Craft fair yay! Head cold boo.

Big me, small table. 

In the grand Jessie tradition, now that [insert busy activity here] is over I have a cold. Post Craftershock, I feel like poo, and am thus staying away from my pile o' scarves until I'm less likely to accidentally jam my thumb between the serger blades in a cold medicine induced haze. Boo. Hiss. However miserable I might feel, at least I have a billiondy scarves to show for it. They're now for sale on my Etsy shop if anyone is doing some last-minute gift shopping.

The craft fair was pretty neat. The people were really nice, and there was a great range of stuff for sale.  I lucked out in that I had nice neighbors - one quiet gentleman to my right selling fine art, and a talkative gentleman to my left also selling fine art. My talkative neighbor was awesome - he was entertaining and friendly, and Steve and I had a blast chatting it up with him the whole day. We also enjoyed being across the way from Bettie Off Dead who was selling her Boo Boo Cakes. She fed us throughout the event, and I suspect I left a few pounds heavier. So worth it though.

This wasn't the first time I'd had a booth at some type of event (ahem rollerderbyquilt.com ahem), but it was the first time I've sold these particular scarves. I have a lot of changes I'd like to make in the way I set things up, many of which I would have done for this fair had I not signed up so last-minute:

1. More vertical display stuff.  People brought boxes, bookcases, and professional displays to maximize their spaces and I'd like to do the same next time. Specifically, all of my chokers look similar if they're laid flat, but when they're on a person they hang very differently. Getting more neck display things would help a lot. Thank goodness they're cheap!

2. A long, rectangular folding table. I knew I needed this, but we couldn't get one in time. Instead, we used a circular table and it was a little weird. It maximized sitting space, sure, but it didn't do the same for display space.

3. Move the "Visa and Mastercard Accepted" sign up higher. The scarves kept obscuring it and I don't think everyone knew that I took other methods of payment.

4. Make a sign showing the price of general styles in addition to the individual item tags. More than one way to see item prices might help cut down on the "how much are these?" questions. I had thought the tags would be enough, but apparently that wasn't so.

5. Make items in a >$10 price range and a >$25 price range. I had some ideas for smaller items (cuffs brooches, etc.) but none of them were fully-fleshed-out enough to sell before the fair so that will have to wait until next time.

I hope to vend at other events in the future, and a ton of opportunities are coming up in the spring. That should give me plenty of time to play with new designs, find decent jersey in a broader range of colors, and try out new fabrics.

Vending! Woo!

This Sunday I'll be hawking my scarves at Craftershock!, a craft fair being put on by Worcester Roller Derby:

Hanging the flyer on my virtual tree, here.

In case you can't see the flyer, here are the deets:

Where?

WoRD's warehouse

34 Suffolk St.

Worcester MA

When?

December 18th

11AM-5PM

Come check it out! The vendors look amazing and I'm psyched to be included in such wonderful company. Thanks Worcester Roller Derby!

Buttons on everything. All the buttons.

I don't know if I have the heart to sell this. I LOVE this one.

 I've gotten very, very into sewing buttons onto things. A while back I made a trip to Windsor Button and almost didn't buy anything. However, on my way out the door I noticed a giant bin of assorted buttons and I spent about an hour and a half picking through it. $10 worth of buttons later, I had both feet squarely on the road towards wherever I am now.

My mother taught me about how awesome even really ordinary things look in excess. A vase full of 30 lemons looks just as awesome as a vase of flowers, and usually more so because it's really odd. I'm having similar feelings about these buttons. A couple look ok, but very ordinary. Add about 50 more and it looks pretty awesome.

The best part about making these is that it's nicely mindless. During our DnD game today I sewed about a milliondy  buttons onto a purple choker and it actually helped me concentrate more on the game. Granted, I was accidentally dropping buttons all over the game map, but they made for very useful "bloodied" and "marked" tokens.

I know that all of my posts this weekend have been all "go to my Etsy shop!"and all, but still, go to my Etsy shop. There are more of these scarves almost every day, and each one is helping me make Xmas happen for my family. They make great gifts too. I'm so thrilled that I stumbled upon this stuff now because it's really helping at a tough time. Man, I love the internet, my sewing machine, and buttons. Oh, how I love those buttons.

Making Christmas

With my newfound love of sewing comes a very handmade Christmas. I can't say what I'm giving out, but I can say that I'm terrifically proud of everything I'm making. Hooray for being raised by makers of things, and hooray for inheriting their useful hands. Thanks mom and dad. <3

I have more scarves up for sale in my Etsy store. I finally got photos of the pink and orange striped scarf I made a few days ago. The fabric is so bright that it's almost impossible to get an honest shot of it. The photos were getting to saturated that you couldn't even see the shape! This is close enough, though:

Almost true to life color. The real thing
is much brighter, though.

Like it? Buy it on Etsy! 

I'm also really excited about a few smaller pieces I've been making. I had a narrower piece of jersey that I wanted to use, but the strips I made from it were too short to make a full scarf. However, they made for awesome chokers. I'm selling these two, but I may need to make one for myself. Any Nutcrackers need a pink and black accessory?

Choker with 3 ruffles in pink and black.

... and a slightly simpler version.

I have a pile of other colors waiting to be made into scarves, too. Soon I'll have some in red, navy, dark purple, and a few weird patterns. This serger may have been the best purchase I've made in years. Seriously.

New items up. Whee!

I spent waaaay too much time sewing today. However, I'm proud of the results. Here are two photos, with more to come when I can get better lighting.

Available for sale in my Etsy shop.

This one too!