Showing posts with label a crafty hen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label a crafty hen. Show all posts

Wednesday 30 July 2014

Window Shopping for Fabric

fabric


September Blue Gold Bud
thevillagehaberdashery.co.uk



Bye bye birdie
misformake.co.uk


Siamese Cats Pink
fabricrehab.co.uk



I buy fabric for lots of different reasons. Often for work, sometimes for a project for myself and family, and just recently I have been buying for dressmaking, something that I am very keen to get started on though haven't quite found the time yet! And sometimes I buy fabric because I just can't resist it! Sometimes I have no idea what I am going to do with the fabric but have an overwhelming sense of needing to have the desired fabric in my stash! And that is probably the reason why my fabric stash never seems to go down!  As well as buying too much fabric I also like to have a good browse on line at all the latest fabrics and there are many good fabric collections around at the moment. So I thought I would show you a few of my favourites. And each one nicely fits into one of my categories of reasons to buy fabric! 
September Blue I can imagine making my daughter something out of it,
Bye bye bird is a lightweight fabric making it perfect for dressmaking,
Siamese Cats is something a little different and would probably be one to sit in my stash for awhile waiting for that perfect project and
The shape of Spring - Line up is a fabric that I can imagine incorporating into my work.
Talking of work, 'A Crafty Hen' is currently closed while a take some time to play with my children, rest my poorly back and also to catch up with some custom orders, but I do hope to be back open very soon.  

Saturday 12 July 2014

A Trending Item




I received an email from Etsy last week telling me that my 'Black and White Storage Basket' is a 'trending' item on etsy. I wasn't sure what it meant at first! But basically my little storage basket is receiving so much traffic and 'likes' {1559 as I type} that it is one of the most popular items on etsy at the moment! And when I think that there are over 100 million active shops on etsy and over 25 million items listed I can't quite believe how popular my basket is proving! Not only is it getting a record number of views it is also being included in many treasuries like the one above. It all feels a little overwhelming, I am one person working from home, sewing, in between bringing up 3 small people, to think that I have created something that has proved so popular is amazing! And I feel very humbled by it all. It really goes to prove that etsy is an incredible market place connecting people from all over the world.

Tuesday 17 June 2014

Rainbow of Baby Burp Cloths


Summer has arrived and it feels great to get the shop back open and to start filling the shelves with gorgeous fresh and bright new stock! It reminds me of the feeling you get when you fling the windows open and let the fresh air and the breeze flow in! Over the next few days I will be adding quite a few new items including 4 new storage baskets, but the first of the new stock in store now are these lovely fresh and bright baby burp cloths. Take them out with you in a changing bag to protect your summer outfit when winding and feeding your little one. They are such useful things and so much prettier than your average muslin!










I have grouped the burp cloths into sets of three, which I had fun doing and hope that I have arranged them in sets that complement each other. Though if they are three fabrics that you would prefer together in a set then just let me know. I could quite happily play with these fabrics all day long! I even adore their names! Names like 'Sprinkled in Noon' and 'Summer Grove in Night'! These cloths are made using high quality 100% cotton fabric and backed with very soft, super absorbent bamboo/cotton towelling. They are machine washable so they are perfect for everyday use and being in a set of three means you can always have one to hand. They are listed here in my shop
Right I better go as I am off to help at my sons sports day event at their school. Apparently I am helping with the space hopper race! 
Thank goodness they no longer do a mum's race!

Sunday 1 June 2014

A Little Shop Update

My Etsy shop is closed at the moment just for a couple of days while I 'regroup'. It's the last day of the kids school break and I always try very hard to juggle entertaining them whilst still working and fulfilling orders but for some reason however hard I tried it just didn't seem possible this week! So I eventually closed up shop. 
I am up to date with all orders but have decided to remain shut whilst I settle the children back into their school/nursery routines and also to try and get some of the new items I've been working on for what feels like weeks finally finished and listed in my shop. 
I'm very excited with my new work and fabrics and can't wait to show you. 
In the meantime here is a little taster of whats to come!


Friday 9 May 2014

Lovely Flurry of Traffic!



A Crafty Hen has had an extra flurry of interest over the last couple of days and it was so lovely to find the traffic had come from here a lovely Spanish blog called Eternamente Flaneur. This lovely blogger has included three of my Storage baskets, my yellow 'Free as a Bird' baskets and also my Black and White basket in two lovely storage and nursery combination ideas. It's so nice to see people visualizing my work in this way. I just wish I could cut my images out as well as she has done!!

Friday 25 April 2014

A Huge Fabric Leap!



Possibly the most exciting parcel ever arrived this week. 
A box full of fabric. A box containing full bolts of fabric. A box full of fabric just for me!
Not only is this the largest amount of fabric I have ever bought but this is also the biggest commitment I have made so far to 'A Crafty Hen'. Usually I purchase one or two meters of fabric, make for example a baby gift set, if the item does well then I will order more of the fabric, and this method works ok most of the time. But sometimes an item can be a 'slow burner'!! It may not fly of the shelves for example, but slowly and surely after say advertising the product it may start to sell well, but this is when I often encounter problems! I go to reorder the fabric and find that it is sold out or the fabric shop has reordered it and then there is a delay, or worse still that it is no longer being printed! However much I like working with lots of different prints in small quantities, it is a lot more time consuming and really is not the most efficient way to work or to sustain a business. It takes time and effort to get traffic to your shop, to an item you have made so it makes sense once the the traffic is there to keep it coming! So I made the decision in the New Year to take more control of my fabric stock and the most sensible way to go about this was to choose a few 'key' fabrics that I can create a collection from and order these fabrics in bulk, making stock taking a whole lot easier!



