NerwousWardrobe

the first page on etsy! – Sewing Projects | BurdaStyle.com

the first page on etsy! – Sewing Projects | BurdaStyle.com

whitte summer – Sewing Projects | BurdaStyle.com

whitte summer – Sewing Projects | BurdaStyle.com

....and sites like Etsy!

Got my Care2 daily email today. Care2 is a  reference that can give you information on just about anything that has to do with being a concious consumer to health and personal welfare.

This section talked about handmade and had a fun and personal diy for holiday gift giving, and lo and behold there was a big plug for Buy HandMade and Etsy.  I am an Etsy seller, a member of Buy HandMade and part of that community of people who love handmade. 

Becky Striepe wrote a nice piece in the Green Living section.   Here is some of what she suggests:

"Rather than head to the big box store for impersonal gifts and decorations, why not try out some handmade alternatives this year?

If you’re not the crafty type, you can still add a handmade touch to the holidays by pledging to buy handmade this season. When you buy from an independent artist or crafter, you’re helping directly support their art!

You can put together pretty, layered dry soup mixes in a mason jar, for example. Just layer the beans, spices, and grains, and tie some bakers twine around the neck of the jar with a list of wet ingredients and cooking instructions. We get so many tchotchkes over the holidays, many of your giftees will appreciate something so personal and practical. Plus, once they’ve made the soup, that mason jar has a million different uses!

If you’re not into making gifts yourself, it’s so easy to shop for handmade presents. Whether you prefer to shop online or in person, there are tons of handmade holiday resources available from craft markets and pop up shops to sites like Etsy."

http://www.etsy.com/shop/NervousWardrobe

Etsy in Fine Gardening

Just yesterday, I was at a Garden Club meeting and was offered a copy of Fine Gardening.  Pointing my nose in the air,  I declared the magazine to be intimidating and featuring not one plant cell that could grow in our area!  Well, that may be true, but one of the great blogs I follow is Garden Rant.  See their manifesto over to the right.

Back to the topic at hand.....Amy Stewart at Garden Rant posts the following: 

"As you can probably imagine, it's a big deal for a company to get its products in the front of the book like this.  Manufacturers put a lot of PR muscle behind getting magazine editors to rave about their stuff.  So it's been really nice to see Fine Gardening picking lovely handmade things from Etsy to feature in their pages.

I asked the editor, Steve Aitken, about it, and he said, "You know, there's just so much good stuff on Etsy.  It's a real treasure trove.  Frankly, a lot of the products we get are not that exciting--it's just more of the same.  Gardeners just want cool stuff, no matter where it comes from."

Lately they've featured these hand-forged trowels and these silverplate flower spoons. 

It's one of those things that makes me marvel all over again at the wonder of the interwebs. 

And, because I can't resist picking my own cool Etsy thing to plug:  Steel allium garden ornaments!  Wow! Love it. At $39, it's almost cheaper than buying real Globemasters."

Hey....Etsy, way to go!  And, Fine Gardening....I humbly apologize for not grabbing that mag and running.  

Let's Talk About Hemp...

I have introduced a new line of bags in my Etsy shop made from eco friendly and sustainable fabrics such as hemp, linen, organic cotton and bamboo.

I wish to buy hemp.  It is not grown or manufactured in the U.S. .....soooo, I need to send my  dollars out of the country since our government in it's effort to keep us drug free simply flat out banned the growing and harvesting of cannabis.  In researching the fabrics I am using I am learning a lot about growing, harvesting, manufacturing and arcane laws.

Hemp bags with coconut husk buttons lined with bamboo-cotton. 

 

Surely no member of the vegetable kingdom has ever been more misunderstood than hemp. For too many years, emotion-not reason-has guided our policy toward this crop. And nowhere have emotions run hotter than in the debate over the distinction between industrial hemp and marijuana.  Please read this article which is intended to inform that debate by offering scientific evidence so we can distinguish between myth and reality.

Finally....hemp is one of the easiest and sustainable  crops to grow.  Anything that can be made from cotton can be made from hemp.  Cotton is one of the most environmentally destructive agricultural crops. In pesticide use in the US alone, it is staggering – 125 million kilograms annually. Worldwide, cotton production used 50 percent of the world's pesticides/herbicides. 

Pesticides are possibly the greatest toxic threat to contaminating our soil, air, water and natural communities because they are often permanent and they bio-accumulate, ie their toxicity increases as they are consumed up the food chain. Many pesticides are known carcinogens, and can also cause immuno-deficiency disorders. Added to this, pesticides have a petroleum base and their excessive use perpetuates our dependency on oil. (Courtesy: Binhai Times).  You may want to take a look at Hemp 101 .

I am more and more tuned into what we, as a family, are doing to work with our environment as well as getting chemically engineered products out of our lives.  With my antennae up I am taking in more and more information and adding that to what I already know....which I find was surprisingly little.   So I am taking the liberty of chunking up my blog with this information.  Sorry, but this little corner of the world is mine.

In the next few weeks, I will pass along information about household cleaners, organic gardening and re-cycling.

Please, if you have something to add...I would welcome it.  The comment section is open to everyone.  Let's share what we know.

The Gathered Clutch....and a few more..

Love it...here it is finished.  The pattern that Noodlehead shared.

Also....since I am trending toward a bit of organic, natural and sustainable in my shop, I have ordered some lovely linens and hemp.  I already have bamboo fabrics, so I guess I just have to get sewing.  The other day I put this one together for my shop.  It is hand printed (stamped) linen from Australia.

This little one, I will probably

keep for myself,  but not sure....

