Getting into the Holiday Spirit

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.