I won!

I enter a few of the blog giveaways I see, but rarely win.  I won one last week from DollyTime, a wonderful shop that sells knitting patterns.  WooHoo!!!  This is my choice: 

Isn't she great!  I think I can make her with some of my recycled yarns and vintage buttons.   She will look fabulous next to my sewing chair. 

A Stripey BOY kitty

I forgot to take photos of some kittys I took to Adore last month.  Most have already sold (YEA!!!) but one of my favorites was still there for Adore's latest blog post.  One of the photos includes my kitty...  He is unusual in that he is a boy.  Most of my kitty's are girls.  This one was a boy.  They tell me when I make them.  He looks pretty happy on this chair in the store, so he may never leave.   I love the chair he sits on...

Four Kitty Friends

 I'm having way too much fun making these kitties.  Each one has its own personality.  I've been so inspired by the fabric scraps I've gotten from Judith at Adore-The House of Bloomsbury Loft.  These four will all go stay with her at her shop.  I hope they find good homes.  Forgive the not so great photos.  Since these are not going to Etsy, I was lazy and took quick photos with my phone and not nearly enough light...  Photos are still the hardest part of Etsy for me.

I have had this multicolor checkered sweater for about six months.  I decided it would be a great kitty, and I like her patchwork apron.  The vintage fabrics are so pretty.  I'm tempted to make a similar apron for a plain kitty, 'cause I think it deserves to be the star...

 This girl has a very cool skirt with pictures of children playing.  She wears a very simple top, that shows off her skinny waist and her striped arms.  I love how her face turned out.

  

This kitty may be my favorite of the 14 or 15 I've made so far.  (Wow...  have I really made that many?  I've not taken photos of all of them.  I need to do that, even if I only take quick photos like these that I took with my phone.)  That bright green sleeveless sweater is so pretty, and the fancy trim on her skirt matches perfectly.  I've watched every episode of Project Runway, I think.  I love watching the clothing designers work.  I feel a bit like that now, trying to make fun and interesting outfits for each of these kittys.  Each is a different size and shape, and I'm limited by the fabrics I find at the thrift store or in the cast-off pile at Judith's store.  I'm trying VERY hard to make these a recycled product, yet with a fresh and funky vibe...  let me know if you think I'm succeeding.    This kitty is a bit chubby, unlike the last one.  Thus she needs those slimming stipes.  She LOVES her fuzzy sweater.

Last but not least is this little kitty.  She is a bit long in the face, and so I think she looks a bit homely.  However, she wears her pretty bow and her spring skirt and sweater proudly.  I love how these kittys are all so eager to look pretty.

These four will be for sale at Adore, House of Bloomsbury Loft.  Next week I'll be making more kittys for Etsy, I hope. 

I'm honored

I am so, so, so honored to see my bunnies on one of my favorite craft blogs, lil fish studios.  I've admired Lisa Jordan's art and her blog ever since I discovered them.   She tells wonderful stories about life with her family in the Minnesota woods, takes fabulous photos, and makes beautiful things.  I have learned so much about how to stage an item in a simple setting by looking at her photos.  I've just spent 10 minutes wandering around her blog trying to decide which photos and posts to link to.  I can't decide.  Visit the blog and look at them all!  But don't click until you have some time to spend browsing and enjoying and being inspired. 

Taxes

I'm one of the crazy people that doesn't mind paying taxes.  It means I made money.  I just paid my sales taxes for the second half of 2010.  I was late, 'cause I wasn't sure my Transient Vendor's Sales license application was accepted.  I never got the confirmation in the mail.   But I did get the notice that I had not paid my taxes for the second half of 2010.  So I figured out how to do it, and I figured out what my vendor's license number is!  Hurray!  It wasn't a lot, 'cause I had not made a lot, but still!  Sales taxes!!!  That means my little business is real.

Bunnies Bunnies EVERYwhere

Aren't they fun!  I must have spring fever! So--Do you prefer your bunnies  natural?  or in Easter pastels? 

The oldest kind of recycling

Fabric and textiles have long been recycled.  Think of all the beautiful scrap quilts our mothers and grandmothers made.  Think of the dish towels and quilts made from feed sacks.  The first ones were plain, later they were pretty prints.  (The person that thought of putting animal feed into pretty feedsacks was brilliant.  See this link for a complete history.)  Now you can find recycled goods made from burlap coffee sacks, and you can buy the burlap bags online from several sources.


I found a nice assortment of fabric scraps at my last visit to one of the MCC thrift stores, as well as a partially finished quilt top that seems to be made from mens' shirts.   I'm not sure what greedy impulse made me purchase these; if I had any sense I'd take some better photos and go list them on Etsy right now....  I do NOT need any more projects in the house, but the vintage fabrics called to me.   If they are calling to you, and you want them, I'll be glad to send them your way, just leave me a message.

 I've seen statistics that in the USA we discard 68 lbs. of textiles each year, per person.  My source is the SMART website--stands for Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles.  It has to do with the fact that clothing is just so cheap we now consider it a "disposable" item.  Our moms and grandmas remember when clothing was expensive.  I remember when it was cheaper to make my own clothes, but about the time I got out of high school, it was cheaper to buy readymade.  You could no longer buy the fabric for what you could buy the ready made.  The quality wasn't and isn't as good as homemade, but the time and effort to make your own was huge.  The last "homemade" clothing I remember wearing was a beautiful tailored silk suit I made and wore at my first job.  Wow.  I'm a long way from that now.   I'll wear a comfortable blazer with "good" trousers on a dress up day at work.

Less than 25% of the 68 pounds of textiles each of us discards each year is donated to charity, resellers, or recyclers.  The charities put less than half of what we donate into the stores.  They sell it in bulk to companies that sort and distribute clothing overseas, and make rope, furniture padding, carpet padding, etc.  Interesting fact:  they send the vintage things to Japan!  4% of the solid waste stream in this country is textiles.  OUCH!  We must do better.  Growing cotton and raising sheep consumes resources.  Making synthetic fibers consumes resources.   I even read that although wool decomposes in the landfil, it creates methane gas, and thus contributes to global warming.  See!!!  I HAVE to keep these wool sweaters out of the landfills!!!   I have to make cute bunnies and kittys!!!!