Holding a craft stall

A few years back I was doing multiple craft fairs in a year. I also entered work in local exhibitions and made items on request. It takes a lot of time and effort to get yourself out there and create a following, to make your hobby make money.

Life got busier and I stopped doing so much creating, but also in 2007/2008 when we had the global financial crisis people stopped buying crafts. There is a bottom line for what you create, between the material cost and the time it took you to make it: usually you lose money on the time element. This was the case for craft stalls and I. Hours of time creating and a whole day sitting behind a table was netting very little profit and draining some of the love for what I did.

Something that can be hard to manage even when hosting a single craft stall is creativity vs. output. You can have a couple of different kinds of stalls: few products and higher prices, where even selling a couple of pieces leaves you breaking even; or a lot of products of lower values that collectively will make your profit. I've always had the latter. Often the basket of $2 bracelet would be what sold the most, to all of the little girls looking to buy something with their own money.

My beach glass dragons were higher value items, but materials aside (the glass did come free from the beach, though it took a lot of collecting time) they took hours and hours to make and people weren't very willing to pay what they were worth. It's a bit insulting when people try to bargain you down on the day! 

I buy from local artists whenever I can, particularly friends. It pays to support each other and I generally found that was the attitude at craft fairs. I often did swaps with other stallholders, for items of equal value that we eyed off from each other.

I sew more than bead these days and do a bit of fabric printing and eco-dyeing. I don't want to compete with other artists in Darwin who sell a lot of the latter, but I also don't make clothes for other people, only myself. I think about having a stall again and there are certainly opportunities around. I would stick with my beach glass necklaces, because I haven't ever come across anyone who wires them together into collars and decorates them like I do, so they are a unique product. 

It would take me weeks of dedicated time, or months of less dedicated time, to create enough for a stall and that hasn't been something I've been willing to do. If I knew someone who wanted to share with me it would be easier, as I wouldn't have to fill a whole table myself. But the craft fairs are also on Sundays when I have archery...
Aren't priorities hard when we want to do everything in life?

Too many skirts, time for some shirts!

This blog has motivated me to do a lot of sewing and I've made some new skirts as a result. But what I'm finding now when I pull skirts out to wear to work is that I've already worn the top that matches the day before! Clearly I need more shirts to choose from, preferably that will match multiple skirts.

Black looks good with a lot of my cupboard and so does green, but I already have one each of these tops. I also don't want to wear black all the time, not enough colour!
One of my blue tops is brightly patterned, so it clashes with some of my equally bright skirts. It actually goes best with my orange skirt!
My other blue top is a darker shade of blue that doesn't match everything either.
I have a few blue skirts now, so more blue tops makes sense.
My white top is lace overlaid over black, so it's too much with some skirts. I need a white top, or at least one that is mostly cream.
I have nothing in pink or purple.

I have certain standards and looks that I impose on myself for work. Everyone's concept of 'corporate wear' is different and I believe in being comfortable and happy each day. Grey on grey is not part of my happiness!

I could buy more things, as a lot of fashion is cheap these days, but I dislike polyester fabric, as it is too hot in my area: why have a nice, cotton skirt on the bottom when your top is boiling? I also am more mindful of how many clothes we waste and what the costs of them are. Why would I make my own clothes, if I can buy a skirt and top from a generic store for a fraction of the cost? For me the answer is generally that the clothes I make will last me years longer than the cheap ones.

This book was an interesting read and has made me try to use my op shop-bag clothes in more ways before I think about donating them.

Back to the making of things.

The Spotlight store in my town has a permanent sale rack of fabric, which is fun to rummage through. I generally buy more than what I was looking for, but at the moment they have some great bargains: buy 3 metres or more, or the end of a roll, and you get another 50% off the sale price! 

