Sunday Fabric Finds

I am always in the market for fabric and here are some I have my eye on

Ruby Star Rising fabric

Glasses in pink

Foxy - 'Anika' collection by Monoluna

sausage dogs say hello to you 

A day trip to dublin

A rare day of for my OH was celebrated by a trip to Dublin, not entirely surprisingly I came home with new fabric. He is a tolerant man. A few pictures of some of my purchases.

The pink wool hasn't photographed well but I am looking forward to working with it. Now I really must get my nose to the grind stone and start my Christmas prep, I'm a week behind already. I love Christmas in July :o(

Girls who love horses by Heather Ross

I saw this delightful fabric by Heather Ross, while blog hopping.

New kokka range

 I am always on the look-out for horse fabric and I still have a little stash of original Heather Ross horse fabric.

original horse fabric

  This new line will be available from Kokka from spring 2011, but some prints are available from Spoonflower in different colours.

Sparkley New Arrivals

Some times the postman delivers pretty parcels, that cheer you up. This one definitely did, just when it was needed.

A little prettiness

Plant pot fabric

Long dog fabric

Close-up it sparkles

& in blue

The sparkles on the dogs coats were a delightful surprise. These photo's don't really do this fabric justice, it's gorgeous..

Fabric for sore eyes

A little bit japanese yummy fabric to keep you going, which dropped through the letter box.

Alice in Wonderland

Just loving this fabric. I see a lovely Alice in Wonderland edge to this.

Oh what lovely things I could make with this.....will I resist?

Be still my beating heart

I bought this lovely fabric by Henry Alexander a while ago and it proved to be a very popular, especially for small bags. Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and I have only a couple of tiny pieces left.

So I was having a look around and I ordered these lovely pink hearts, also by Henry Alexander, from Fashionable Fabrics. It arrived this morning and it's even better in the flesh than the picture. 

New Fabric

On Thursday, my OH and I went to the Kings Hall in Belfast to the Stitch and Creative Crafts Exhibition. I buy fabric all the time, but I rarely get the chance to touch it before I buy. There were lots of stands all showcasing a variety of crafts and supplies. I was there for fabric and craft books. I did myself proud in terms of fabric and even got a delightful craft book (more tomorrow).

Dolls and Elephants

Monsters.....ohh scary

Singers and coffee cups

A little nip of christmas

Butterflies and flowers

Cats and Ponies

Fruit

Spots of course

These flowers and birds really sparked a few thoughts in my head.

My Creative Space

About 2 weeks ago on one of our many recent Ikea runs we picked up this DVD shelf which happens to be just perfect for my fabric stash. Now as many of you guys may know this is not all my fabric however it does hold my most recent purchases.

I have posted it as my creative space for this week because I have spent alot of time organising it in colours and properly folding my fabrics.

For more spaces nip over to Kirsty's.

Problem with Fabric

I have more than a passing problem with fabric. The problem is I can't pass it. I have to at the very minimum touch it and usually I have to buy it. I had went through a period of trying not to buy too much, but a few weeks ago I just went a bit mad and spent a fortune. I did think I needed some new fabrics for the Christmas fairs but I think I went a little over board.

Here is a small selection of what has been arriving.

I bought the sock monkey fabric (below) a while ago from Modern Retro Textiles in Austraila, whilst I was ordering an Audrey and Maude pattern. I have been eyeing it up for a while and I got it at a complete steal. Not sure how it will work for bags but it will work for a few zip pouches.

I did indulge a little and buy some pretty Christmas fabric just for me. I intend to make some PJ shorts out of the pink snowman for Christmas and a Christmas shopping bag out of the blue snowman. I'm sure the left over pieces will make very pretty purses for sale or even as Xmas pressies.

Check out a few new arrivals in my store.

My Creative Space

This week my creative space is all about inspiration. This piece of ribbon was on a gift I give my mum. I purchased her birthday present and got it wrapped in the store and they tied the bag with this ribbon and I fell in love with it. My family are completely used with me looking longing at ribbon and wrappings now and I don't even have to ask if I want them, they just pass them directly to me. I can see this on a little mini clutch but just haven't found the right material for it.
I love this fabric combo and I am looking forward to making something lovely with it,maybe for me.

