Greetings everyone!

I hope this email finds you happy and well, and Happy Thanksgiving!

It’s been 4 months since my last craft fair, and that’s given me plenty of time to create some new and exciting items that’ll be perfect for rounding out your holiday shopping this season! We’re talking Big Lugs, Little Lugs, neck warmers, throw pillows…the list goes on!

If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area this weekend, I invite you to come on out to the Bazaar Bizarre SF Holiday Extravaganza this Sunday, November 30th. Come check out the goods in Booth #24, and enjoy items from over 100 other talented vendors as well!

Bazaar Bizarre San Francisco Holiday Extravaganza, 11/30/08
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Sunday November 30th 2008, 10:00am - 5:00pm
San Francisco County Fair Building Golden Gate Park, SF (details and directions)
$1 at the door (50% of proceeds go to charity)
*** I’ll be in Booth #24! ***

Otherwise, you’ll find many of these same items in my online shop soon after the show! So if holiday shopping is in your future, please consider supporting small businesses/indie craft vendors like myself and buying handmade this season. You’ll spread warmth and good cheer many times over if you do!

I wish you a fun and family-filled Thanksgiving holiday, and thank you for your continued support!

xo,
-eleen

:: shop :: http://eleen.etsy.com
:: blog :: http://www.eleen.com

If it were up to me, I’d make everything in faux bois something or other. Not that it’s not up to me, but something tells me that I might be targeting too narrow of a market if I went ALL woodgrain, much as I love it. But, I did make a couple of zippered wristlets with my favorite cotton faux bois fabric and here’s one of them:

The wristlet can of course be slung onto your wrist but also converts to a cute little purse as shown above, or to a hip pouch if you weave the strap into the belt loops of your favorite jeans.

The wristlet has about a 1-inch base for extra room and is fully lined in chocolate brown cotton twill (mmm chocolate).

I’ll have a whopping 10 wristlets in 5 different fabrics with me at Bazaar Bizarre next Sunday! Booth 24, friends! BOOTH 24!!!

I had the pleasure of attending a baby shower today for our friends who run the delightful and delectable Teacake Bake Shop, which sells the most sinful yet delicious sweet treats online and in their three retail shops around the Bay Area.

For gifts, we wanted to pick stuff from their baby registry but also include something with a personal touch, so one of the items we chose was the Bumkins 3-Pack Organic Cotton Everyday Bibs. Since they were blank, they were the perfect canvas to turn from this:

into this!

The cupcake and cookie applique shapes were no-brainers because of the business they’re in and in fact, I took them straight off of one of their email newsletters! I figured that wasn’t a total copyright infringement since I would soon be handing over ownership to them anyway. =P And the “a” is the baby’s first initial.

I have to thank Elizabeth for her Sew,Mama,Sew! tutorial on Simple Machine Applique, from which I used the tip to fuse my applique onto the bib with Heat ‘n Bond Lite Iron-On Adhesive to stabilize the applique as well as help hold it in place. I had a little bit of trouble getting the felt to fully adhere to the terrycloth, but I got enough of a hold to keep things mostly in place.

For the felt, I chose Ecospun Felt which is both machine washable and made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles — a perfect pairing with the organic cotton of the bibs! A couple of sources for Ecospun Felt are Felt-o-rama and Hart’s Fabric. I love me some 100% wool felt but it doesn’t wash as well and I figure well, this is a bib I’m working with here soooo…

I used a straight stitch for the cupcake and cookie, and a zig zag stitch for the heart and initial. I found the zig zag stitch easier to maneuver around curves. The little chocolate chip circles in the cookie and the lettering below it were done using my Janome 4900QC’s pre-programmed stitches.

Here are a few closer-up shots!

I used ivory colored bobbin thread so there’d be less of a thread mess on the back of the bibs. It worked out pretty well! You can see some of the colored top thread from the underside since I loosened the tension of the top thread (to 3), but overall it came out pretty clean so that was good.

Mama and papa seemed happy with the bibs, so I was a happy camper. Hooray!

I just ordered up a slew of invisible zippers from ZipperStop.com to use in my pillow covers, and here they are! Note: Turn down your volume if you click onto their site! It plays Sinatra’s New York, New York really loud and scares the holy crap out of me every single time.

