Tag: etsy

Cowls and snoods

Gold silk feather & fan snood

According to my definition (I don’t know whether it’s the same as anybody else’s), a cowl and a snood are both a tube of fabric that sits around your neck. The difference between them is that a cowl stays there, whereas a snood is long enough that it can be pulled up and over the top of your head. The snood above is one that I knitted for a Christmas present, and I have to admit I was quite sad to give it away. Thankfully there’s enough yarn left over (Fyberspates Scrumptious Laceweight) that I might one day get around to knitting another one for myself.

Grey & black snood

This one I made today, from a remnant of soft cotton/viscose blend jersey, and half an old t-shirt of Paul’s. It needs to be a smidge longer, so that it can cover the head without creating a chilly gap at the back of the neck, but its size was determined by the materials available. Next time I’ll start with yardage, and make it a little bit longer. I quite fancy a fleecy version of this as well, as long as it doesn’t bunch up too much under the chin.

Black & floral cowl

The main endeavour of the day has been drafting a pattern and making up a few cowls, which are now listed in the Etsy shop. I’ve been wondering for ages what on earth I could make from the remnants of jersey fabrics in the stash, and sitting with a very cold neck at work the other day prompted these cosy little neck warmers! They just pull on over the head, and you can either drape them in an artistic and casual fashion, or fold them down neatly like a turtleneck. The floral one is the same on both sides, and the spotty & stripy one is reversible. I’ve listed two of those on Etsy, though I’m extremely tempted to keep one for myself. (I’m keeping the stripy snood though, so perhaps two grey neck-warming things is a bit much.)

Grey & black spotty & stripy cowl

One of the things I really need to improve this year is the photos for my Etsy listings. Despite my endless wittering on Facebook, the vast majority of the visitors to my little shop are coming from within Etsy itself, so I need to upgrade my listings to attract as many views as I can. I like the white face with the white wig – I think it gives a context to the photos whilst keeping the emphasis firmly on the product. However, I am aware that the polystyrene lady looks a little… well… cheap. Sadly, having spent all my money on hat blocks, I can’t afford to upgrade her for a classier model any time soon, so I’ve been thinking about how I could get rid of the polystyrene texture. Papier maché, perhaps, with a layer of white paint over the top? I also need to improve my listing photos generally. They look fine on my Mac at home, but on any other computer they seem very grey and dull, which isn’t quite the look I want to go for! Perhaps a little re-calibration is in order.

I’m aware that everything I’ve posted here lately has been “Look, I made a thing!”. This must be especially dull if you’re already following The Eternal Magpie page on Facebook, as I tend to post all my Things over there as I go along. There is other stuff rumbling along in the background (I broke a tooth, my job is changing, the new house keeps throwing challenges our way, my health is still a mess), I’m just not quite sure what to say about it all just yet. I have a few days off work at the end of this week and the beginning of next, so I’m hoping to take some time to have a bit of a think. (Probably enforced by dental anaesthetic, yuck.) I’m really enjoying all of the Things I’m making at the moment though, and I hope you are too.

Two more hats…

Anthracite grey wool felt hat with black velvet ribbon band and button trim

Today’s been a pleasantly busy one – a good old rummage through my haberdashery boxes this morning, followed by two more completed hats!

I particularly like the understated style of this smart dark grey one. I don’t think it would look out of place on a film noir femme fatale, topping off a great big coat with a fluffy collar, and a slinky dress worn with beaded shoes.

Equally, I think it would look fabulous with jeans and a jumper – effortless weekend style in that “I look awesome in my jeans and fancy hat” kind of way.

Purple felt cloche hat with pink felt band and lime green button

This one’s a different sort of a creature – very eye-catching, and in all my favourite colours at once! It’s designed to be worn tall – with space between the crown of the hat and the top of your head. But if you want to, you can pull it right down and hide inside it, with the back of the brim flipped up for a different look.

I have three blocked hats still left to work on – a pale grey, pale pink, and the same bright fuchsia as the band of the hat above. I have some lovely black guipure lace that looks very striking against the fuchsia, I just need to buy another piece that’s actually long enough to go all the way around the hat! I’m not sure yet about the pale grey and pale pink. I have half a mind to embroider flowers all the way around the pink one and top them off with lovely buttons, but I don’t want it to come out “whimsical” in a bad way!

Anyhow, the two hats above are now in the Etsy shop, along with made-to-order versions of each style. I’m off to let my poor old fingers recover from all of this hand sewing. I might make a few more hoods on my next day off, to give the machine a bit more of the hard work!

First brand new hat off the blocks!

