Sew What?

I've been making pretty good use out of my sewing machine. So far I've made 4 pillows including 2 new pillows for our couch to match our new rug (pictures to come, hopefully sometime this week), yesterday I made an apron (I'll hopefully get a picture on here of that too) and I've made a few bags (pictures below). I'm really enjoying the creative outlet that these sewing projects are giving me. My research is pretty continuous with a big focus on the long term, so it's nice to be able to come home, start and finish a project, it gives a sense of closure and completeness that I'm lacking at work. And to top it all off, I think I'm making pretty cool stuff.

Pillow!

So today despite the snow, I took Sewing 101 at The Needle Shop. Besides it taking me 30 minutes to find a parking spot I could get into, out of and not towed because of the snow and it taking me 30 minutes to find the cell phone that I apparently dropped into the snow once I got home, my day was great. Below is my finished pillow, zipper included. Now I just have to buy a sewing machine to finish up the other one.

Other People's Crafts

It seems a little off calling the event we went to on Saturday a craft fair, but I guess that’s what it was. Craft fairs, especially during the Christmas season, conjure up images of overly crowded gyms filled with old women looking at over flowing booths containing cutesy-wootsy, potpourri smelling decorations that people with names like Bambi or Candy put out for every different holiday season. The Renegade Craft Fair Holiday Sale, however, is basically the opposite of almost everything I associate with the stereotypical craft fair. First of all, the event had the highest concentration of people from the Indie crowd that I have ever seen in one place. Mike and I both felt that our jeans weren’t tapered enough, because they weren’t at all, and that our shirts didn’t make ironic enough of a statement. We basically felt totally uncool. Second, instead of household decorations, the booths were mostly filled with screen print t-shirts, hand-made jewelry, and other things similar the stuff you can buy on etsy and manned by people with multiple tattoos and piercings. To top it all off, the whole affair was in the Pulaski Park Field House, an incredible building from 1914. Anyway, I really had fun and got a few people checked off my Christmas shopping list.


Here are some of my favorite vendors:

(family, be warned; looking at some following links may give hints of your Christmas presents)

http://www.shoporangeslice.com/ - This is like the fourth indie craft related thing I’ve seen that includes orange in the name. Orange is the color of indie.

http://tugboatprintshop.com/ - Cool prints, they just ask for storybooks to be written around them.

http://theneedleshop.net/ - my first stop after I get my new sewing machine.

http://www.sosillystuff.com/about.html - cute kids clothing.

http://www.nomadicant.com - neat looking earrings, but some of posts looked a little thick and heavy.

http://ellembee.etsy.com/ - hand printed clothing, mostly organic looking prints.

http://www.freshieandzero.com/index.html - I like the simplicity of the things here.

http://pacificpuzzleworks.com/ - Awesome puzzles, beautifully crafted, but a bit out of my price range.

And of course, I have to give a shout out to the only storefront of the Renegade movement, Renegade Handmade.

I'm Crafty

So the past month or so I've been flexing my fine motor skills by crocheting what seemed like a million potholders. This week I've finally stitched those potholders together to form a full afghan. I will admit that I'm pretty proud and impressed with the end product. Crafting, in general, brings me pleasure and a big sense of accomplishment.

The yarn dust is just starting to settle on this project and I am already trying to figure out what my next project should be. I'll admit that my reinvigorated interest in making 'things' is getting a little out of hand. Proof: I really want to buy a sewing machine, soon.

Well anyway, no crafting for me this upcoming week. I'm headed to Philadelphia tomorrow for a week long conference. I'll let you all know how the cheese steaks are when I get back.