Etsy treasury

I've not made one of these for a while but woke this morning inspired by autumnal hues and the beautiful gifts available on Etsy.

Pinafore, jumper or tunic?

I've finally managed to photograph and post to Etsy some of my tunic dresses. There are so many different names I could call it: in the US it could be a jumper dress, here in the UK it could be a pinafore but I think I will stick to tunic dress. I think that best sums up its versatility.

I made the prototype for this last year and have been wearing it in a variety of fabrics since then. I love the practicality of the simple shape and useful pockets. More often than not I'm in a black denim version because it goes with absolutely everything – over leggings, jeans and, today, over black linen trousers and black and white striped top. Perfect!

The red denim is a heavier weight and will be perfect for winter. Maybe I'll have to treat myself!

Feeling blue . . .

A beautiful Etsy treasury by Sara at teconlene full of European goodies (and featuring my Pleats bag in cyan).

This collection makes me long for summer.

Scottish Autumn

A fabulous Etsy treasury created by Jo at BlackbirdAlleyShop. 
My Muckle bag looks great alongside these lovely Scottish-made items.

Gifts for guys

I always struggle with gifts for the men in my life so have created an Etsy treasury to remind myself of some of the possibilities.

Lilac doilies

These are my latest coasters and I thought I'd share them here. I thought I'd share how to make them too . . .

They are made with rows of double crochet (for American crochet that means single), increasing gradually and evenly every second row until I have the diameter I want. For these I used a mercerised cotton yarn and a crochet hook a size too small, that way I get a nice dense finish.

During the last couple of rows of plain dc I double check my stitch count to make sure I have a multiple of 4 and one extra (and adjust if needed) and then the fun begins.

For the edging (UK crochet abbreviations used):
Row 1: 1ch, 1dc (into first dc of previous row), 3ch, miss 3dc, 1dc into next dc to end, ss into ch
Row 2: 1ch, *2dc, htr, tr, dbl tr, 3ch, turn, miss 3ch and ss into top of dbl tr, dbl tr (creates picot), tr, htr, 2dc into 3ch gap, miss dc and repeat to end. Finish with a ss into the 1st stitch and tie off.

Hope that makes sense.

Taking my own advice

For once I managed to follow my own advice . . . I had a successful session with my camera and my yellow walls and finally got my shopping bags posted on Etsy. This is probably my favourite of the new fabrics – I've always been a bit of a stripes gal.

It was all about getting the photography completed before the sun made a direct hit on the room. Now I have to figure out how to take good photographs of scarves!

Sneak preview

A little snapshot of my new fabrics for shopping/shoulder bags. Only three knobs on the chest of drawers so that's all I'm showing for now!

These will make their way to Etsy once I get a chance to photograph them properly. Note to self: at this time of year use the first available photography-friendly opportunity because you just can't take good photos when it's dull, dull, dull.

October challenge - Day 1

I'm aware I'm not very good at updating this blog and even worse at posting new items on Etsy so for this month I'm setting myself the challenge of putting something out there every day.

Some coasters have been put on Etsy tonight, which allows me a nice gentle start to the challenge.

Here goes!

Variations on a theme

More PLEATS bags. I absolutely love this style and am enjoying creating different versions.

It's a Muckle Front Page

One of my bags made it to the Etsy UK front page! A really lovely collection put together by Julia Wright.

Extreme knitting

My, it's a busy old time.

A couple of weeks ago I received an e-mail mentioning extreme knitting needles. What? I thought.
Okay, cue some googling and an 'Oh' and 'Ah' and a 'must try this' kind of moment. I dug out some lovely 10mm bamboo (super lovely to work with) needles I had bought a few years ago in a moment of weakness and started experimenting.

I absolutely love this type of knitting – using several yarns at the same time it's possible to combine colours to make your very own colour scheme and texture. Fabulous. I must admit that I got quite carried away and the results are now on Etsy!

I've been making lots of bags too and still sorting out my next batch of corset designs. I'm planning on launching a little 'collection' during the next month so I'm trying to rationalise the ideas I have and create a cohesive look rather than being swept along with the scattergun of things I like.

Snow!

I woke up this morning to a street covered in a thin film of white – not the soft fluffy deep snow of last year but a damp slippery-looking layer of slush. Still, it is white and it is the first of the year. Snow always makes me feel like a kid and the excitement is always there. Same thing with rainbows.

Anyway, the excitement of the snow got to me and I thought I'd make a snowy treasury in Etsy. Here it is . . .

Enjoy!

Etsy Finds

My steampunk canvas corset has made it into the Etsy Finds e-mail today. Very exciting!

This comes at a time when I have spent a day sewing and hand-basting pieces for my clients 'steampunk corset' – with watch pocket, cording (yes, I was allowed to put some in) and some exterior boning channels. Should be finished tomorrow and hopefully she'll let me take and post some pictures soon.

Sneak preview: corded panels ready for insertion into front panels. The one on the left has one cord more at the top but that's okay because it disappears into the seam allowance anyway!

If you look at the sample cording there really wasn't enough definition to make it work. Here I've used a stiffer backing fabric and, instead of sewing the channels and then threading the cord, placed the cord between the layers, run my nail along the side of it to create a crease and then used a piping foot to stitch hard against the cord (I didn't take any pictures). This means that the curve of the cord shows on the front fabric and the backing is almost totally flat. I don't know how other people do cording but I think the effect is pretty dramatic.

Now I have to work out how to cope with the bulk, especially for binding.

It's been a challenge, trying out new ideas, but good fun so far!