Black & red cloche

Yes, I know I showed you my pink cloche the other day, but as I didn’t make it completely from scratch it definitely doesn’t count as my first brand new hat. This one, on the other hand, does. It’s finished, it’s for sale on Etsy, and I’m really pleased with it! I hope somebody else will like it enough to want to offer it a new home.

I’ve decided that all of the blocked felt hats I make between now and the end of March will be listed for half price. What that price turns out to be will depend mostly on the cost of the materials used in the trimmings, and the amount of time it takes to make them. I suspect this will vary quite a bit! Hopefully this will bring in enough money from hat sales (she says, optimistically!) to buy a few more wool hoods, than I can then make a few more hats with. I will also offer custom orders, for a limited time only, to see how they go.

Cupcake hood

Something else that’s also now for sale on Etsy is this cute little hood! Again, I’m intending for this to be the first of many. I have different styles in mind (this is the smallest – they get bigger and sillier from here!), lots of different fabrics, and different fastenings too. I recently treated myself to a set of Clover Asian Knot templates so that I can start to make my own frogging. I think that will look lovely on these hoods, and it might make some pretty hat trimmings too.

Now I just need to stop being quite so nervous about having finished my first blocked hat! I need to step away from the Facebook likes and the Etsy stats, and concentrate on making the next one. And the one after that.

If you’re interested in keeping up with progress on the hats, the best place to do it is via the Eternal Magpie Facebook Page. I post quite a lot of working photos there, little snippets of what I’ve been up to, and I can update it on the go more easily than writing a whole blog post. Mind you, snapping photos on my phone and uploading them in all their graininess is making me rather covetous of a new phone – or a clever camera that connects to the internet. Probably just as well I’ve spent all my money on hats blocks!

First look at the zipped pouches

Zipped pouches - finished!

These are the first few zipped pouches hot off the machine. I’m snatching little bits of time here and there to make them, in the hope of finishing as many as possible before the stall on Saturday. I have a terrible habit of thinking I “haven’t got time” to do something, and pootling about on Facebook or Pinterest instead. These pouches come together so quickly now that all the cutting out has been done, that I have high hopes of having a nice little basketful by the weekend, all made in my spare moments after work.

Zipped pouches - finished!

This gives you an idea of the size. They measure about 7½ by 5 inches  – plenty of room for a smallish camera or biggish smartphone. Each pouch is fully lined, and hand-finished so that there’s no visible stitching anywhere.

And below, you can see my one concession to the festive season – five little starry pouches, made from the leftovers of the Christmas dress I made for my niece last year!

Zipped pouches - finished!

I’ll be selling these at the fair for £4 each, or three for £10. Any that I bring back will be going on Etsy at a flat £4, as I can’t do the combined offer there. If anyone wants to grab any of these before they go, just send me a message with your chosen fabrics (which you can see in the previous post), and I’ll send them out first thing next week. Postage will depend on how many you buy!

Speaking of Etsy, I’ll be closing the shop next Saturday, just for one day, to make sure that I don’t accidentally sell two of something I’ve only made one of. So, if you’ve had your eye on something and don’t want to risk it selling out at the weekend, it might be wise to head on over to the Emporium and grab it now!

Speakeasy

I can’t tell you how excited I am to see these fabrics! I’ve been waiting literally years for these types of prints to be available in the UK, on sustainable fabrics. Once again, the Organic Textile Company have outdone themselves!

The prints and colourways are closely based on designs from a book of 1920s textile patterns, and they’re printed onto a handwoven organic cotton and bamboo blend. I absolutely love their other cotton/bamboo fabrics, so I can’t wait to get my hands on some of these!

The hardest part is going to be deciding which of the prints and colourways to choose. I think the centre print, “Roaring Twenties” in purple, is my absolute favourite, and I think it will go very nicely with some plain purple that I have in the Shed already.

Now all I need is for everyone to head over to the Inexplicable Emporium and buy a few things, so I can afford to buy enough of this gorgeous fabric to make some dresses, which I can then put back into the Emporium!

(Don’t forget coupon code “LIFEBEGINS”, for your 40% discount  throughout September…)

Leather earrings

Leather earrings
Pretty little oak leaves, ever so slightly metallic.

Did you know that Ren, she of the incredible Fairysteps, also sells her offcuts of leather? Ever since I bought my amazing gold boots, I’ve been terribly paranoid about scuffing the toes and making a hole in them. Not due to any lack of sturdiness in the boots, I might add – I’m just very clumsy! So when I saw that there was a bag of metallic leather pieces for sale I snapped it up, thinking it would be useful to save a piece for the eventual mending of the boots.

Leather earrings

I think these are my favourite. I might try a pair with the colours the other way round.

