Handmade Happy Hour

This is the beginning of the menswear line. I'm keeping it small. There are plenty of ideas that I never make because the motivation for their construction just doesn't exist. The driving cap was fun to create because it allowed me to use interesting pieces of fabric that were otherwise too narrow to make into other things. I also got to use my French curves to draft the pattern.

I sold my first one at CITYCRAFT. I'll be listing more in my etsy shop.

Macy's Made It Awesome

I don't usually enjoy any part of the Macy's parade, but this year was super special.
This video wasn't made at my house, but this is what my brother and I sounded like when it happened. Then I had to explain Rick-rolling to my father.

In more sewing and knitting related news, when my holiday is over I am going to unveil some new hooded scarves and bags. My next show is on the 17th of December. I have a couple new finger puppets planned, too.

busy busy

This weekend was super busy, and I didn't even do anything.
This would have been a big Twilight Market week, with the poetry festival that happened yesterday, if not for the insane weather. The reports claimed all day rain, with heat. Everyone decided to wait until a later week for the weather to calm down. Of course, it got beautiful right at 3, when people were busy elsewhere.
I however, was already set to miss because this weekend was the Steel City Big Pour. It seemed even bigger than last year, with more food, vendors, and beer. I got the designated driver ticket. The weather was so much hotter than I expected for September.
Next weekend is even busier, with a potential two shows in two days (intense) and our team craft night on Friday. Plus, I've been rabidly swapping on swap-bot.

i fail it

I have been completely dysfunctional for two days, and today is apparently not much better.

Yesterday I had to finish some sewing before going to Twilight Market, which was not unreasonable, but I also wanted to wash my items because they got wrinkly. Also, reasonable, until I can't get them into the wash until 2:30, when I'm supposed to leave at 3:30.

I didn't get out the door until 4:00, the time I was supposed to be there, because I couldn't find anything. If I needed it I couldn't find it. On top of that I forgot my camera. So there are no pictures proving that SilentLotus, VintageHotcakes, hairycarrot, LzRocks, or CharmedbyNature were ever anywhere.

I managed to deliver the box of yarn that I wanted Cosy to have, but forgot the magazine pages I had ripped out especially for her.

So today I thought I could recover, as the only thing left to do was apply to Handmade Arcade. I'm pretty sure I screwed that up, too. I had everything perfect and then when I paid my fee, I forgot to put my name in the subject line of the paypal transaction, so I'm probably not getting in. Argh.

Twilight Market

Twilight Market, originally uploaded by hairycarrot.

1. go team pittsburgh!, 2. farmer's market, 3. new clothing rack, 4. satisfied customer

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

The Twilight Market is a great time. The nice thing about farmer's markets is that they are open for the season. I got incredible vegetables for a great price, and they were so much nicer than the store's. This is the only thing as good as shopping at Wegman's.

I bought a bunch of dill, and used it to make pickles. Since I have 6 cucumber plants I have a lot of cucumbers. They are just regular ones. I will never need to buy cucumbers.

It's a great time. The farmers are there every week, and we get to be there on alternating weeks.

I'm planning to be there.

I sold 2 items, which was about 15% of what I brought, so I'm happy. I also have some great inspiration for new items to make for next time. I haven't solved my hanger problem, which is that I need some with clippies. My sewing room is almost finished after I moved it from the basement to the spare bedroom. Double inspiration is that I have some company coming.

Sortof recycling

fused bags-4, originally uploaded by hairycarrot.

newspaper bag and grocery bag

I was intrigued by etsy's fused plastic bag tutorial, so I tried it for myself. Mine doesn't work the exact same way, but it's likely a difference in iron.

These are all made from 2-3 layers of bag, with the cut out words and letters (and handles) in between.

Here's how:

Setup. This is not a great kids activity. Irons are hot and plastic is toxic if you have a mishap.
Make sure you have good ventilation. If it smells bad when you do this, stop. If you can smell it, you can inhale it.

1. Cut the excess parts of your bags off. These are the seams and handles, plus any words you don't like. Cut open so you can lay them flat.

2. Layer 2-3 sheets of plastic flat on your ironing board. You should layer them between wax paper and/or copy paper. Test this to decide what works best with some scraps before you settle on the real thing.

3. Iron on the middle setting, whatever that may be. Press firmly and go quickly. Only about 5 seconds at first. Check to see if the bags have fused.

4. #2 plastic bags tend to shrink slightly when you fuse them together. Don't fuse a fresh piece of bag to a fused piece. This will result in different levels of tightening up, and the pieces will get holey. If you are using #4 plastic bags, they will shrink less. It is okay to mix them.