And so there it was in the box! Five full bolts of organic fabric. 
Grey elephants has long been a favorite of mine which is luckily shared by many of you. The deer never stays around for very long, so I've not had the chance to play around with the fabric, and the multi coloured elephants is also a favorite. The grey spots, well that's a staple fabric! But maybe it is bolt number 5, that excites me the most, as this is organic cotton fleece. I've been searching and searching in the UK for cotton fleece and have not had any success. I use to make baby dribble bibs and the occasional baby blanket and started by backing them with fleece, which is the most common fabric to find a dribble bib backed with. But I was never that keen on the fact that the fleece was polyester. Yes sure it absorbs and wicks away moisture and dries very very quickly, but to me, and this is only my opinion, a baby's delicate skin should have the kindest and most gentlest fabrics placed next to it and for me polyester doesn't cut it. But organic cotton oh yes! And it doesn't disappoint!  It is very very soft and cosy making it not only perfect for dribble bandana style bibs but also for backing blankets. So watch this space, as they say! I am going to continue working with lots of different prints. I can't help myself! But these three key prints, the two elephants and the deer fabric will soon be available in bibs, dribble bibs, burp cloths, storage baskets and blankets and no doubt a few more items will slip in along the way, which I know will please many of you who get in contact with me asking for more of a range for your baby and nursery in these delightful fabrics.

Wednesday 2 April 2014

New Storage Baskets






Introducing my new range of storage baskets. I feel very much like I have gone full circle with these baskets as portable toy storage containers were one of the first things I started selling when I opened my first shop online. I'm not really sure why I stopped making them as they were always very popular, but somehow and somewhere down the line baby bibs took over! But now they are back! The collection ranges from baskets to match the most popular of my baby gift sets for use as storage in a baby's nursery or child's bedroom to baskets like the Glitter Gold' one and the 'Black and White Monochrome' that would not only fit into a stylish modern nursery but would also not look out of place on a dressing table, in a hall filled with post and keys to your living one. Made using a selection of cotton and linen fabrics all the baskets have a white lining and a natural linen base. They are available now to buy from my shop.

Friday 21 March 2014

On my Sewing Table.... Spring Makes




There are definite signs of Spring popping up everywhere, and its amazing how these glimpses of life give you renewed energy. Its like coming out of hibernation and where as in the house its making me want to spring clean and have a clear out, in my studio area I've been busy working, hoarding away new items, like a squirrel hoards its nuts, waiting for some light to come into the house so I can photograph these items. And yesterday finally the sunshine arrived, though it wasn't easy. I chased the sunshine from room to room, desperately trying to photograph my new stuff. My shop is looking rather bare at the moment and I can't wait to renew it. To organise it, to freshen it up. Unfortunately the sunshine disappeared rather too quickly so I didn't manage to get everything done. And quite a few of the photos I've taken I have had to rather heavily edit so I am hoping that the weather man has the forecast right and that we are in for a sunny dry spell.


I wrote the above on the 6th of March, and in fact the weather man did predict the weather correctly and we did have a lovely couple of weeks with real Spring like weather. We had sunshine and even felt some warmth! But unfortunately minutes after writing the above my laptop shut itself down and died on me!! And so that was that. 
What it did mean was without the distractions that the online community has to offer (!) I did get quite a bit of sewing done, and the sunshine did mean that I got to take quite a few photos. Though without being able to upload the photos I couldn't check the quality and I am disappointed with quite a few of them as I've unfortunately taken them on too high an exposure setting. Anyway working with the ones I've got and now that I have a new laptop, I am hoping to get my new items listed by the start of next week and hopefully then my shop will be filled with some lovely rays of Spring sunshine!

Friday 7 February 2014

On my Sewing Table




This week I've been busy working on custom orders. I've had a lot of interest from people asking me to make baby burp cloths to sell separately from the bibs, which I'm very happy to do and are hoping to place some for sale in my shop next week. Though I can't quite decide whether to sell them in pairs, in bundles of threes or as single burp cloths! Decisions decisions! I've also been busy sewing some patchwork bibs for an order. I love making this style of bib as I get to delve into my fabric stash and have great fun playing around with prints and colours. These three lucky bibs are heading of to Hong Kong but more will be popping up in my shop soon!

Friday 17 January 2014

Colour to Inspire...........

I've found myself pinning a lot of images this last week that are grey and brown. 
Influenced highly one thinks by the grey skies of January, but all the images have a hint of a muted yellow or gold, 
which helps remind me that the sunshine is on its way, I just need to be a bit patient!

Image credit Millie Marotta

Image credit Bonnie Christine - Sweet as Honey - Fly by in Night

Image credit textile designer Bec Duff

Image credit print by Eloise Renouf





Thursday 9 January 2014

Plotting!




The New Year is good for plotting.
I think the start of a new year has that affect on you. I'm not talking making resolutions that you struggle to keep, but the making of plans, ideas and dreams. 
I'm feeling the need to organise and de-clutter. I'm feeling the urge to get on top of those little jobs that never get done and finish the ones that are half started. 
And I'm really feeling the need to get making and sewing all the ideas that have been occupying my thoughts for the last few months.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Monday 9 December 2013

On my Sewing Table - New Baby Bibs








I have added a few new baby bibs to my shop, they can be found here. I am not sure now why I thought adding new stock at Christmas would be a good idea, especially as the light levels are so low at the moment which makes taking decent photos of items that bit more difficult! I have had an amazing busy few weeks, which I am so grateful for but it does mean that my shop is looking a little bare! I am now unable to replace gift sets as they sell out, so if there is something you like now could be the time to buy it!

Friday 29 November 2013

Sale Time

The countdown to Christmas is here, there really is not long to go now! To celebrate I am having a flash sale in my etsy shop . 10% off...