Introducing "Comfy Humphrey"!

His name was coined by a visitor to my stall at MK Handmade and Vintage this weekend - and it really fits, I think!

Humphrey is a hippo, made from this McCalls pattern. I have to say, the pattern is a dream - really straightforward and not too many pieces.  My problem was, initially, that this hippo is very large - think child's beanbag or footstool size.  Which is great - until you are making it from recycled jeans.  The gussets can be cut from two (large) pairs of jeans, but the sides are just too big for this.  So I had the idea of making Humphrey's sides from pockets sewn together.  This has an added bonus - what better place for the remote controls for the TV etc?!  I made six Humphrey's, and sold five of them at this weekend's event.  In addition, I have just received a request - someone bought one, and wanted to know if I have any more as she would like another one! 
I filled Humphrey with bean bag beans, which makes him pleasantly squishy.  He is long enough for a small child to lie on lengthways; makes a great footstool; a child can sit astride him, or sideways; he is just the right height to be a pillow if you want to lie on the floor.  I suspect I will be making many more.

MK Handmade and vintage - day 1

What a fabulous day!  So much to be thankful (and grateful) for.  The wonderful piece by Sammy Jones was one.  Getting the same great stall pitch as last time, facing the new Tiger store, was another.  Help from Church friends gave me some breaks from the stall during the day, which really hleped me to stay upbeat and to engage with potential customers while I was there.  Some clarity about stock meant that I focused on key sucessful lines - the animals, pocket bags in various styles, two styles of embroidered bags and, of course, bibs.  I also had the usual range of low-priced items - bookmarks, pocket purses, phone cases and embroidered purses, plus the new line of Christmas cards. This helped me with my displays, and I think helped the customers to see what was on offer. 

Then I added in my major new line - hippo footstools / beanbags.  These seemed to generate a lot of interest - it was so encouraging to see people pointing them out and commenting on them as they passed.  The fabulous footfall which organiser Jacqui Lewis has ensured through her thorough promotion and advertising was another factor.  The approach of Christmas didn't hurt either!  The sum total of all of these factors was a record breaking sales total of £600 - close to double my previous record.  I will  need to do some restocking before leaving (for a thankfully later start!) tomorrow - I hope to stuff the two remaining hippos I have already sewn, complete the finishing off on some more applique bags, and maybe even do the last pieces of sewing on a few animals so that I can stuff and sew them up at the sale.  I will probably take some pockets to cut to squares so that I have the raw materials for more pocket bags and hippo beanbags in preparation for my November events.  I'm shattered, but really looking forward to tomorrow.

A lovely post about the project

Sammy, From Total MK, has posted a lovely feature on me and the work I am doing for Utange.  You can find it here.  Brilliantly timed as a promotion before my big sale tomorrow in Milton Keynes.  I have been very busily restocking - hence the blog silence recently.  I've made several new items which I am really pleased with, including over 30 elephants, monkeys, turtles, Christmas cards and some mega-large hippos which will serve as a child's seat or a footstool.  Photos to follow once I have taken them... if I get time before I pack the car ready to go and set up this evening!

Fancy pocket purse

This is made using my recent tutorial, but I have put this post up separately because it shows how you can make good sue of unusually shaped pockets. 
This pair of jeans had one button down pocket- always a useful addition. However, it was unsuitable for many of my projects as the lack of space around the pocket meant it could not be cut to a rectangle.  It made a great pocket purse, however!

Shaped pocket purses - tutorial

As well as the boxy pocket purses, I also make a more straightforward version.

Making these is very simple:

1. Cut round one of the pockets, leaving at least one inch of plain fabric all the way around the pocket.  Follow the shape of the pocket.

2. Put this pocket face down on top of the other pocket and, using it as a template, cut round.

3. Fold the lining fabric in two, right sides facing, and, again using one pocket as a template, cut the lining to match.

4. Use your zipper foot to sew one side of the zip to one pocket piece along the top.

5. Put the matching lining piece on top of the pocket, right sides together with the zip sandwiched between the two pieces.  Again, sew the zipper to the fabrics.

6. Repeat with the other side of the bag.

7. Top stitch along the zip, keeping as close to the edge of the fabric as possible.

8. Open the zip.

9. Open out the pieces and put them right sides facing so that the linings match and the pockets also match.

10. Sew all the way round the outside edge, just leaving a small section at the base of the lining open for turning.

11. Turn the bag the right way out and sew up the seam you left open on the lining.

12. Push the lining inside the bag.  Your pocket purse is finished.

Fancy pocket purses

These pocket purses make maximum use of decorated pockets, and I predict they will be sold before this post appears!

 I used a variety of strap lengths on these - hopefully I will succeed in pleasing appropriate customers!
Tutorial here.

Plain pocket purses

Here is another couple of pocket purses; all of these with plain pockets, hopefully appealing to both male and female customers.

You can find the tutorial for these here.

Original pocket bag

These are the latest versions of my original pocket bag (which continues to sell well!)  You can find the tutorial here.

Zippered pocket bag

These are the type of pocket I love to find - it is great to have a pocket which will fasten on a pocket bag.  However, on this occasion the pockets were too small for a pocket bag, so I decided to use them to make this purse.

It is another of the boxy pocket bags I have made for a while; you can find the tutorial here.

Contact from Kenya

I have had some lovely emails from Florence in Utange recently.  She has told me that other parents of her school are asking when they will get solar lamps, and that the families who received them are really grateful to have light in the evenings.  She has also just sent me an email which says,

On last Friday afternoon I had some few ladies who are interested to do sewing and we plan to start our meeting this coming Friday and to start making some few things e.g pillows,door mats,table mats,brooms,making soaps,etc. We shall be teaching each other before you come. I will send the names of the ladies and pictures of what we are doing and I think to name the group your name. 

This is so exciting to read.  To hear that the ladies seem to be beginning to have hope, to be beginning to start up their own businesses, working as a group, is fantastic.  If they can begin to make things which they know they can sell within the village - this is just what I hoped for, and just what I would like to invest in, to help them to grow their businesses.   To have them call their group "Sewing for Utange" is an added bonus!