Call me Scrooge, but I am just not
into the Christmas holiday hoopla. I
haven’t been for a long time; it has been years since I set up a tree, and I’d
rather not do the gift exchange. I
realize I am pretty much in my own little world on shunning the end of the year
festivities. Naturally, when I was asked
a couple of weeks ago to make a few Christmas ornaments for Art Market 649, I
was reluctant, but I recognized an opportunity to maybe sell a few and make a
few dollars. The first set was a
disaster.
It shows that I was not interested
in them – I tried to save time by gluing the trim, and managed to leave glue
fingerprints on the fabric and I sewed them on a machine that still needed some
fine tuning and had a too small needle in it for the thread I used. I started out making inchies that were double
sided. I wanted both sides to be
presentable, as ornaments often twist and spin while hanging on a tree. This was not my first attempt with inchies,
so it was not like I was unfamiliar with handling small bits of sewing. Most of my problem with this set of ornaments
was my attempts to save time. I have
been thinking a lot of how much time I spend on a project in order to be able
to ask a fair price, yet still be able to sell it. However, I still have to be satisfied enough
with the result to be able to put my name on it.
I
walked away from the ornaments for a few days, then decided I had to make
something. The second attempt was
better.
I cut rectangles out of Pellon
808 and base fabric, fusing the fabric to the Pellon. I then tacked down scraps of paper and trim
with a glue stick (just enough to keep the bits where I wanted them). Next, I free motion quilted each
rectangle. On half of the pieces, I
stitched a charm or button, then I paired up the rectangles, wrong sides
together, tacking then with a spot of glue.
I tucked the ends of a loop of rick rack in one short end of the
resulting sandwich and then zig zag stitched the edges. They were very quick to make, and I am
pleased with the result. They really are
a complete realization of my business name – scraps of repurposed vintage
fabric, bits of paper, stitched together.
If they sell at Art Market 649, I might make more of them.
