Fitting in some sewing

Cherry sash belt

It’s not going to be all Me-Made May all the time around here – I’ll post a round-up every few days. In the meantime, I’ve been doing a bit of sewing from my extensive stash of increasingly small pieces of fabric.

Four sash belts

These are a series of sash belts, very simple ones that you can just tie around your waist. They’re all one-offs, and you can find them in the Etsy shop.

I have more belts planned for the future, as soon as my order of d-rings and rivets arrive. With the help of some organic cotton and some hand-made felt, hopefully something interesting will emerge.

Four Headscarves

These are headscarves, designed principally for the 1950s Night that’s coming up at work in a couple of weeks. Again, in the Etsy shop. I need to go back to the fabric shop for a small piece to make one of these to match my own dress. I’m not totally convinced that this kind of headscarf will suit me, but if it doesn’t look right in my hair I can always tie it rakishly around my neck.

Zipped Pouches

And finally… a huge pile of zipped pouches! These have been sitting on my shelves staring at me since Christmas, so I can finally stop feeling guilty about not having sewn them yet! These are all multiples – eight of the Eiffel Tower print, three dancing skeletons (so cute!), eight skulls & roses with a plain red lining, and two with black & red stripes inside. All, you’ve guessed it, in the Etsy shop.

In fact, while I’m throwing Etsy links at you, you might like a little something in return! If you’ve never shopped on Etsy before, you can get £5 off your first purchase by following this link. You don’t have to spend it straight away, you can claim it as credit to use whenever you like. It doesn’t need to be in my shop either, the link should work throughout Etsy. (In the spirit of full disclosure, I should probably mention that if two people use the link to make a purchase, I get a £10 credit to spend myself.)

Also in the spirit of full disclosure, I should probably say that I don’t know how many more of these zipped pouches I’ll be sewing. There’s no doubt that they’ve been popular, but I don’t really like the production line method of working that’s necessary to sew them up quickly, and now that my stash is depleting… well. I’ll have to think about it. I want to concentrate much more on organic fabrics and haberdashery, but organic cotton zips are much more expensive than nylon ones, which pushes up the price of a little pouch by a significant amount. We’ll have to see.

These are the last that I have planned for a while though, so if you want one I’d go for it sooner rather than later!

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!