These were some of my purchases:

Gold and cream cotton duck 

 (Cotton duck (from Dutch: doek, "linen canvas"), also simply duck, is a heavy, plain woven cotton fabric. Very sturdy. Doesn't crease as much as some of the lighter fabrics.) 
Purple Japanese-pattern cotton duck

Silver Dupion silk (way too nice to pass up!)

Woven blue Indonesian fabric (also cotton, beautifully light and feels nice against the skin)

Grey/yellow heavy cotton

As I share the hobby room with my husband, our sewing/gaming times often intersect. Sometimes I will just cut fabric out and pin things, so that it's quieter on my end of the room. As we also often listen to audio books or music together during this time, it feels more like couples time if we're able to talk freely ❤

All of these tops will be made from my homemade basic pattern: simple, sleeveless crop tops. I cut them out from a single paper piece, leaving plenty of seam allowance:

The back piece sits higher near my neck, and the front a bit lower. The front piece also has a dart either side for shape. I have experimented with different necklines, but it really works best if you have more pieces in the pattern.. which is also more work! I'll keep these ones simple instead.

I have a second crop top that has a crossover back. I cut a pattern off it and used it to cut the back of one of the tops.

Every edge that I can overlock to seal it, I will. I sometimes wish that I had two overlockers - one strung with white and the other with black thread, so that I didn't have to change them over! I usually need tweezers to accomplish it...

I hemmed all of the edges as well, to make it neater when I joined the three pieces together.

Then it was a matter of joining the seams together. This is the star top, all finished. Front:

Back:

You can't tell from the photos, but the darts that I put in the bust don't actually match up.. oops! My laziness, my fault. I will have to mark the fabric with a pencil next time, so that they match on either side.

I should be fairly well outfitted for work now 😊

What is Corporate Wear?

Someone recently informed me that they don't believe I dress professionally enough for work. I was quite taken aback and it really played on my mind for a few weeks... and is continuing to in my evening choice of an outfit for the next day (and this blog post). 

What is corporate wear? If you Google it you get an awful lot of pictures of women in black pants, button-up shirts and black jackets. We actually have a corporate clothing guide at work, but nothing I wear contravenes this in any way, neither does it require me to wear only black, white and grey. And until I dye my hair neon I'm still not the most out-there person in the building.

In our discussion about my clothing, I listed some of the following reasons for my choices:

• The weather: a lot of default corporate wear is polyester which is really, really hot. I work in air-conditioning, but I have to get to and from work and I go out for meetings and lunch. All of my skirts are cotton or silk, which is better for our climate. I would rather be comfortable.
• Sizing: I find it hard to buy corporate clothing that fits. Slim, knee-length dresses are not right for me and my shape, but there are a lot of them around. Knee-length is that bit short for me, too, with my size. I prefer that my dresses are comfortable when you're sitting, not just standing.
• Pants: I hate pants. Just hate them. I hate how I feel in them (fat, essentially), how they bunch up, the unflattering shape and the way a lot of them these days have no pockets and an elastic waist. If they can make jeans that fit and are flattering, why can't they make black pants the same?? 
• Blouses: button up shirts are not for me. I swear they increase the visual size of my bust. And they're often too tight and not terribly flattering.
• Colours: yes, I dress in all colours of the rainbow. Sometimes literally all colours of the rainbow in one garment. Which I may have paired with a bright blue top. But there is no requirement for black and white in the office now, is there?
• How I feel about myself: is probably the strongest reason for me. Putting on a uniform to go to work was always a drag, whereas looking through my cupboard of bright, handmade clothes and being able to put them on and spend the day in them makes me happy. We spend so much time at work that I don't think we should be unhappy or uncomfortable for this time.

In contrast to the first opinion, someone reminded me that my clothes are one-off designs, totally original. Again, we spend so much time at work, when else would I get to wear them? For me it's a pleasure to wear beautiful fabric, rather than use it for cushions or a quilt.

