Memory Bears have taken off!

Welcome to my first post of 2018. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. I'm afraid it didn't feel very festive, to me, this year. Don't know if that was just me, or the dreary weather but, in any case, let's hope this year is better on all fronts than the last one!

 You may remember a couple of posts ago, I told you about a new offshoot to my crafting business. I had decided to look into making memory bears, cushions and quilts. I had bought a pattern, made a couple of trial bears, and made a first, heavily discounted bear for a friend/customer in memory of her daughter. The bear above is the first customer order after that, and was made in memory of a mother.

 I began taking my bears along to craft fairs and events, along with my usual stock, and they drew a lot of attention. When I saw a rabbit pattern (also from Funky Friends Factory), I loved it and thought it might be an idea to give customers a choice of memory softies; so I bought it and made this one from charity shop, fleecy nightwear. If only the regulations didn't stop me selling these directly; I could have sold this one 5 times over already!

 Things started taking off when I began posting pictures of my bears on my Facebook page, Raglan Thread Shed. The bear above was a second order from the first, trial customer. It is also in memory of her daughter, but was a gift for her sister.

Each order I get is different, despite being exactly the same pattern. This, above, is my first set of twins! They are for 2 sisters, in memory of their mother. One sister ordered them as a surprise.

And so we come to my latest order, finished just before Christmas. These 2 are made from a grandfather's shirts, picked out by his grand-daughters. They were to be opened on Christmas day.

Making bears out of men's shirts certainly removes the difficulty of deciding where each different fabric should be placed, but I enjoy the variety that each new set of clothing presents. It can also be quite emotional for the customer when I reveal the finished bears, so it's not like any other crafting that I do. Luckily, I have not, yet, been asked to make one from the clothing of someone I knew. It already takes me a little time to get into the right state of mind to cut into customers' precious belongings. I'm sure it would be much more difficult if I knew the person.

Bye for now
Teresa x

Bagorama!

Yes, I've been back at the bag making over the past few weeks. It started with this one (above) that I made for myself from my own pattern and some vintage upholstery fabrics. I originally made it with one handle that was sewn into one side at the front and one side at the back, but it didn't hang very well. So I went back to the more traditional 2 handles. The original handle had a wooden ring on both ends, but I decided not to add more, and have them off-set on the 2 handles.

Next came this similar bag. Same pattern, upholstery fabrics, but metal 'rings' this time in the handles. I have to say, I find putting a bag together with tabs for the rings, and adding the rest of the handle later is easier than wresting with full handle straps. And there is much more scope for variety.

What have we here? Well, I do believe it's the same pattern yet again! And again, below. It's nice to be able to get so many 'looks' out of the same pattern. All the fabrics are reclaimed upholstery weight and the buttons are vintage.

After this lot, the bag-making urge disappeared and now I'm going in a slightly different direction. Although, I'm sure there are still more bags in my future!

Oooh, I can't believe I nearly forgot this one. I just popped into my photos to see if I'd missed anything, and there it was. I'm really pleased with how this one turned out. It's 4 different denims and a bit of abstract applique.

As I said before, the bag in the top pic is mine. I've sold the second one, but can't remember whether I've listed the rest in my Folksy shop. I'd better get over there and check. (I just checked and they're all there, phew).

Bye for now
Teresa x

Bag Bonanza!

Hi there!! This is my first post in 2 months; it's also the first post from my new laptop! I was getting more and more frustrated with the old, slow laptop, that my posting became almost non-existent. Then, when we got a new router and it was incompatible with the old laptop, we had no choice but to get a new one. So here I am....

I've yet to get my photos into better order, but in the meantime, here are a few bags that were under my machine recently.

 They are all made using the Tilly bag pattern by Debbie Shore but, as you can see, you can get very different looks just by varying the fabric. My versions are not reversible because they have inside pockets and different lining.

 All of these are made with fabrics from sample books that I bought from an ex-interior designer.
The green/beige one has a belt for a strap, the red/black one has a kind of nylon webbing for a strap, and the others have self-made straps. The vintage buttons are for decoration only because the flap fastens with Velcro.

I had my first stall of this year at an event last weekend and this red/black version was sold there.

