It’s Friday night, you have just the right outfit but just can seem to pull the accessories together.  If accessories can make the outfit, why not make the accessories?

Download project

I love fabric. All kinds of fabric, I really am not all that picky. My bulging drawers of fabric will prove that. I have found that I am drawn to certain styles and patterns and what I am drawn to is vintage/retro looking prints and have collected yards and yards of vintage inspired cottony goodness.

Fun circus print!

One of my all time favorite  fabric designers, Michael Miller, has really captured the whimsy and detail of fabrics from the past.  I have collected vintage looing fabric with boys dressed like cowboys, little girls baking pretty little brithday cakes and yound girls in their holiday best passing out presents.  And to add to their great looking fabric, they have great looking website.  On it you can see new designs, find a store that carries Michael Miller fabrics, and even get free quilt patterns.

Cute kitties playing with yarn!

Yee Haw!

Who is your favorite fabric designer?

This is a really neat website that I ran across when I was given two really neat gifts. Both were rings with all different colors of 100% rayon seam binding, and the other Petersham ribbon. These are incredibly convenient when I need to match a color to hem up a skirt, or trim the lapel of a jacket. You can order them with a minimum order of 1 yard. These are only a couple of the really neat things they have for sale on this website, I encourage you to check it out.

I hope you all enjoyed the wedding projects during the month of May.  My sister got married on April 25th of this year and the projects posted were things I had made for her wedding with the exception of the purse. (I would have made these but I ran out of time!)  Anyway, I thought I would share some things that I learned while working on my sister’s wedding.

1.   There are just about as many wedding websites and there are wedding couples.  But, these are a great place to idea shop.  You can email links and pictures so you know exactly what the bride is talking about.

2.  Pace yourself.  Tackle one thing at a time, ring bearer pillow one weekend, flower girl basket then next, etc…trying to do too many things at one time can become overwhelming and limit your progress.  You want to make the bride happy with everything completed right?

3.   Buy plenty of fabric.  I can tell you, once  you have your list of items set, the bride will come to you with one last thing she saw and say, it’s no big deal but it would be nice to have…and you being the one that wants to make the bride happy will say sure…I can make these for the entire wedding party….. for the rehearsal dinner…

4.   We didn’t have a veil project but I can talk from experience, a simple veil makes a big impact.  And when I say simple I mean just a bunch of tulle gathered to hair clip!  The best part, it can be done at the last minute.  This is not recommended as it does tend to stress out the bride….

5.   The most important thing I learned is only you know what didn’t get done in time, and well, maybe the bride.  So relax no one else needs to know.  Enjoy what you did get finished and save the other things for the next wedding you get to make things for!  And remember, all your touches big and small will add to the special day in a way that a gift of a can opener never will.

When you create something how do you choose a name? Do you name it after yourself, you location, your materials, your inspiration? Do you ever think, “How did they pick that name”?

Some fabrics are named for the cities they were created in. For example, Cashmere comes from Kashmir, a region in India. This region is home to the goats where the wool comes from.  And, Calico come from the city it was first obtained, Calicut, India.

Denim is brought to us from Nimes, a French city — de Nimes, “from Nimes”.  Chambray is also named after a French town.  Suede received its name for the French name for Sweden, Suede. Why? Because Swedish gloves were made from suede.

Muslin was made in Mosul, Iraq and damask named after the Syrian city of Damascus. Chuanchou, China, formally Laitun, was the birth place of satin — the smooth glossy fabric.

In the late 1800’s the tobacco industry recognized the marketing ability that it had and began inserting advertisements into the tobacco packs.  These advertisements, including cards, tin tags, silk, flannel, rug, ribbon, leather and even embroidered items, opened the door for new creative spirit as quilters began sewing them together.

The textile inserts began in the early 1900’s and were only available for a short period of time (they were costly). Some believe that these textiles were placed as a luer for women to smoke, but primarily it was to build brand loyalty and entice new customers.

Regardless of why they were put there the quilters created very unique works of art with them. From quilts to pillows, no two were alike. The thriftiness of our sewing bretheren still astonishes people today.

Their tobacco quilts are our Capri Sun purses and ductape wallets.

What unique item have you repurposed?

www.savegocco.com &  www.saraprettyfun.com

Sara Martinez has always been an independent and creative woman … so it’s only natural that she would teach herself how to sew. In less than a year - with a little ingenuity and a whole lot of talent - she has already made a name for herself in the online crafting community and the art fair circuit with Pretty Fun, her own line of unique and affordable purses and other colorful accessories.

