My first Oilcloth bag!

Helloo!!  It's me again! My posts are like buses - you wait ages for one, then two come along together!

I've just finished and photographed my latest commission, it was for an oilcloth messenger/saddle bag and the customer pretty much gave me free rein on it, I just hope that she is as pleased with it as I am. This was my first foray into the world of Oilcloth and it's quite a tricky material to work with. You really have to sew everything right first time, once your sewing machine bites into the fabric, the mark is there for good. If you have to unpick then the only option is to sew again in exactly the same place - I'm sure that there is some sewing machine wiz out there who can do it with ease but I'd rather not have to try! Oilcloth is also hard to manoeuvre through the machine as it is fairly rigid and doesn't squash up as easily as other fabrics and if you are sewing shiny side down, then it will just stick to your sewing machine. The only way round this is to place an off-cut of oilcloth face down on the machine bed in front of the needle - this will stick itself to the machine and enable the piece that you are sewing to move freely over it.
There are two things that I could not have managed without; the first being a Teflon sewing foot. A normal sewing foot will stick to the oilcloth and you will be unable to sew, so a Teflon foot is a must.

The second must have are these little plastic clips. Pins will leave a mark int the laminated cloth if you accidentally place them outside the seam allowance, the clips won't distort the fabric and are great with thick, multiple layers. I must confess that I bought them on a whim thinking that they might come in useful, and they certainly did!

The design is one I've been thinking about for a while but hadn't yet made, it has two pockets on the front, and two pockets inside, one of which is zipped. I will be making more, but probably in regular fabric, though I may be tempted to dabble in laminated fabric again at some point.

The finished bag!

Folksy Friday - Christmas decorations

I haven't done a Folksy Friday since the beginning of November and now we're only days away from December so I think a theme of Christmas deckies is in order. I love, love, love Christmas and I love to decorate the house. We always have two trees, a real one in the conservatory and an artificial one in the porch. My Granddaughter does the porch tree and we all decorate the one in the conservatory, well apart from my OH who just stands and admires. Oh and we usually have a little drinky poo while we decorate, well it is Christmas!
Here's this weeks selection:

These shabby chic Christmas trees are so pretty, they're from  PANTSANDPAPER

Love these Santas, they're by  Hettie & Mabel

This cute trio of reindeer are from  The Dreaming Hare

Even your teapot can look Christmasy,  it's from  The Crafty Bride

How about this Christmas 'knitiviy'  from  Wiggys Mum

This cute Santa is by  Coggsy Coops Creations

This lovely glass star is from  Gooseberry Fool

This pretty Christmas wreath is by  Handcrafted Hannah

A stunning heirloom Christmas stocking from  Rosie Bears Crafts

And lastly, from me, a Christmas tree garland  Wild Rose Designs

Hope you enjoyed my selection, thanks for looking,

Linda

Folksy Friday - Sewing

The theme for this weeks Folksy Friday is Sewing. Sewing has been a part of my life since childhood and I love it! I love everything to do with sewing; the fabric, the trims, buttons, haberdashery, even the gadgets! I dream of a work space filled with rolls of stunning fabrics, reels of ribbon and thread - all neatly displayed. not like the unholy mess that is my workroom most of the time......anyhoo, here is this weeks selection.

Love these tape measure heart brooches, they're by  Ruby Bijou

This beautifully detailed print of a Singer sewing machine is by  Ink and Stylus

Fabulous pearly pins from  the Crafterie

Oooh! buttons, my favourite colour and they're from  Gertie & Mabel

As a bag maker I just love this fabric from  Koh-I-Noor Quilts

So true!  It's by  Of Life and Lemons

I'm sure I have this pattern somewhere! This card is by  Made at Home by Leigh Clothier

What a great pair of earrings! They're from  Lisa's Jewellery & Gifts

What a gorgeous sewing box, I want!  It's from  MarrianeLeyDesign

These are really unusual, and they're by  The Bird & the button

And finally from me, a pin cushion and needle case  Wild Rose Designs

Hope you enjoyed my selection, thanks for looking.