I do wear a blue patterned top with a bright orange skirt (which also has a bit of blue), but they're contrasting opposites on the colour wheel and the outfit totally pops! Not everyone's cup of tea, but I have been complimented on it by strangers in the street.

Also, the rainbow skirt above. I call it my 'Crazy Rainbow Skirt', just for the sheer amount of colour in it.

And the nearly holographic owls.. but this is my favourite fabric just about in the world.

This post isn't meant to be an accusation. I didn't agree with the opinion about my clothing and it initially upset me a lot, but it did make me reflect on my style and how I present myself to the world of work.. and wonder if a couple of my outfits were a bit out-there. 

I reviewed my wardrobe and retired a couple of things to non-work wear (particularly a couple of tops, which I replaced with some nice black ones). Made a new skirt less complicated/visually interesting than I had been planning, which worked well because it made it elegant. Decided that maybe the rainbow skirt could still be worn, but toned down by pairing it with a black top. 

But I will continue to wear the orange and blue combination because it rocks and, more importantly, it makes me happy.

Asymmetric skirt in Blue and White

Not everything has to line up!

Maybe this fabric would work with my little sketch pattern? I was very kindly gifted this by someone who decided that I would have better use of it. It is from the Tiwi Islands.

I wanted to make four panels, so that I could make the fabric run in different directions and so that the panels would mis-match.

I decided what length I wanted for the short bit at the front and made a chop along the top here:

I used an existing skirt as a template for the size and dimensions of the two front panels:

You can see that I cut them on two different angles so that the material doesn't match up:

This is something like what they will look like together. I may even make the difference at the bottom more pronounced.

I used the same skirt as a pattern for the back.

 I keep all of my scraps for future projects ☺

 This is the front and back pieces cut out. As the edges won't match up, all four panels will need to be overlocked on all edges and also hemmed, to make sure that no seams are left unfinished.
I love high-low hems, so I did it on the back of this skirt.

I overlocked all of the raw edges and turned the hem under.

This trim caught my eye - I loved the contrast! But where to put it?

I sewed the zip into the back:

And then pinned all four panels together.

But when I tried it on.. it was a bit too small. Oops! I had needed to cut more seam allowance... Luckily I had leftover, full-length strips from the fabric so I could cut two long triangles to add in.
I had to overlock and hem these pieces, too, and then stitch them in.
I finished the look with the fluro yellow pompoms, just for something different.

Love the final result! High-low hem, which is my current favourite style: modest at the back, cool at the front.

 I always add a pocket and a loop for my work tag, too.

I match one of the pictures at work here nicely!

My mother's gift made into a shirt

Apart from passing on her amazing sewing skills, my mother also gives me great gifts! I get fabric and buttons a lot of the time, rather than pre-made clothes (unless they're op-shop, which we both love) so that I can make my own.
This fabric was a birthday present that I should have done something with some time ago...

It is very me! I love green and the outdoors, trees, streams. This fabric reminds me of what you can see at the bottom of a shallow creek when you look down at the rocks.

This fabric has a lovely drape, so I decided to make a cowl-neck shirt. To cut this, I laid one pattern over another so that the bottom of the front of the top was straight and the arm holes would be in the right place, which is off to the side. Basically I need to leave extra fabric in the middle of the neckline to create the drape look.

Sorry about the photos, the light wasn't great...

 This is the front drape, pinned to my mannikin.

I overlocked the edges on the front piece:

I thought that a cross-back would suit the fabric, but it's very flimsy and if the edges folded while I was wearing it you might be able to see the hemming.

 To stop this, when I cut the fabric I doubled it over so that I could make the back panels stronger. Luckily I had enough fabric to do this.

I pinned them inside out and sewed the pieces together, leaving a gap to pull the fabric back through to the right side.
Then it was a matter of joining the pieces together. 

 The cowl neck sat well on the front.

 The back kept slipping off my shoulders, so I put a cross piece in.

Final top on:

Another shirt to wear to work 🙂