Why Pretty Fun? According to Sara, these adorable purses wristlets and messenger bags are as fun to sew as they are to wear.

“I love being able to imagine something and actually turn it into something tangible and show it off,” she explains.

Sara has always been artistic, a trait she picked up from her mother and grandmother - both avid sewers. As a child, she loved to make necklaces and other crafts but never took the time to learn sewing until recently, when she found herself in a department store with a pocket full of birthday money. She bought a sewing machine and started sewing right away.

“It was hard at first because I didn’t know a lot of the basic steps,” says Sara. She taught herself mostly using sewing patterns and “a LOT of trial and error. In the beginning, everything took a little bit of work.”

Sara originally began exploring sewing because she wanted to make skirts. “I wanted to make them my own way, so they wouldn’t be like the clothes that everyone else has.”

However, after attempting to make a purse, Sara discovered her passion. With all the different possibilities of fabrics and embellishments, she started devoting all of her free time to sewing. After mastering her purse designs, she began adding her own touch to purses and accessories with beads, buttons and more - she even taught herself hand embroidery!

Soon it only took her an hour to make a purse, and her closet began to fill up with all of her creations. “I had a big pile of them,” Sara says. She decided to share her purses with her friends and other fashionistas. Plus, ” I needed money for more fabric!” she laughs.

Pretty Fun began with the same D-I-Y mindset that Sara used to learn sewing. Rather than start with the traditional avenue of craft shows and art fairs, she decided to create her own virtual shop at saraprettyfun.com. She and her husband Dave used a simple Yahoo site builder to create it.

“It was a lot of fun, even though it took some time. I’m not super computer savvy, so if I can do it, anyone can,” says Sara. Plus, “you can control the way it looks and works, which is great.”

Pretty Fun’s popularity skyrocketed right away, and she began to meet other sewers in the online crafting community, especially fellow merchants at etsy.com, a handmade haven where Pretty Fun customers place their orders.

“It’s a great way to network and connect with people… and it’s a support system where you can bounce ideas back and forth,” she says. “People reach out through emails and cheer each other on.”

Sara says she has formed strong friendships with artists that she has met through Etsy. What’s more, all of her online networking has led to opportunities to sell her purses at art shows. “Those shows can be hard to find, so meeting people through Etsy has been a big help.”

In addition to networking, Sara’s online friendships have helped her discover new ways to make her purses unique, such as Japanese crafting. “I had actually discovered it by reading a blog from a crafter in England,” she says. “My favorite Japanese trend that I just recently discovered is called Gocco. It’s a way of screen printing onto fabric that produces a great handmade result.”

One thing Sara loves the most about her fellow crafting friends is that they inspire each other. When it comes to new ideas and techniques, there’s no end in sight. Currently, she’s been exploring embroidery possibilities on her new Baby Lock Ellure. “I’ve used so many of the built-in designs and I’m already like, ‘I want more!’”

And talk about inspiration - Pretty Fun is proof that your passion may be somewhere unexpected, and with a little imagination and determination, there’s no limit to how far you can go.

No matter how much Pretty Fun grows, however, Sara’s ultimate goal is to keep Pretty Fun just that - an enjoyable outlet for creativity and meeting people. “I have so much fun with it, and that really is the most important part.”

Pretty Great Advice From Pretty Fun

• If you’d like to sell things online, have nice pictures that are eye-catching and highlight your work. Don’t be discouraged if things don’t sell right away.
• If you’re learning a new technique, step away when you get stuck and come back to it later. Don’t give up if you have to set something aside for a while. Just have fun and enjoy what you are doing!

www.savegocco.com &  www.saraprettyfun.com

Meeting Jay McCarroll at Quilt Market 10/08

His line is irreverent and reminds me of how Saturday morning cartoons would look on acid. (I have not tried this and have no intention of doing this, mom.)  His line is with Free Spirit so take a peek. I was glad to have met him. I was coincidentally wearing a dress I purchased at Chloe Dao’s (Project Runway Season 2 winner) Lot 8 boutique during last year’s Quilt Market. And just as a bonus, here I am with Chloe at a Passion for Fashion event in 2007.  It all comes together….

Chloe Dao and me at Passion for Fashion 2007