5. If the bags have fused to satisfaction, set on a hot pad and move to the next one. If more fusing is necessary, iron again quickly. Try only to iron on the parts that have not fused. The more you iron, the more the plastic shrinks.

6. The fused plastic can be sewn much like fabric.

For a completely fused piece without sewing - wrap the layers of plastic around something that they won't stick to. This can be a sheet of paper or wax paper, or a solid object wrapped in wax paper. Then you can iron the plastic together into a shape. Then no sewing is required.

Show Tomorrow!

This show is hosted by Distinguished Dobermans, Inc.

Our Lady of the Angels Parish
Holy Family Social Hall
256 44th Street
Lawrenceville, PA 15201

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I'm really excited because there will be dogs there. I'm not really looking for a dog, but these things really sometimes introduce you to the "perfect" dog. I don't have a fence, and I have rats, so that narrows the choices a lot.
I'm premiering a new item for this show. I've made a few flower bracelets. I've given some to students, and I have a bunch more for tomorrow. I wish I didn't have a regular job so I could make more stuff. It's really eating into my crafting time. But, since crafting doesn't really rake in the cash, I'll be keeping my day job. I would be much more productive if I didn't fall asleep on the bus every day.

CITYCRAFT MARKET is tomorrow

Tomorrow I will have a table at the CITYCRAFT MARKET. This even is put on by our own Etsy Pittsburgh Street Team. I expect it to go well. We will be in the Creative Treehouse, above the ill-fated 517-521 department store. The entrance is on the side of the building, on Meade Street. That's right across from the parking lot, where you only pay a quarter for over an hour. It's a great deal.
I'll be there with finger puppets and upcycled clothing. I have a new finger puppet to unveil tomorrow. I'm not sure if I have quite enough stuff, but I really plan to take orders for larger orders tomorrow, since I don't think this will be a big kid/immediate satisfaction crowd. There's even going to be a business only session before we open up to the general public. I'll, of course, bring yarn with me to make more puppets. Probably rats.

How to crochet

How to crochet
Originally uploaded by hairycarrot

I was asked to demo crochet at I Made It Fashionable, a local roving artists' market. This installment was held at the brewhouse, and focused on fashion. There was a fashion show in the theatre, tables in the front gallery, and we had 4 demos in the side room.
I shared a table with Sara, between us covering knitting and crochet. EJ set up the popular shrinky dinks recycling station, and there was a lampworker making beads.
The event was, as always, incredible. The turnout was great, the venue was great, and people had a great time. Plus, someone had a tiny dog.

I brought finger puppets and skirts, and demoed crochet in a circle, since that is the basic concept for finger puppets. I made hats, using larger yarn and hooks. I got to teach one person crochet. People tend to look at it as "too difficult" but I'm also not the most outgoing person in the world. I could probably harrass more people into trying it, but I would feel mean. It's really not hard. I swear.

I Made It! Mine

I Made It! Mine was so popular that I didn't make the deadline cut. This show always has something new and exciting going on. There are so many quality artists in Pittsburgh.
I got to shop for myself. Cosy Knits Literally is totally awesome. Be sure to look over her really nice yarn which she takes beautiful pictures of. Her naming system is especially ingenious, too. It's like audience participation, but without having to go to the theatre.
It's nice to see the street team. We love working together. Our trunk show should be really fun in a couple months.

I Made It 3

I Made It 3 was today. We did fairly well. This show is well publicised, and therefore much more pleasant to be at. We were on the risers in the theatre part of the Brewhouse. They warned us that the lighting would be lacking. Even though the lights were on and you could see, everything had an eerie glow to it.

I am excited to go to the next one. I'll try to make new things. We'll have our cool weather tops, and hooded scarves. I don't intend to bring any skirts. Finger puppets are questionable. It depends on whether or not I can make some spooky ones.

Art Harvest 2007

Here is the table at Art Harvest, just before we open. We had a nice time. The people were nicer this year. There were two really nice tables on both sides of us. It's a welcome change from any show where you are flanked by an irritant. Emily made a few new bags, and the table was complete.
The music note buttons were a success, and I finally sold a skirt. I love making them, and I think I would like to just take custom orders. People know what they want, and it's usually not in their size. A woman tried on a skirt, and it fit her perfectly. She declined it, saying that it wasn't her size. My only job this week is to put size tags on all the skirts before I Made It next week.

A new age is upon us

Sewing and yarn-crafts can be balanced, and I have figured it out - finally.
Tomorrow is Art Harvest, and Next weekend is I Made It 3. If you're in Pittsburgh, check them out. Check my calendar or drop me a line for directions.