This fabric is from Japan.  A lovely, medium-weight linen.    It was along one of the selvages, just little phrases that were so charming, I used it for the strap.

Also, in the clutch department

....this one was just listed on SquareBag.   Pattern from Keyka Lou .  I would suggest you check out her blog if you are into making bags. Lots of great patterns that you can use to make bags to sell. 

Sampaquita Quilts

I found this lady's quilt on flikr...and simply stared.   

It pops, the colors are so clean and movement of the design is lovely.  She appliqued the elements onto the quilt by machine after she quilted it and used thread the same color as the fabric.  The back of the quilt is a knock-out....

Go take a look, and don't miss the photostream she has on Flickr .   Of course I went  to her blog 
and on to her Etsy shop for more eye candy.

Thank you flikr and etsy friends...

Thank you to Alice and crazyhousequilts from Etsy and Flickr for identifying the fabrics I want so much, but only saved the photo.....what a wonderful group of folks.  Thank you both.

Block in progress......

Block in progress......,
originally uploaded by SquareBag.

I know someone will ask....the fried egg pincushion is from Etsy seller www.etsy.com/shop/dottyral  the source of many a gift for fellow quilters. I must confess....I have quite a bunch of her pincushions since I get one for a friend....and up keeping it. (This one was intended for Elly last Christmas).

I used to have magnetic pin holders, but with computerized Janome, I need something non-magnetic.

Chinese Lantern Bag (parts by ETSY)

Someone has asked me again, where I get the fabric and all the parts that go into my bags and etc I make.  Almost everything is from fellow Etsians! The prices are very fair and consisent and I feel comfortable "keeping it in the family"........although I don't have to.  I will reveal some (not all) of my secret sources at the end of this post (no peeking now!...look at this divine bag first).

So....I used some of my favorite Laura Gunn “Chinese Lantern” fabrics to make this zippered wristlet with detachable key fob/handle for my shop. Inside, I made a  zippered pocket, a cash and credit card pocket...so it is also a wallet.  The strap is removable so you can it as a clutch (with the handle as a key fob )or wristlet.

Bag measures 8.5" x 5" high. The corners are boxed, so that it has a 1.5" x 8" base.  A peek-a-boo pleat on the front expands so you can put as much of your girly stuff inside as you need.

The swivel hooks and D rings are antiqued bronze in color to give this bag some class...adding to the eye candy...check out the beaded zipper pull (made by a an etsy jewelry maker)!

 One new thing I am doing with my bags, is to use these "antiqued bronze" d-rings, swivel hooks and magnetic closures.  I really am happy with...more pricey, but give the bags and totes a a very classy look.  The other shinny-stainless hardware bothered me...they look cheap to me (and we all know they cost a bit too). 

FYI, everything in this bag came from Etsy..pattern from Lisa at http://www.etsy.com/shop/aivilocharlotte, the bronze hooks and closures came from jennalou06 ,  fabric is right off the TheFabricFarm,  zippers from kandcsupplies and the handmade beaded zipper pulls from BlueMoonBaubles......how about that!!

Stay tuned.....

Canasta Quilts Option 1: Natural Canasta

Elizabeth Hartman is tempting us with this new pattern series called Canasta Quilts.  I have decided to continue my 'square in square' series with this option first, then I will give the wonky a go.  The patterns will be in her etsy shop for download tomorrow.

Here is a blue variation.....Elizabeth's cat, Maeby, gives it the paw of approval.

Also, somewhere in the recent past I made a post about her incredible Paintbox Quilt-along.  My goal now is to start collecting the fabrics in colorways to do the whole quilt.  It may be a lifetime project, but my list is so long already that the end is not in sight.  That is positively positive, I think.

Peek-A-Boo Pleats Shoulder Bag Just Listed Today

New listing at  Square Bag Shoppe !!!!  Check out the pleats and  surprise stripy peek-a-boos.

Raspberries and Ta Dots all over....

A new bag made its way into my shop today right in time for Valentine's Day!  I call it "Pleated Boutique Bag For Your Valentine"...let's hope that Google dosen't choke on the wordy title.

It doesn't come with the candy box (candy long ago consumed, box now holds love letters from Garth:)....)

It does, however, look pretty snazzy....you think? 

Flikr Photo Of The Day

AggieRay
originally uploaded by aggieray46.

AggieRay Designs has come up with a real head-turner! Aside from the stunning design of the bag...I love the staging of the photo with the mirror. Beautiful.

In my yard??

,
originally uploaded by la vida compartida....

Are these chairs fab or what?

I want to do this project.http://lavidacompartida.blogspot.com/

Baby Wonderland Quilt

baby wonderland quilt,
originally uploaded by filminthefridge.

Ashley over at FilmInTheFridge posted this photo of her quilt for Etsy's Craft Hope Shop on flikr.

All proceeds of the Craft Hope Etsy shop will benefit Doctors Without Borders in Haiti. All items have been generously donated by the crafting community. If you'd like to donate an item please visit the Craft Hope website (www.crafthope.com).
http://www.etsy.com/shop/crafthope

Flikr Photo of the Day

Love this series of quilts and the photos from Ashley over at FilmInTheFridge .

Just Listed In My Shop....Look, Look....

What do you think....is this suedecloth bag just green or deep celery....how about basil?

I have just listed this and the Lucy Tote in my shop.  

I love suedecloth, but it is not new to me....But  Laura Gunn’s new fabric line “Lantern Bloom” knocks my sox off and really shows off this bag…or this bag shows of her fabric line. The lining is also from the line. Laura is an artist and this bag, inside and out, looks like a painting. The aqua background really makes the orange Chinese Lantern Flowers pop.