Sewing For The Market

Booth at market

This past Christmas, I decided to participate in the Christmas markets in the area.  I attempt to get in, starting in August.  To my surprise, the ones I wanted into were already completely booked.  I decided to go on the waiting list and see if anything became available.

To my surprise, 3 weeks before one of the ones I wanted into was to take place, I received a call asking if I wanted to participate.  This particular market is usually very full and the same vendors come back year after year after year.  I said, "yes", but quickly asked myself, how are you going to do that? ;)  With three weeks until the market, I had to sew an inventory....which meant I also had to source out some fabrics.

Fortunately for me, I had already been considering what I would like to do, but wasn't going to invest the time or money, if I didn't have a spot at the market.  At three weeks before the market, I had a ton to do to prepare.  Being in Canada and to get the fabrics I wanted, meant a possible couple of weeks until I could receive fabrics and supplies...and then there is sewing to be done. ;)  To my utter shock and surprise, two of the companies, one in particular, was able to get my order to me in just 3 days!!!  Wow!!!  I was impressed.  The other business took about 1.5 weeks, but enough time to allow me to sew.  Since I had one market to do, I wanted to find a couple more...and I did. :)  I had a wonderful time participating in the markets and am seriously considering doing it again this next year.  I am already signed up for two and on the waiting list for one. ;)

Salsa Skirt

Here are some of the items I made for the markets.

Simple pull on skirt

Moustache Infinity Scarf

Onesies for boys and girls

 There were several other products I sold, and I had a great deal of fun and learned a lot!  I confess to having a few very late nights in order to sew inventory, but I made it. :)

See, I still am sewing, I just don't get to show it all the time.....

Good Night........

Fashion Revolution/ Inside Out, What I Wore Today....

I spent a few hours out of the house today, taking daughter to the dentist and then running errands afterwards.

I wore my knit denim Salsa skirt, inside out, along with my shirt, which was made in Canada and my vest, which was made in Sri Lanka.  My tights I did not wear inside out, but they were made in the USA.  Not sure about my shoes where they were made.

Olivia joined me in wearing her chevron Salsa skirt, inside out, too.  Her fabric was made in Korea by the Riley Blake company.

I did get a bit of a laugh today as people did not realize my skirt was inside out!  I have six seams and they are all serged, but it's funny how this type of seaming/finish has become more fashionable, thus why people didn't realize my skirt was inside out.  My vest got noticed for it, but my skirt caught the attention of people because they liked the look of my skirt...it wasn't until I pointed out it was inside out that they noticed. ;)

It was nice being able to engage in conversations with people regarding this anniversary and about Fashion Revolution.  Becoming more aware and educated on this subject of 'where are your clothes/fabrics made'  is important.

Did you learn anything new today about where your clothes are made? :)

Good Night......

Worst Garment Industry Disaster Anniversary

Today marks the 1st anniversary of the worst garment disaster in history.  Here's an up to date story from the CBC.  Do you want to help bring light to the tragedy and help make a difference?  Today is:  Fashion Revolution .  Inside Out is also a name being used for today.  On these sites, you can find out how you can help draw attention to the fashion industry issues, surrounding the production of the clothing we wear.

HERE is a great article on ways in which we can draw attention to this issue, today.  Since I sew a great deal of my clothes, I will be wearing handmade clothing, inside out.  :)

Today, I will be joining in the campaign to draw attention to where my clothes were made and ways in which I might be able to make a difference.  I think in today's society, it's very important for us to not turn a blind eye to what's going on in the fashion industry with respect to how we produce, sell and get the clothes/fabrics we have today.  Do you know where your clothes were made?  How about the fabric?  Are the workers being paid a fair wage?  What about the conditions the workers work in, are they safe?

Here are the goals for today:

THE THEME: Who made your clothes? 

WHAT TO DO:  Wear an item of clothing inside out.

AND: Ask the retailer the question WHO MADE YOUR CLOTHES.

HOW: share across all social media by USING THE HASHTAG #insideout 

WHY: The voicing of these questions, on a global scale, will raise awareness and encourage the fashion industry to continue the process of change.

Please join me in drawing attention to where are clothes are made and how we can help promote better working conditions and compensation for the workers making the clothes and fabrics we wear.  Let's help make a difference.