I haven’t ordered from ZipperStop in awhile, but I’m glad to have them back in the mix because they’re really responsive and don’t waste any time getting your order out the door! Plus, my other supplier doesn’t offer invisible zippers in as many colors as they do.

My invisible zipper skills are a bit rusty, so I went online for a refresher. I found this YouTube video from Otis College of Art and Design and wanted to share it because it’s awesome!

I’ll most likely machine instead of hand baste (just because it’s faster and less clumsy for me), as well as use a strip of interfacing in the zipper insertion area as recommended in Fashion Incubator’s invisible zipper tutorial.

Also, sew? i knit!’s invisible zipper tutorial will be helpful figuring out how to use this el cheapo plastic Coats & Clark invisible zipper foot until I have time to get over to Walnut Creek’s Sewing Machine Shop for a Janome foot. Ex-cit-ing!

photo on bottom right courtesy of jenn lim

A small collection of these shiny new change purses will be coming along with me to Bazaar Bizarre next Sunday. I thought I’d give them a little taste of the outside world so that a sudden introduction to the public won’t be so jarring for them come showtime!

These pouches are a slightly upsized version of my previous Dollface Coin Purses, coming in at about 1/4″ wider across the middle and a 1/2″ deeper.

All pouches are reinforced with a stiff backing (interfacing) for structure and durability and contain a layer of fleece for added cushiness and shape. See the details for yourself in the Etsy shop!

• Kisslock Frame Pouch - Bright Buds
• Kisslock Frame Pouch - Ms. Bitch
• Kisslock Frame Pouch - Floating Water Lotus

The gray pouch with pink floral applique, which has a 100% wool exterior, is not yet listed.

Last week was a good one, incredibly productive! It felt so good to mark off 12 Little Lugs finished for the show. This is one of them, the Little Lug - Floating Water Lotus edition!

photo by jenn lim

Now there’s a matching handbag to the Kisslock Frame Pouch that’s already in the shop. Woohoo! Thanks to Mrs. Lim for suggesting I make these matchies in time for the show.

I snapped some photos along the way, including one of Mrs. Lim helping me cut fabrics for the Lugs! She’s been a great help, coming over once a week lately to help me cut, cut and cut!

This week, it’s on to the Big Lugs and finishing up a batch of 20 kisslock frame pouches that the girls help me cut fabrics for over the weekend (more on that later).

Next week, more pillows and neck warmers. Pillows and neck warmers! With a short break of course for some turkey and quality time with the family. I can’t wait to see the goldens again too. It’s been too long! Depending how far along I am by then, my momma may find herself doing some last-minute thread snipping and tagging for the show while she’s up here. Poor momma! Mwah ha ha ha haaaaa…

Step 1) Make a tiara of twigs and leaves

Step 2) Don a pair of wings

Step 3) Surround yourself with faux bois throw pillows and flutter about with glee!

It’s official. I’ve been branching out (get it ha ha) and making the accessories part of “thoughtfully designed handbags and accessories” come to life, as seen first by the small collection of neck warmers, wool felt brooches and now…throw pillows!

I love a room with interesting and colorful cushions, and all the interior design experts on TV these days are saying how throw pillows are the perfect way to instantly spruce up a room on a budget. These pillow covers are easily removable with a hidden lapped zipper that stretch all the way across the bottom seat of the pillow cover, making them quick to swap out (though why you would EVER want to do that I just don’t know) or to simply take off to spot clean should you or a guest manage to accidentally *gasp* soil the fabric.

The floral appliques are made of 100% wool felt and topped with buttons for added color and dimension. These will be available at my booth (#24, baby!) at the Bazaar Bizarre SF Holiday Show this coming 11/30/08 at the San Francisco County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park!

With 18 days to go before the San Francisco Bazaar Bizarre Winter 2008 show, I’m feeling the pressure and quality time with my Janome has never been better. Last week we put together a collection of Miss Priss Totes (2nd from the right in the photo below), and this week we’ll have done up a number of Little Lugs in new fabrics (middle batch).

Also on the list are more neck warmers and some new wool felt brooches to go with them. Jimmy seems to enjoy the brooches — so versatile! — so they’re sure to be a winner. =}

Now time to study the Craft Fair Production Schedule and figure out what more work needs to be done. Off I go! Well first, a PB&J + coffee to fill my belly. Mmm that sounds good.