Art (and Totes) on the Mesa

I'm still hooked on making market totes. Most recently they've been the upcycled jeans variety. There are now three people scouting the county for large jeans for me (not me personally, but my upcycled bags) and I've been hitting a couple of thrift stores a week. I love thrift stores (often I find treasures beyond the denim kind, like port glasses at $.40/each or a beautiful serving dish for $1.50). I can't resist. But, my mission is denim and my search has been expanded to include lighter weight denims (my ideas for using the light-weights are still germinating) and smaller sizes (to be used in denim collages and possibly smaller, child-size totes). Does this sound a bit obsessive? Someone, anyone, please stop me! I admit it...I am out of control! Sally has attempted to stop me twice now, but her efforts were futile! Otti just encourages my denim OCD! The stack of XXL jeans in my studio is growing and beginning to crowd my 36 fabric totes. I'll soon need a bigger studio. Help! P.S. I've had two requests for acid-washed jeans...finding acid-washed or designer jeans in a size 42 or 44 may be difficult. Should you find yourself near a thrift store, browse the racks for acid-washed denim in any size.

This past weekend, the StixChix (Sally, Sandy, and I) participated in an event in Santa Barbara, called Art on the Mesa. Our booth was impressive with over a hundred market totes/bags ranging in price from $25-55, quilted baby blankets, and four of my hand painted pillows. It was colorful with good variety and the general response was favorable. Unfortunately, the event was very localized, not well advertised, and foot traffic was dismal. That said, we still sold a few items and received several compliments on our goods. Our next attempt to market our handmade textile items will probably be at a craft show, farmers market, or the like, where the foot traffic would be closer to 500 than 50.

A few things learned...

1. Display like-kinds together - I had patchwork market totes, denim bags, and what I call art collage totes and they were all mixed together on hat-rack type stands, hung from our canopy, and flat-folded on the tables. Next time I will have each clustered on their own stands. The denim seemed to have no appeal to people who liked the colorful patchwork bags and likewise.

2. Better signage - with such limited attendance, a 10' sign probably wouldn't have helped. However, Sally and Sandy had made small hand-printed signs that were displayed next to their items with a brief description and price. I had no signs. :( Next time I will have bold signs for each product, especially the pillows which will be described as "original, hand-painted" creations...you get the idea.

3. Launch my Etsy site - I'm beginning to think Etsy is a marketing opportunity in and of itself. I listed my Etsy store name on business cards, but the half dozen people I talked with (those interested in my custom pet portraits) had no clue about Etsy!

Our expectations were low, we sold little, laughed a lot, and learned even more...we'll definitely do it again!

Blue Jean Bags

What do you do with those jeans that are a titch too big? Upcycle 'em!

Unfortunately, all of my jeans are a titch too tight, so I had to resort to a trip to the thrift store. Well, that was after my new friend, Otti, picked up a couple of 44's at Hospice during their end of month sale. (Let me clarify something before She Who Must Not Be Named gets her nose out of joint...Otti is NOT my new BFF as Verne has suggested in a rumor he started; Sally is my BFF!) Back to my story...The next day I cut them up, wasting nothing, and made them into sturdy shopping bags. I was so excited with the results that Verne and I stopped at a thrift store in Sutter Creek yesterday in search of more 40+ jeans. Not only did we find six pair, but they were half price for their 4th of July sale! Two pair were never worn as they still had original tags. Of course, I started thinking about the very large man who never had an opportunity to wear them and decided that one of two things happened...(1) he was so obese that his heart gave out and his family donated them or (2) a happier thought, he joined Weight Watchers and is now a pleasing 36" inch waste. Whichever, the jeans are now mine and I began transforming them within an hour of getting home.

Here's a few tips if you decide to upcycle a pair of jeans:

1. Get the biggest bang for your buck...look for size 40+ jeans, as they obviously contain more fabric. You should be able to get an 18" panel from the crotch to the knee. 

2. Save the pockets, labels, and anything else that might be interesting to use as an embellishment for your bag.

3. I've used strapping for handles. It adds to the cost, but I like the look and there's no time spent making and turning fabric handles.

4. If the original pants pockets are stitched with a contrasting thread (gold is common), do all of your topstitching with that color.

5. Consider using a heavier thread than you'd use for normal quilting. If you do, use a denim or topstitch needle.

Two of my finished Upcycled Denim Market Bags...

I have a confession to make...before I finished this post I made a trip back to the thrift store to make sure I hadn't missed anything in my haste yesterday. As I looked around the store I saw a section for "large" women. Yep! I found two XXL pairs of women's jeans that are perfect and three ankle-length denim dresses. One final pass through the men's jeans yielded another size 44. I walked out with an armful of treasures all for under $18! 

A Busy Month

I've been keeping busy this month. Not shopping...I've been staying away from fabric stores for the same reason a recovering alcoholic avoids bars.  Not long-arm quilting...just haven't been inspired and, I'm sure, no one wants me to quilt their project when I lack inspiration. No new quilting projects or even ideas for projects...talk about backlog - I have a long list of project ideas so the last thing I need to do is flip through magazines and books and internet sites and add to my project list. I did none of those things in June. What I did do was make jam, lots of it (see the Moser Good Eats blog) and did a lot of mindless stitching. The studio was nothing more than a sweat shop (figuratively, as well as literally)...and it felt good, the figurative part. I made a couple dozen totes. Some from quilted panels I'd made previously and made others from scratch. I don't know what it is about completing a stack of colorful totes, but it just feels so darn good. I also got out my Tsukineko inks and painted another portrait. This time my subject was from one of Sandy's big cat photos. 

Well, it's a good thing I've been productive, because Sally has scheduled a table for us at a art/craft fair in Santa Barbara called "Art on the Mesa." It will be held Saturday, July 20th from noon until 7 p.m. Our reusable and, in some cases, recycled bags/totes are perfect for the eco-friendly theme. I'm not overly hopeful that we'll sell much, but I'm looking forward to spending a day with Sally and Sandy in beautiful Santa Barbara. 

My stack of 30+ totes has also inspired me to set up an Etsy site. I thought it would be a simple, an afternoon's project to set it up. Well, let me tell you...I've already invested about 10 hours and it's not close. Nothing is exactly intuitive and at times I've had to just walk away from the frustration. For example, I was going to do this a few years back and I think I reserved the name "Functionality", because I tried to set up my site with that name and was told it was already reserved. Well, after several dead ends in solving that problem, I gave up and named it FunctionalityDesigns and moved on. Overall, I think Etsy is a winning idea on many levels. It's just that the backend could use a bit of work and a handbook for dummies would help. Trial and error, though, has gotten me to the point I can now begin loading pictures and descriptions of my items. That means I now need to take pictures and write up descriptions for each of my listings. I have four different styles of bags/totes at various prices and my commissioned pet portraits on pillows, which will be included in a art category, separate from the bags/totes. I am allowed five pictures for each item. I think about 10-20 hours of taking pictures, loading them on the computer, uploading them to Etsy along with a paragraph describing each item should do it. This is going to be a major undertaking. The final step in my marketing plan will be to print business cards with my Etsy address. 

I've still got more stuff to make for the big event on the 20th and now hours of work on the Etsy site. Sounds to me like I'm going to be very busy right on through July. If you happen to have a quilt in the pipeline, don't give up on me. I will take a break from my on-line business and get some quilting done this month. That is, unless I have to replenish my inventory, because I'm an overnight Etsy sensation and sell out!