For more creative spaces pop over to Kirsty's.

Lovely fabrics

Usually when I buy fabric I never buy more than 1 yard, unless I use it for linings.

These 2 fabrics are some of the exceptions.

The top one is Disco Dot by Michael Miller. I just love it in ink and have reordered it several times. I do have it in a variety of colours, and each one is fab and vibrant.

The bottom one is a strawberry damask. It was one of those unbelievable finds. It retailed at over £50 per metre and I managed to get it for a fraction of that price. It was a bargain (relatively) and I got over 7 metres. I love it and dread the day I have to use the last bit. When it gets close to the end I may just hoard to for personal use, but then I do hate using the end of any fabric.

Check out what they look like when made up into bags here, here and here

Etsy Favorites

I need to stop adding things to my Etsy favorites.

For those not yet aquainted with Etsy, favorites and hearts, it's sort of like a wish list. You see an item and you can add it to your favorites (sellers also), so if you want to go back and buy the item it is easy to find. The seller on the other end gets a heart, to tell them they are liked :0) {Apologies to those who know}.

The reason why I need to stop is I want to buy all my choices - mostly fabrics. I have been trying to hold back on buying more material as I have loads (& loads &loads), but I am really struggling.

See why...... I could just a litlle bit of this and just square of japanese fabric.

Love in Letterbox

The big thing that I love about having this business, is all the lovely things that pop through the letter box on a regular basis.These lovely stripes from the Ligthening Bugs range came from Materialgirlchic, this is my second delivery from these guys and they are well worth a visit for good value fabric and great service.


I also got another little Moo package. I use their text minicards as hanging tags. I just love their good quality products.

Etsy Finds - Horses

I love horses; I had a couple as a child. My lasting childhood memory is of being in the toy shop when I was about 3 and being asked what I wanted from Santa. I said I wanted a rocking horse. Unfortunately Santa that year got mixed up and delivered a silver cross dolls pram (!) instead. I never played with that pram, it still has snow white wheels. Needless to say the next year he got it right and I got my full sized rocking horse. I loved him and brushed him daily until the real thing arrived a few years later. My pretty rocking horse is in storage until it is needed for another little girl to love and sit on.

So when I saw this fab handmade rocking horse from HIPo Necessities I was quite smitten.

This made me go on a little search and I found this pretty pony by donkeypony, who's banner I just love.


I am often asked about horse fabric for bags but it is hard to find. I did buy this little bundle from Fabricpalooza a little while ago, but I haven't made anything with it just yet.

I also have my eye on this fabric from JamsaBon which is just lovely.

1 Year Old Today

My Etsy shop has been up and running 1 year today.

It's hard to believe that it's been a year. The first few weeks were nerve racking, it took 2 days to get my first 2 hearts (admirers) and it 2 weeks to make my first sale. Now I have over 100 sales and more than 1300 hearts.

Things have changed a lot in the last 12months, my first bag took me 2-3 hours to sew and nearly an hour to actually load up unto the site. Now I can whip up one in about 2o minutes with no loss in quality and have it posted in about 10 minutes. My photographs are much better now, with no grey backgrounds present, although I still use pet setting to take them.

I changed my avatar, so as to better represent my business from:

The cutest cocker spaniel puppies in the world

to

My first bag sold and one of my all time favourites - The Monkwell

The best thing is my fabric collection; it has exploded in size and now I have a good reason to buy more, not that I really need a reason. I think the coolest thing is knowing people want to buy something I make and not just because they know me, but because they like it.

I have learnt so much this past year both selling online and from my Christmas craft fair about business, selling, promoting my bags and working with customers. I know I probably still have much to learn, but I like learning, it's my business after all.

This adventure was supposed to be a fun little experiment, that relieved stress and gave me somewhere to put the things I made (I was running out of friends to give my stuff to). It has now grown into a fully fledged business, that often causes it's own stress, which I love. People sometimes ask " Are you still making those handbags?" and I reply yes and I love it. Long may it continue.