I recently won a three month subscription on the craft selling website Crafters Boutique so I've listed a few things to give it a try. My photos look darker on there than elsewhere but maybe it's due to the fact that I was doing it all from my iPad at the time! Anyway, it would mean a great deal if you could take a look and let me know what you think (about the photos or anything).

What else have I done since we last met! Well, I've joined the Twitter ranks, listed more items in my Folksy shop, read The Mill on the Floss (what a struggle that was) and become just a little bit hooked on Corner to Corner crochet.....More to come on that soon!

Bye for now
Teresa x

Hellooooooooo....!

My goodness, it's been a long time since I posted. Let me know if there's anyone still out there! Just say hello.

I loaded these pictures a few weeks ago and a lot of what is here has already sold. The cat quilt has gone to the new great-grand-daughter of a lady from church, and half of the glasses cases were sold at various selling events that I've done.

I've had a stall at 4 or 5 events in the last couple of months, a couple of which were quite successful. I've also had independent requests to make things; like a couple more baby quilts, a knitted tea cosy and a phone case.

I have a couple more events booked this month and I'm trying to be more professional. The trouble is, I'm still too good at procrastinating.

And so, I'm off to get on with some knitting.
Bye for now
Teresa x

Recent finishes!

I was hoping not to have to go out today. The weather is horrible - cold and wet - after we had such a lovely day yesterday. But I have to go to the dentist for a check up, so I have no choice. 

Anyway, I've not been very good at updating my blog lately so I thought I'd get a post done before I go.  

Some of these makes are a couple of weeks old but I feel like I'm getting a really good momentum going with my making at the moment (I have more finished and more on the go to show soon). They are all made with recycled materials and without using copyrighted patterns.

another pic of the hexagon crocheted blanket that I promised last time to show. You cans see here that it's a good size and the hexagons are quite large. You can also just make out the scalloped edging all around.

These little bags, above and below, are child-sized little tote bags.  I'm hoping they might be good sellers at my next craft show.

Finally..........waaaaay back in Jan 2013 I had a silly idea to make a whole quilt by hand. I used a quilt in a picture from Country Living as inspiration and got to work. I wrote this post about it at the time. Well, I finished it last month, and here it is.

Ta daaaaaaaaaaaa!

In a phrase very similar to a quote from Lilo and Stitch - "This is my quilt, it's smallish, and it's not pretty, but it's good. Yeah, still good".

Off to the dentist now - wish me luck (I'm sure all will be fine - it usually is).

Bye for now

Teresa x

Processing!

Hello folks! Hope you had a good Easter. We had a quiet one at home, with a few hot cross buns and a little chocolate consumed. I enjoyed a lovely, impromptu coffee with friends after a simple, meditative Good Friday service, then a rousing Easter Day service.

An airer full of donated fabric drying.

I am very lucky that lots of lovely friends give me yarn and fabric they no longer want. I usually try to wash fabric before storing it in the shed. This is mainly to make sure any shrinkage happens now, and not after it's been made up into something. When I have lots of bitty-bits, I put them in a duvet cover to wash. They still get a bit tangled but it prevents the washing machine getting clogged with frayed threads.

Along with the lovely, pristine, unused balls of yarn I get from people, or from charity shops, I also un-run jumpers etc to use the yarn. This is a deconstructed jumper after being tied into hanks and washed by hand. These are now dry and rolled into balls waiting to be made into something else.

I finished this longer term project the other day. A crocheted hexagon throw that I've been gradually making at my  2 weekly crafting groups. I had a couple of photos showing more of it but they've disappeared from the laptop. They should still be on the iPad, though, so I'll load them onto my Facebook page in a couple of days (I don't know how to get them on this blog from there without a lot of faffing). This throw was sold and paid for before I'd finished making it, by a lady at one of my groups.

 At home, I'm still on bags. I don't know why, but every piece of fabric I pick up in my shed says 'bag' to me. It's about time they started saying something else. This one,covered with applique flowers cut from another fabric, is my usual boxy style. The main fabric is a sort of strong hessian type. It's lined with a flowery fabric and has an inner zipped pocket.

And this one is a completely new design that I made up in an oddment of plain fabric, to try out before making the 'real thing'. The outer zipped  pocket is also a new thing I tried. It's made from 2 tea towels, a pillow case and a belt. 

I'd like to say I'll have something completely different to show next time, but I have a strong suspicion it may be more bags!