Warmly,

Carol

April Sewing

Here are a couple of projects I worked on this month.

First, I had a birthday gift to make for my sister.  With her gardening well underway in Texas, I thought she could use a lovely new apron.

The apron is made out a medium weight linen with extra large pockets to help her carry in some produce, or packets of seeds.

This apron is made for a friend of my daughter in law, who recently had a baby.  I made one of these for my daughter in law, after he baby was born.

When my children were little, I wore aprons to bath my babies/toddlers.  It kept me dry and most importantly, especially for babies, I was able to hold onto slippery little babies. :)  I was always afraid my baby would slip out of my hands, so having something to hold onto them with, was very helpful for me.

I made these aprons out of an extra large bath sheet.  The large pocket is designed to put an infant baby's head into it, while baby is up against the chest.  As baby grows, the bottom of the apron will work to go over baby's head.  There is a snap at the back, to hold the corners out of the way while bathing baby, and for ease of unsnapping with one hand.  The neckband is also snapped on with two snaps on one side (stitched in place on the other) to keep it in place.  The pocket is also usable for storing bath toys or wash cloths in, while bathing baby.


Good night for now! :)

Easter Dress Wrap Up

I was able to keep up with my sewing for 1 hour a day this past week, with the exception of Easter Sunday....I took that day off from sewing, but not cooking. ;)

Here is Olivia in her Easter Walk Away dress and her Bolero from a vintage pattern, Simplicity 3848.

 

Olivia's bolero was made from a linen fabric.  I had to make alterations to it as well.  I needed to lengthen the back length, from the shoulder seam.  I could have lengthened the front by a small amount too, but it turned out just fine.  I was making it without Olivia there to try on for alterations.  I used the dress form, but it was padded out to her size, so I was guessing. ;) 

It turned out to be a lovely Easter day with sunshine and warmer temperatures, thankfully!  We have just had so much snow and winter this year.

The dress went together fairly easily.  I did have to make alterations to fit Olivia.  I also used Katrina's directions to try out a different style petticoat for this dress.  It worked out very well for Olivia.  Should I make this dress in the future, for me, I will make a similar petticoat.

For fun, I made a little bow tie from Olivia's dress fabric to go with her nephew's onesie shirt.  I made it to be a snap on tie so it can be swapped out for other bow ties.  I took the black linen fabric and made a bow tie from that as well. :)

My other projects I will post in the next couple of days.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter.

Good Night

Piecing patterns together and tracing them off......

In my attempt to keep doing some sewing each day, I chose to do preparation work.  I taped together some of my PDF patterns and traced them off, preparing them for the next step, to pin and cut the fabric.  Here's a little look at what I was working on today.

Some young adult, child and baby items to be worked on. :)

Good Night :)

KCW Day 7

Well, the week of sewing for one or more hours a day, is now up. :)  It's been a good challenge for me, but I confess to being tired!  It's been a long week.  The good news is, Olivia's Easter Dress is now completed.  I have her bolero I would like to work on this week, if possible. I'm going to attempt to sew each day this week, too, but with Easter upon us, I'm not sure how well I will be able to stick to the schedule.

I will post Easter pictures of Olivia in her dress and give a full review of the dress at that time.

Good Night... :)

KCW Day 6

Wow, how did it get to be day 6 so fast?  Time is slipping away and I am still plugging away at things.

I was home later than I had hoped, but I have worked for my 1 + hours getting some sewing done.  I started with a repair from last Easter's dress for Olivia, so that she can wear this tomorrow for the choir performance.  I made sure the crinoline I just made could be used for last year's dress and we will save her Walk Away dress for Easter.

Next, I pulled out the bias strips and have decided to use them for the hem of the Walk Away dress.  I stitched all the strips together and tomorrow, I will decide if I am going to 'bound' the edge or make a bias turned hem.  Good thing I can sleep on it as my brain is much, much, much too tired to make the decision tonight. ;)

My goal for tomorrow is to have the dress completed by day's end.  I'm almost there. :)

The Homeschool conference was wonderful!  Now, it's time for some much needed sleep to arise early tomorrow....perhaps there is a nap in there for me tomorrow....I am hoping!

