person that I am.  We’ve never even had a babysitter outside of family.  I get laughed at a lot about that.  Call me a dork it you’d like.  Yes Caren, I am expecting a comment from you on that one.

Stuff, Stuff, and More Stuff

Meet girly number 5.  I am afraid to name them or I won't be able to sell them!  If you haven't checked out my flickr photostream (why would you?), I’ve posted a bunch of the new stuff I made.  I worked my little (big) butt off to get a nice stock of stuff done because I have a few shows this week.  I'll throw a few of my favorites up in this post and you can see the rest on flickr if you want to see.

Shannon and I did the first of the 3 shows on Saturday.  I could write an entire essay on that day but I am not sure anyone would want to read it all and I am not sure I want to relive that day over again.  I will try to sum it up quickly.

1. Bad Christmas music on repeat.

2. Unfriendly people.

3. The woman behind us had no (literally no) filter on her thoughts, and everything that crossed her mind came out of her mouth.  And it wasn’t nice.

4.  No sales.  Well, to be accurate I sold one bib and one bonnet.  That was about half of the cost of the table, not to mention the long list of things I spent money on to get out there. Ouch.

There were a lot of people at this show too, so I can't blame it on that.  They just didn't like our stuff.  It was the completely wrong crowd for us.  I can't tell you how many people walked by our tables without even stopping.  It was kinda humorous.

So, to all of you who may have a show like this - don't worry about it.  Just blame it on the other people.  :)   I guess you just have to make a few sacrifices before you become famous. Heehee...

The good part about my lack of sales is that I don't have to worry about not having enough stock for the next two events!  

Ok everyone, cross your fingers for me.  I really need to sell some of these things I made to cover the cost of the boat loads of new fabric I may have purchased.  What I really need to do is get some stuff in my poor empty Etsy shop.  That's my goal as soon as these next shows are over.

Pretty Ruffles

Ah yes! I am still alive. I cannot even begin to understand how time goes so quickly.   I feel like I am constantly rushing around and yet still nothing gets done. 

I caved in and bought Sandi Henderson’s ruffle pants pattern.  They are so cute.  I made a fall orange/green pair (Sandi Henderson’s fabric too) and a corduroy pair. 

These were done a few weeks ago when it was sunny and beautiful out.  Now is rainy and cold.  We were supposed to have our village Halloween parade today but that’s not happening now.  Darn weather.

Next are my two favorite new bags.  They are already gone though.  I sold them to Chique Boutique, the very first boutique that my items will be sold at!  Nuts.  Thanks Devon!  She purchased some bags, bonnets, bibs, checkbook covers, and bows. 

Sorry about the second picture.  Andrew didn’t feel like getting his camera out that night and working magic on my bag so I had to use the standard old camera.  Andrew, you should’ve known I’d call you on that.  It’s amazing how much nicer my things look with a really good camera! 

Ok, that’s it for now.  We are going to a little Halloween party at my aunt’s house today.  Molly is a little rambunctious. 

Is it genetic? I’m not so sure.

This is the first Heather Bailey Pop Garden purse.  Same style as usual and same addiction to Heather Bailey fabric.  The difference is that I did not make this bag myself.  My 17 year old niece wanted to make a bag as a gift for a friend.  This is how she wanted me to say that it went-

on friday my niece and I had a fabulous day together. we had breakfast, played with babies, made a sweet bag, walked up to lunch, played with babies... ate pizza.... played with babies... etc. (eat, play, eat, play)

my niece kt is the COOLEST person in the whole world. she is smart, talented, beautiful and likes to eat. all those fantabulous qualities make her very very special. * you can continue with other great adjectives that make kt awesome*

I am glad I got to spend quality time with my favorite niece. we bonded and had a blast.

I hope some near time in the future we can have more laughs and fun!

There Katie, I said it (or copied and pasted it).  I will not elaborate on which parts are true or not.   Katie sewed the outer fabric and lining and one handle.  I put the rest of the bag together.  I guess it was a good start, but I am afraid to say that I don’t think I lit any crafty flame inside of her.  I can only hope!  :)  Honestly I think she has more fun mocking me and my attempts at craftiness.   Notice how the blurb above doesn’t say much about the sewing!!

The bag turned out very cute.  Excellent choice of fabric anyway! 

I definitely got the crafty gene from my mom but my sister did not.  I am not sure how that works.  Molly is super crafty right now after spending so much time with me.  I am curious to see if the desire will stick as she grows.  Either that or she’ll try her damnedest to be different than me.  Sad.

Four Quilted Bags

The race is on for the next Indie Market.  I am starting to produce as many sewn items as one can prepare in a very brief period of time.  Of course that's in between bottles, crying, tantrums, and anything else you can expect (and not expect) from an 8 month old and 4 year old.  Sigh...

Here you can see the start of my bag train.  These are my new favorites, with their quilted linings.  I sure hope the train can get longer by next weekend!  I also have plans for reversible dresses, reversible pants, more bonnets, bibs, tutus....blah blah blah..... Enough complaining already.   Just get to work! 

My problem is that I am not organized enough.  I have stacks of wonderful fabric everywhere that I want to turn into something, but it will never happen by next weekend.  I also have ideas of all these things I want to make which also will not happen in time.  Lists!!  I need to make lists.  I have heard this from more than one person (hi Julia!!), but I just can't seem to find the time to make a list.  :)  Or I just feel better when my disorganized thoughts are bouncing all over inside of my crazy head.  It's just what I am used to.  It will all come together somehow and I will hopefully have a nice display of some of my creations for the market.

Right now my tired body is going to get some much needed rest.