Bye for now

Teresa x

November Update!

This is not the sort of beautiful garden photo you normally see on blog posts, admittedly. But this is my 'before' picture: before the builders moved in (and after it was cleared of plants, rocks and my shed). This was a couple of weeks ago, and it already looks very different again. Basically, it is now a giant mud hole.
 

Despite all the chaos that is going on outside, I have been getting on with some crafting. After the successful sale of my previous larger, quilted, zippy bag I have made a few more. I had fun making these - all very different - which is what I like to do. I couldn't bare to make dozens of things all the same.

I thought I ought to get into the swing of things and make a few Christmas themed things. The purse is upcycled from a tea cosy I made before but never used. The 2 bundles are sets of 4 coasters.

Oh, and what's this?  I do believe those bags are mine - in a real bricks-and-mortar shop!!!! It's actually a small flower shop that has opened the upper floor as a Vintage and Craft Emporium, and the owner thought my crafts fitted with the style she was aiming for. A lovely Facebook friend alerted me to the request for local craftspeople, and the rest is history.

I hope all of you, my fellow bloggers, are well. I've been keeping up with blog reading but have missed a couple of you lately that I like to follow. I can't complain, though, because I am finding it more difficult, these days, to make time to blog myself.

Bye for now
Teresa x

A Question, a Request and some Crafting!

Do you trust your Google STATS? I get suspicious when my stats suddenly shoot up for no apparent reason. My last post had hundreds more views than normal, mostly from the USA. It's happened once before, a couple of years ago, but that time the views were all from Russia!

I''ve recently published a Facebook page for my Thread Shed crafts and currently have 20 'likes'. If you could take a little look and 'like' it too (if you genuinely LIKE it, that is) I would be very grateful.

I know the dragon should be red but I needed a red square to finish it off. The green is a much nicer, deep shade than in the photo

A friend recently gave me a pile of red and green knitted squares that her husband knitted before he died, a couple of years ago. Not being a knitter herself, she didn't know what to do with them, but as he had originally knitted them for a charity project she wanted a charity to benefit in some way and thought of my stitching group's charitable work. I knitted up the remainder of the yarn so that I had enough to make a blanket, making a feature of one square by knitting a Welsh dragon, and crocheted them together. When I took it back to her she kept it, gave me the charity money herself, and was looking forward to showing it to her children.

This little purple bag (yes, it is a lovely purple, I must learn to use my camera properly) started as a phone cover but was working out much too big. It's made from some of the wool that was donated to our group, so will go on the stall at our next event.

I've been thinking ahead (well ahead, for me) and making some Christmas products. I made a few of these stocking, Christmas tree decorations last year and they sold well. So, after modifying the design to make them easier to construct, I  ran up a few more with the limited festive fabrics I have. They're not as big as them seem next to that cotton reel!

When I un-ran a charity shop jumper and started making granny squares I didn't have a definite end result in mind (as usual). Luckily, though, 4 of the squares fitted exactly around these bolster cushion pads (I have two pads). I looked up how to make granny circles to finish off the ends and here's the result.

We've had a busy weekend looking after daughter's and SIL's 2 dogs, while they are at their cousin's wedding in Germany. We also went to a wedding ourselves on Saturday, of two good friends. Is it just me, or are there a lot more weddings than usual taking place this year? Another friend at the wedding told me she had been invited to SIX weddings (and three christenings) this summer.

Bye for now
Teresa x

New Beginnings!

This photo is taken from near the edge of our garden, which is on the opposite side of the road from our house. That's our house behind the bushes - the cream one with the roof lights. The house is about a foot lower than the road level, down a couple of steps; the garden is long and narrow and is a few feet above road level.

This view is from the top of the veg plot, with a couple of metres more of lawn and trees behind me. We've had a good supply of strawberries, lettuce and rhubarb so far this year and the rest is well on the way. Sadly, it now looks very likely that this is the last year we will be able to 'grow our own' here.

My shed will also have to move elsewhere - probably at the back of the house. However, the reason for all this upheaval (as per my big hints of a few posts ago) is a good one. Our son has, as of yesterday, obtained planning permission to build a house here! In an ideal world we would not have to make use of our garden this way, but with house prices in our area being so high, it is the only way he can afford to have his own place and stay in the village.