And then the parcel got lost in the post, Ren gave me a refund, and I was a little bit sad for a while. No shiny leather for me. Until last week, when the parcel unexpectedly arrived! Hooray!

While the parcel was on its mystery travels, I’d been thinking about what else to make with the little leather bits. The first thing that came to mind was earrings, as leather’s so light.

Leather earrings

I’m not sure about the proportions of these. I think smaller jump rings would be better.

I had some craft punches that Paul’s Mum had given to me, and they turned out to be perfect for cutting out little matching shapes! It was a bit of a faff though, I have to admit. The punches are really designed to be hammered into card, and the thick leather was a little bit of a challenge. The pieces are quite fiddly too – the dragonflies are about an inch across.

The antique gold findings are all from Hobbycraft, made by Beads Unlimited. They say low nickel, so I’m hoping I won’t be allergic to them. I thought they suited the colours of the leather better than a bright gold. Apart from being a little unsure about the proportions of the gold dragonfly pair, which I’ll probably change at some point, I’m really pleased with how these have come out. I don’t think I’ll be making many more – my poor cutting mat can’t stand the hammering – although I do have plenty more ideas for things to make with the leather.

Corsages, doll shoes, perhaps a belt… watch this space!

Jewellery making mood.

Purple sunstone necklace

I was in a jewellery making mood today, so I’ve just finished putting together this necklace.

It’s a leather cord, with twenty purple sunstone beads attached – they’re a very dark purple colour with a glitter sparkle when the light catches them. The beads are hung in pairs, so that they hang in bunches and at different heights.

I have plans to make a pink one using rose quartz beads, and I also have a bag full of large tumbled gemstones held in spiral pendants that I plan to hang from organza ribbon.

This morning I added a few spiral pendants to Etsy, although I understand that a UK postal strike is happening next Thursday, so if you’d like one you might want to order it soon!

Scarves for bees!

Bee

No, not tiny little woollies to keep them warm. Instead, Seasalt in Cornwall are holding their annual “Go Knit!” charity drive.

This year they’re collecting donations of hand knitted scarves, and all proceeds from their sale will go to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.

Bees and knitting are two of my passions, so obviously I’ve sent my scarf down to Cornwall. If you’d like to do the same, you can find the details here.

While I was thinking about scarves, I’ve re-listed a few on Etsy.

I have a whole pile of things that I’ve made which I haven’t got around to listing yet, so I should probably do that quite soon. Those badges and wheat bags aren’t going to sell themselves from the depths of my Shed!

Crest of the Wave

Crest of the Wave scarf

I may have been busy working for the past few weeks, but I’ve still managed to find the time to do a bit of knitting. This is the Crest of the Wave scarf, by Judith Jacobs. You can find it on Ravelry, and the pattern’s free.

I’m knitting it with two different sock yarns. The variegated blue is one of the Kaffe Fasset colours for Regia. (I don’t know which one, as it came to me without a label.) The solid purple is another sock yarn from Opal. The transition between the two isn’t quite as harsh as it looks in this picture – the Kaffe Fasset yarn has just enough of a similar purple shade to blend in. I should have enough left over to knit the other end to match.

This is the first time I’ve tried anything lacy, and I’m really pleased with the way it’s coming out. It’s a twelve row pattern, but four of those rows are garter stitch, so it’s not too difficult to remember. Judging by the pictures on Ravelry I think this will look really nice when it’s been blocked. I’ve got a long way to go before I get to that stage though!

The project bag was a very kind gift from Good To Be Girl, to say thank you for the Liberty print knitting fabric that I sent over to them. It’s the perfect size for this scarf, and it’s pink! With cupcakes! You can see the bags that they made from the knitting fabric amongst their sold items. It looks as though you need to be quick if you want to snap up one of these!

Good To Be Girl

Shortly after I posted about my Liberty knitting print skirt I received an email from Helen, asking whether I knew anywhere that the fabric was still available. Sadly it was already discontinued when it was given to me, and its well and truly out of print now.

It turned out that she only needed some very small pieces, so I’ve just sent a parcel containing the offcuts from my skirt. What Helen’s planning to make is a couple of adorable little knitting project bags. She and her daughter have an Etsy store called Good To Be Girl, selling cute little stitch markers, and these bags in a variety of sizes.

They’re specially designed for knitters on the move – they have a wrist strap, a little clip to attach to your belt or handbag, and a small yarn feed inside the bag, so you don’t get all tangled on your travels. I like the teeny tiny little notions bags – perfect for keeping all those little bits and pieces like your stitch markers, yarn needle and tape measure.

I can’t wait to see some project bags in the Liberty knitting print – how cool is that?!