I'M SEEING ORANGE........

Why am I seeing orange, well if you remember I made all those hoodies for grandkids at Christmas and it seems one of those guys has grown more than I anticipated.  Although, his hoodie fit he wouldn't be wearing it long and I wanted to give him one that he could wear for a few years.  I made a trip to my local fabric store and they didn't enough of his orange fabric on the bolt to make another hoodie, so I came home went on line and ordered what I needed.  Now I always round up on the yardage I need and I did the same with this, knowing I would have yet another scrap of fabric, but I would rather err on the side of caution.  Well my package set for a week or so until I opened the bag and found a note that said they included the end of bolt.  That means if they have less than a yard of fabric on a bolt after filling an order, they will include the extra.  After I measured my fabric I realized the end of bolt was just 3 inches short of another yard, at $14.99 a yard this a real bonus.  I fretted because I knew I  would end up with way too much fabric to toss.  Now, my dilemma was what to do, remember I am trying to reduce my stash and I had made my new grandson a hoodie at Christmas with my extra, so I went on a search and found a couple of brothers who will look real cute in their new hoodies.

 

For the last couple of days I have been making orange camo hoodies and for the cost of two zippers and some scrounging through my fabric scraps I was able to get three boys hoodies for the price of one.  Thank you Joanns.com.

WINTER STORMS...................

It is winter in my part of the country and we have had a lot of snow, that combination keeps me indoors most of the time, but I don't want to talk about the weather, I want to show you what I have been up to the last few days.  I have been attempting to clear out some of my fabric stash, apparently I have way more than even I realized, but I have made good use of a few pieces.

 

As you may remember I made quite a few hoodies for Christmas this year and it seems I have become obsessed with them.  I like to take what I have learned and create my own design.

  Before I go out and purchase new fabric I wanted to perfect my work with fabric in my stash.

 

I have had many requests for hoodies and flannel shirts over the last few months, as well as some furniture re-do's.  Actually have several pieces in my garage that I will have to work on as soon as we get some warmer days, even though now I'm not sure I want to, but I have already committed, so I will fulfill my promise.

 

I make things simply because I really enjoy what I do, I don't do it to make money, it would then become a job and perhaps not quite so much fun.  I love making items for my children and grandchildren as well as for myself and of course, the hubby would feel left out if he didn't get something too.

 

I turn down most requests to make things for people simply because they don't want to pay for it.  My grandfather had always told me to charge twice what your materials cost for your time, well in the case of a flannel shirt, the cheapest I can get materials is around $25, but normally runs $40-$50.  At that cost when I quote someone $50 for a shirt, they cringe and if I can't find the supplies on sale, I have just made it for nothing.  In the case of a piece of furniture, paint may only cost $10 and even if I take into account the amount of wax and other supplies I use, it could be as cheap as $15.  Well I can spend 20 or more hours over the course of 4 or 5 days on a piece of furniture.  If I calculated cost of materials and time on these projects, even at minimum wage most people don't want to pay for something you just "made", but if they purchase it in a store they don't normally question the cost.

 

Not sure why I've been ranting on about this, but I guess my message is the next time you see something "handmade" remember the person who made it has spent countless hours on it and has paid for all the materials they used and you are often buying a one of a kind piece of furniture or a designer piece of clothing.  I like to think everyone who makes things are all artists and deserves the respect of buyers.

 

 

HAVE I SAID "I LOVE ORGANIZATION" ??

Being the first of a new year always finds me cleaning out cupboards, closets, etc.  One has to wonder how all the stuff just seems to breed in your home.  As I was doing some kitchen cupboard cleaning I found I had an entire cupboard dedicated to plastic grocery bags.  Now, I enjoy recycling everything I can, but even I had to admit there was no way I was ever going to use all those bags and they were taking up some much needed real estate in my kitchen.  I had to make a change !!!

It didn't take me long to remember a little project I had done a number of years ago and knew it would solve my "plastic bag" storage problem.

I gathered a few plastic liter soda bottles (always have plenty of those, I love Pepsi).  Washed them out so they wouldn't be sticky.

Gathered my supplies, some glue, the bottles and a fabric scrap I had on hand.  I chose this particular fabric not because of the color or design, but the fact that it is water resistance and easy to clean.  I plan to put this on the inside of a cupboard door, so what it looked like wasn't as important to me as it's function.

 

Once I cut down and assembled my two bottles, I glued the fabric to it and let it dry for a few hours

 

 

Hubby sees this drying and wonders if I'm making a "rocket ship" (ha).  Once everything was good and secure I took a couple of thumb tacks and installed it in a cupboard door.

 

 

Now I can no longer horde hundreds of these bags and I'm a little more organized !!!!!

 

The best part of this project was it was made costing absolutely nothing using recyclable parts for recyclable items !!!