In crafty news, I seem to be starting too many longer term projects when I should be making quick, smaller items to build up some stock. Here's my latest bag creation, made from chopped up jeans and furnishing fabric scraps. I've also finished off a project for a friend and made a few more phone covers (photos next time).

I dug out some Christmas fabric to get ahead of myself for future stalls and have started on some lavender bag sets. I can hardly believe it, but I bought a Christmas present the other day (in July!). It's never been heard of before, but I saw the perfect thing and thought I might as well get it.

Bye for now
Teresa x

Money Raising Goes Awry!

 I've mentioned before that I had a little idea to raise some money. It involved getting rid of some clutter at the same time, and I set out with high hopes; but things didn't go according to plan. I gathered together a random selection of items that were languishing in drawers, or just lying around the house, and took them off to a local auction house.

Outside effects being auctioned in the sunshine

A couple of weeks later the items had been sorted and labelled and were ready for auction (amongst hundreds of other varied and strange items). OH came with me and I was quite looking forward to the day. We didn't have to be there to see our items auctioned but, not having attended an auction before, I was interested to see how it all worked. When we got there, we picked up a buyers' number - just in case.....

Most of the items we took went for only a few pounds, and 2 items (a clarinet and a watch) didn't reach the reserve I put on, so we brought them home again. This pair of Staffordshire spaniels, which came from my MIL's when she passed away about 6 years ago, made £22.  Not bad since one of them was 'crackled' all over. At least now my daughter doesn't have to explain any more, to friends she brings round, how we acquired them and that they are not our chosen style of decor!

 I took a chance entering this pen as a separate lot, but it had the name 'Esterbrook' on the nib so I listed it as such and crossed my fingers. I'd had it since I was in secondary school and remember using it and filling it from an ink bottle. I was surprised when someone on the internet got it for £16. Altogether, I made £59 (before fees and costs) which I was quite happy with. But..........I somehow managed to spend over £100.

You really can't blame me, though, when this little beauty was up for grabs. A couple of people were bidding for it in earnest but came to a stop at £65, so I pounced and got it for £70 plus costs etc!!!!!

 I also nabbed a useful box of fabric for £17.50, which was also quite popular in the room. When I got it home and had a proper rummage, I found this vintage, 2.5m, unused piece of Liberty in the bottom, which is probably worth more than what I paid for the whole box.

Crafting has also continued at The Thread Shed with a phone case, child's bag and a cushion sold to friends. The bag above is a new design I tried out, and it worked quite well. Instead of my usual 2 handled shopper type, I tried a single handled shoulder design.

I've also finished this randomly pieced, rustic-looking quilt. The centre panel is made up of squares, HSTs, half-square-rectangles and 4-square patches. I started by cutting the bigger squares, then kept cutting smaller and smaller shapes as it got less and less. It was still too small to be useful so I dug out some larger pieces and made 2 large random borders.

I machine-quilted the whole thing with 2" criss-cross lines. Then, because I didn't want to bind the edges, I added a piece of tea-dyed sheet to the back (by sewing front-to-front and turning) and did some hand quilting to hold it all together. I love the finished result!

Bye for now.

Teresa x

Patterns and Plans!

My craft stall at the local village Fun Day, last weekend was not hugely successful in the selling stakes. However, it was a useful day in other ways: such as networking and upping my local profile.

After being given another box of lovely fabric and goodies by my aunt, I was able to run up a quick string of bunting to decorate my stall (will show a stall pic next time).

Also, for the stall, I finished this clutch bag from Michelle patterns. I added a thin strap after taking this picture, because it was awkward to carry without one. This is the first time I've used a pattern when making my bags and, crikey, there were a lot of different bits and pieces! All the stiffening and padding added to the structure of the bag but don't really fit with my upcycling ethos. If I make this style again, I'll try some modifications and alternative materials.

In an effort to appeal to the children who would be at the Fun Day, I made 5 mini shopper bags at the last minute; which was a good decision because I sold 2 of them and had an order for another in a different colour.

I was also given a bag of useful buttons by a local resident and a tip for another craft fair that should be more up my street. 

We live and learn!

It's about time I added some money to the household pot, though, so I've a plan in mind, and I've also been asked to proofread a couple of books that are in the process of being written, so things are looking up!

Bye for now

Teresa x