Prototype

 

I took one of those grain bags from Golden City Brewery and pieced together a prototype messenger bag.  

   I have to do some more figuring on the dimensions to get it to come out evenly.  It is a bit short and probably too wide for a real messenger bag.  It is lined with quilter's cotton in plain white. 

 I like the rounded front flap.  All in all not too bad for a first attempt. 

Lessons learned from working with this woven plastic. 

1.  You have to finish every raw edge as soon as you cut it.  If you don't you end up with shreds instead of fabric.

2.  It doesn't move through the machine as smoothly on a straight stitch as it does with zig zag.  Go figure.

3.  It sews much more smoothly than I anticipated.  I had much less trouble with the thicknesses in this bag than I have with other bags I've made.

Now on to figure out the growler bag. 

Hello.... Is this thing on?

It seems like forever since I've been here.  I can't believe my last post was as recent as August 12.  It feels like it has been at least 2 months instead of a couple weeks.  As usual, I spent the dog days of August getting read for the Race for the Rivers.  It was a good event but TOO hot.  The heat index was 114 degrees (F)!!!!  That was crazy.  It was a good event for the folks who were there but, understandably,  few others came out to check things out. 

I spent the rest of my time making.  I made soap.  I made candles.  I made backpacks.  I made lanyards and key chains.  I upcycled napkins.  I pieced some quilt tops.  I made market bags. I made pennants.  I made prayer flags and DIY prayer flag kits.  I made earrings.  I made a crazy amount of stuff.  I was a one person craft mall without the fake flowers!

I did a lot of work figuring out my booth and display items.  I came up with some fun things I will share when I catch my breath. 

Today I received an upcyler's dream:  Grain bags from a microbrewery!  How cool is that?  I'll be making more bags. Anybody know the dimensions of a growler?
 

Patches are IN for Fall Fashion!

Just saw THIS over on Craft Gossip.  It seems patches are IN this Fall. 

How cool is that?  But then around here, we've been making patches for years! 

 
Here is part of set made for a customer who uses them to customize things for her customer.  She always comes up with interesting project for me

Having a party?  This must have been one fun birthday party!

A fish from the party pack.

A smile?  A red banana?  No.  The Easter Island Flag, one of my first custom orders.  Made for some one who collects flag patches as she travels the world.  There weren't any available for Easter Island and other places were going to charge an arm and a leg. 

More custom work.  See the teeny tiny heart on the book?  I learned a lot about digitizing getting that on there!

Making a statement.

Adventure set.  

For the comic crowd.

SCIENCE!

Never drew bike before.  Then I had to digitize it.  Fun.

Ya mon.

Flags anyone?

Love those Urban Threads designs.

An original design made as part of a larger badge for a drum circle.  Best reason to make custom badges is it lets me explore new ideas and images!

Playing with variegated thread is fun.  A very traditional patch.

Another Urban Threads design.  This one, in this size is an edition limited to 5. Too many threads for the space.

Some times, I make badges for groups and troops.  This one was for a boys club.  They wanted hiking.  I just had to make the iconic hiking boot foot print.  These little barbie boots are soooo cute.

Obscure.  Yes,  I like to make obscure things.  For the if you know, you know crowd.  This one is gaming based.

And then there are the challenges.  Sometime in languages other than my own.  How small can you go???  But always fun.  Makes me want to know where they end up.