The thoughts, sewing projects, and fabric oglings of a dedicated sewist.

What's Up: Detour to Wallet Town, Finished Skirt, Crafty Gathering

7/19/12
My Etsy shop has generally been a bit of a bust.  I've only sold one item to someone who is not a friend or relation, and that was a custom order and not something already in the shop.  Truth be told, I've put almost no effort into the shop because my local custom order clothing business keeps me plenty busy, so I really shouldn't be disappointed. 

I did get "convoed" a couple of weeks ago by someone who wanted a wallet like the ones in my shop but with a zipper closure instead of a snap.  This provided some good motivation for a) figuring out how to do the zipper closure, and b) making a new wallet for myself so that I had a prototype to show her.  This week the girls are in a morning summer camp so I've had some extra time to work on it.  I bought a pattern for a wallet with a zipper closure so that I could easily learn how to do it.  As the pattern design is different from mine in all other respects, I think I'm safe to use this one technique from it (the pattern I purchased is the Easy Zip Wallet from Jamie Kalvestran for those who are interested).    And here is the result:


This is like my other wallets in that it is constructed mainly from upholstery scraps (swatch books, scraps from an upholstery store), which makes for a fun inside:




I love making pretty, practical things and this fits that bill.  It's small enough to fit in a bag but I can also fit my phone, house keys, check book, and all the regular wallet stuff into it for quick trips out.  I love my new wallet and I've already had three orders for this new design, so it looks like it's a winner!  Who knows, maybe I'll hit the Etsy jackpot with this one!


I finally finished Spencer's skirt last week (I had to do a muslin for this one).  This is the 6-panel skirt from Kay Whitt's book Sew Serendipity.  The fabric is the same Joel Dewberry Heirloom combination that I use for Linda's dress, and I do like these fabrics together:



I also like the handy little side pockets:



I've got something new on the horizon.  Kristine Fachet from Sur Le Feu and I have organized a gathering of crafty/artistic folks for Thursday, August 9 at Studio 22 here in Berwyn.  It will be a mixture of folks who craft for fun and for profit, and I can't wait to hear about all the things people are doing in their various fields.  I'm also looking forward to talking to people face-to-face about sewing and crafting since most of my conversations in that vein happen online.  If you are local and want to join in, send me an email at poldapop.gmail.com.

This week I plan to finish up Maria's skirts and get started on a dress for the new Sewing Challenge over at Burdastyle.  And I also need to turn my ideas into actual plans for the Camp Runway program I'll be leading at The Little Bits Workshop in August (8 middle school girls have a week to make an outfit). 

And just for fun, here's the fedora I bought to give my head some extra height ($8 at Burlington Coat Factory):


3 comments on "What's Up: Detour to Wallet Town, Finished Skirt, Crafty Gathering"
  1. I love the purse..Your color combination is so nice with scraps:) Soon i too want to sew like you,so much of neat finishing..Good luck for the burdastyle challenge..And yea its been a while since i bought the sew serendipity book you know. Dunoo if m lazy or the stores dint prove lucky for me to get good combination of fabrics!! And i love the top you are wearing in the last pic..

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  2. Wallet is WONDERFUL! I'm not sure I think you need a higher head (!) but I do like the hat.

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  3. Thanks, Ladies! @Diya - The top in the last picture is Simplicity 2580. It's a super easy pattern, although I did use a serger which helps a lot with jersey. And thanks for your comment on the finishing - that's high praise to a perfectionist! I've come a long way in the two years I've been sewing and I love that I have so much more to learn.

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