Linda

Some of my favourite makes

Wild Rose Designs recently celebrated 2 years of on-line selling! During that time I have made a lot of bags!!
So I thought that I'd share just a few of my favourite makes, past and present.

Linda

Folksy Friday - Warm and cosy

Now that the evenings are drawing in and the temperature is dropping, we like to feel warm and cosy. I do love cosy evenings in front of the fire, though I do miss not having a proper log fire. There's nothing quite like sitting and staring into the flames and listening to the crack and hiss of logs burning. I'll just have to make do with my gas fire. Here are a selection of lovely handmade goodies that hopefully will make you feel all warm inside.

I love the colours in this shaggy shawl from Eccentric Ella

There's more than a touch of Miss Marple about this cape from  Moth

(I love Miss Marple, but rarely get to watch it as no one else likes it).

These pretty gloves look lovely and warm.They're by  Crazy About Gloves

This crocheted blanket is sure to keep you warm on a winters evening, it's from  Lindyknits

Love this hot water bottle cover by  Rowan Knits

Just what you need to keep those logs handy, it's from  Homestead and Garden

You can't beat a good candle to give a warm and welcoming glow. They're from  cottage Candles- Handmade Pure Beeswax Candles 

WOW! Just had to include this, it's from  Magnus Larkin

Saucy, but warm. they're by  Lucy Haslam Knitwear

Wrap up warm in this gorgeous Trench coat from  Fashion Couture

I hope you enjoyed my selection this week, thanks for looking,

Linda

Craft Fair - Lessons learned

On Saturday I attended my first Craft fair as a seller, I've been to many a fair as a buyer, but it was an eye opener seeing it from the other side of the table. I'd spent the week preparing for it, labelling and pricing everything, deciding on my table layout and making sure that I had bags and tissue for wrapping. On the day we were there in plenty of time and managed to set up reasonably quickly and I even managed to have a lightening tour of the other stalls before the fair opened. There were lots of lovely things for sale all of a very high quality and that gave me a brief moment of apprehension - were my offerings good enough?  But everyone who stopped by and commented, said how much they liked my things which boosted my confidence a lot.

There were not as many visitors as I hoped but I managed to not only cover my costs but make a small profit too. Lots of my family came to offer their support which was lovely and much appreciated. One thing I became aware of was how important it is for customers to at least acknowledge the seller. A smile and/or hello is all that is needed, we're not expecting you to buy if you speak to us but it is a little disconcerting to be blanked.

I have booked for the November and December fairs so am hoping for better sales then as hopefully people will be Christmas shopping in earnest.

Though sales were not exactly high this time, I did learn valuable lessons from the experience:

o  Less is more! In an effort to show all I had to sell, I think I overdid the display. Next time I will put out fewer items so that they can be seen better. I can always add signs telling people that I have more stock with me.

o  Make sure you have lots of cheaper items to tempt buyers.

o  Try to have a least one range of items that are really different. The lady on the stall next to mine had some cute tiny fabric animals in little sleeping bags in their own tin and they really pulled in the customers even if they didn't buy! She had an almost constant stream of customers chatting to her about her stock and at least taking away business cards.

o  Don't be too rigid with your display. Move it around depending on your stalls location. I moved my rail of bags when I realised their was a big enough space on the other side of my table to have it facing forwards rather than being side on, thus making my bags more visible and easier to get to. I also moved things around on my table to give some items more prominence.

o  Seasonal products! Next time I will make sure that I have plenty of Christmassy things for sale including decorations and Christmas present items to suit all pockets.

o  You can find out about different craft fairs from the other sellers, I may have another two to go to next month!

I don't expect that I shall get everything right next time and I'm sure I'll learn more valuable lessons, but you know what... I can't wait!

Me getting out some bunting to hang along the front of my table

Yup! Definitely overdid the display.

My original placement for the bag rail meant that most of them could not be seen.

Hubby watching tv on the iPad during a lull.

The craft fair is held in a beautiful converted church.

There is a handy cafe on the premises.

My bag rail moved to the other end of the table means that people can get right up to the bags.

Thanks for looking,

Linda