Good Night :)

KCW Day 5

Today I worked on tracing off PDFs for my sewing time since I am at a conference and away from machines.  I am hoping I can create one of the T-shirts for one of my sons, on Sunday....we shall see if I make it. :)

Good Night...  :)

KCW Day 4

The crinoline is just about finished.  I need to try it on Olivia, one more time to make sure I have the elastic correct and the crinoline works well with the hemline of the dress.

For the next two days I will be at a conference so I will be unable to sew at the machine.  I am bringing some PDF patterns to put together, that will take up all of my 1 hour time slot....and then some.  I'm hoping to have the dress finished on Saturday evening, along with the petticoat.

Olivia did hand stitching today.  She was working on sewing on buttons and figuring out the differences of sewing with one strand of thread vs. two or embroidery thread. :)


Good Night ;)

Day 3 KCW

Progress is being made.  Olivia's dress now has all it's bias strips on, stitched 2 times, so now all that's left is the hem and the fasteners for the front and back of the dress.  I am letting the dress sit for 48 hours to get the hem ready for finishing up.  Here's the dress on a dress form.  The dress form is a little less in measurements than Olivia.  Her measurements are a little bigger and she's a little more squishy, but you get the idea of what it looks like.  I'm moving on to the crinoline.

For tomorrow I need to :

-cut out the crinoline
-hopefully start stitching or finish stitching the crinoline
-trace off the bolero
-want to trace off 1 or 2 t-shirt patterns to stitch up before Sunday night...we shall see if I actually make it. ;)

It's nice to see the dress coming together.

Olivia continue her stitching work today as well.  She worked on making a purse for herself.  She has more work to do on it tomorrow.

 Good Night! :)

Day 2 KCW

I was able to make progress on the dress today, after spending a long time preparing the fabric for matching bias tape.

Lots of beautiful purple and white polka dot, cotton, bias strips.  Perfect!

-Once the fabric was prepared, then the strips were cut.
- I was able to sew my pieces together.
-I stitch some parts onto the dress, while others are still pinned on.
-All the darts and shoulder seams were stitched.

Tomorrow my goals will be:
-To stitch all the bias strips on, the first pass.
-Then I will prepare the bias strips for the second stitching.  I may well leave the second pass, which will be done by hand, until Friday and Saturday.  I have to be away from my machines those two days and I would love to keep stitching. I can bring this along as a project for those two days.
-Prepare the hem for hanging for a few days, since the back skirt portion is on the bias and needs time to hang before stitching.
-Prepare the materials for the crinoline to go with the dress.

Olivia worked at her machine again today.  She had lots of fun attempting embroidery and applique, all on her own ideas. :)   If you look closely, she got very silly and put all her threads onto her shirt.  She figured that was a great way to keep the threads before throwing them into the garbage....funny girl!

 Good Night! ;)

Time for some sewing

Even though it's been a long time since I last posted, thankfully, my sewing hasn't stopped! :)  Life has just taken on a new season of busyness and it's wonderful.

I enjoyed going to the Sewing Expo again this past February/March.  Lots of classes and fun.

I decided to take part in KCW (Kids Clothes Week).  It's pretty self explanatory.  For 7 days, one hour each day, you sew clothing for your children.  There are some very ambitious people sewing clothing for their children (kids), I will be the snail of the bunch. :)  I am working on Olivia's Easter Dress, and that will likely take me the whole sewing time.

Here's what I did for the first day:

Traced off the pattern
Made a muslin
Stitched the muslin
Made changes to the tissue pattern
Cut the dress out/marked the darts and pinned them ready for tomorrow.

I am working on a 1950's Walk away dress for Olivia's Easter dress.  I will be showing my progress to keep me accountable for stitching at least one hour each day.  Today was several hours of sewing.  Friday and Saturday will be a bit challenging as I will be at a conference, so I will have to get clever and have my hand stitching ready to take with me.

Olivia decided to join me on working on sewing skills.  She decided to make two dresses for one of her new dolls she received from her aunt and uncle.  Olivia is using her Singer Featherweight machine which she is enjoying.

If you have time, stop by the KCW site and have a look at the work going on over there.

Good night,

Carol