Sewing for a newborn

I am in week 40+5...that's right, that is 5 days past due date. I guess the first lesson of parenting is here to hammer its point: it's no longer about you. The only thing you can do now is wait.

So I breath in, breath out, eat a cookie and try to arm myself in zen-level patience.

Meanwhile, here are my sewing projects made in the last couple of months.

Baby nest

Baby nest is a baby mattress that can be made into a little crib. It's a portable bed to use in an actual baby bed, crib or on a couch. I cannot say if it's practical or not just yet but it looks very cozy and is really easy to make.

I made mine with a thick furniture fabric on the bottom to make sure it will last long without fraying and a cotton fabric on top to make it nice and soft. The one thing I learned is that you shouldn't over-stuff the sides because they will be impossible to "close-up" if they are too hard.

There are many tutorials online but the one that I used was this one: http://www.jaggedrose.se/blog/2014/11/scandi-baby-nest-tutorialsew-along-fabrics-supplies/

Harem pants

The second project, I've been busy with is sawing harem pants for the little guy.

I should start by saying that I am not a fan of color-coding your child or worse, dressing your baby as if it was an adult.
There is absolutely no reason on this Earth to dress your boy exclusively in blue and your girl exclusively in pink. And dressing a baby in minimized teenager outfit is creepy.

Children should be surrounded by vivid colors and whimsical characters but in Denmark buying clothes for children is really hard. Everything is in washed off pastel colors, color-coded or way too adult for a baby or toddler. I mean in what universe is this fine for a 2 year old? A halterneck top in size 92!?

Obviously, I am exeagerating a bit and if you look around you can find better choices. Especially for boys. But the problem is that you actually have to work for it, to dress your child like a child!

This is why I am really excited to pick out my own fabrics and sew for my little one. Obviously, I won't be able to make all of his outfits. Both the time required and the costs would be astronomical. But at least I can add a couple of very happy items to his collection.

The harem pants are quick and easy to make (can you spot the theme here - remember, I am still a beginner) and they look adorable. I used this tutorial and the only detail I changed was the width of the stretch fabric. You can figure out yourself, what works best for you. I am planning to make a couple more pants when the baby arrives and I know the exact size, I should go for.

Sew Simple Christmas Wrapping

The first #Christmas gift packed in a #sawn #reusable #fabric packaging #handmade #sewing #christmascraft #handmadeChristmas

Et billede slået op af Maria Lind (@mariafurya) den 22. Nov 2015 kl. 3:34 PST

This year, my Christmas crafts are pretty limitted. It is mostly because we're visiting my family and so there is no Christmas tree and much Christmas decorations this year. But also, I am going a little bit crazy with sewing and knitting project for our bundle of joy coming in March. There will be a whole other post about sewing for our future baby but for now, you can have a quick look over here.

There is however one Christmas project that I jumped into and that is reusable wrapping for the gifts.

I am not the most environment-conscious person ever but there are many small things I like to do in my life to make our everyday life a bit more ecological and a bit less wastefull. My husband is vegetarian and I eat little meat, we compost our organic waste and try to plan our dinners and freeze leftovers so that we don't throw away food.

So this little project just felt like a great idea. Fabric wrapping is super easy so it's a great beginner's project. It looks lovely and gives your Christmas gifts that extra personal touch. And of course, the wrapping can be reused and so it keeps your holidays a bit more environment-friendly.

Instructions

So here is what you do:

• Measure the height and width of your gift. Remember to add the depth of the gift to both height and width if it is of any significance.
• Add 5 cm to the height and 2 cm to the width of the gift to figure out the measuremants of the frabric piece, you're going to need. Remember that you will have to cut double the height. The extra 5 cm are used making tube for the ribbon and leaving space for gathering the sack. The extra 2 cm are for seam allowance (see the pattern below).  

Christmas wrapping pattern

Et billede slået op af Maria Lind (@mariafurya) den 5. Dec 2015 kl. 7:32 PST

• Cut the piece of fabric, fold it evenly, right side in and sew them together along the long edges, on the 1cm seam allowence mark.
• Cut about 4 cm of the fabric on the outside of the seam from the top of the wrapping. This will allow you to wrap the top of the fabric to the outside, producing the ribbon tube. You can decide yourself, how broad the tube needs to be. It will depend on the size of the ribbon you want to use. I am folding about 3 cm and sewing 1 cm from the edge to leave 2 cm tube.
• Sew a seam all around the tube, fastening it's outer edge to the fabric.
• Turn the sack right side out and cut the tube in the middle of one side making and opening for the ribbon. Make sure you don't cut the bottom seam though!
• Use a safety pin to pull the ribbon through the tube.
• Et voila! The wrapping is ready.

This is the simplest possible wrapping type, the sack. If you are feeling brave you can look for other types like this lovely bottle package.

Enjoy your crafting and have yourself a Merry Christmas!

Christmas wrapping

Et billede slået op af Maria Lind (@mariafurya) den 5. Dec 2015 kl. 7:28 PST

Carnival Collection 2011 - Giveaway

First of all, Happy New Year everyone. May 2011 be everything you hope for and even more. May all your wishes be fulfilled and may new great opportunities present themselves to you.

Since I've been slacking a little bit with my blogging (or more correctly, since I've been rather busy studying) I thought it might be a good idea to kick off this new year of blogging with a little give away. Don't we all like that?

The photos in this post come from my new earrings collection: Carnival 2011. They will be available from my Etsy shop after the 15th of January. But before that you have a unique chance to win a pair of black beauties of your choosing. All you have to do is:

1. Go to LifeCreative page on facebook and become a fan (if you aren't one already)

2. "Like" the photo of the earrings from Carnival Collection 2011 you would like to win

3. Check back on January 15th to see if you were lucky

Etsy Treasury

Tonight something for you, Ladies. I made etsy treasury sporting colorful, fancy, imaginative and one-of-a-kind polymer clay rings.

Leave comments and let me know which ring you like the most.

Hooked on Earrings

Have a look at a few earring pieces I've been working on. The biggest challenge in this project was the wirework. Turns out it is not at all easy to bend the wire for loops. It has to look aesthetic and be identical for both earrings. Big respect for all the smiths out there and maybe someone would like to take an apprentice?
Meanwhile, have a look at my earrings. I especially love the blue ones, but the pink ones are also cute (only the color is less aggressive and more rosy in reality).

Polymer Clay: Working the Cane

My experience with polymer clay is advancing. I have to say I enjoy very much working with this medium. It is flexible, colorful and the effect of your work is almost immediate.
But it can also be a bit frustrating. When you look at clay items on the Internet and read the descriptions it all sounds so simple. But once you start working on it yourself it turns out that, even though the method is simple, you need a skill to perform it. Well, whatdayaknow...

Anyway, I struggle especially with cane making. It is one of the basic techniques of polymer clay. The simple idea is that you wrap layers of polymer clay sheets. Reduce the cane by pressing it from the middle out and than cut thin slices to use in your work. Again sounds simpler than it really is. The reduction can distort the image and the cutting can easily change the shape of the slice. But practice makes master and I shell not give up! Here comes a few points about what I learned so far:

1. To cut thin and well shaped slices you need a really good blade. A modeling knife is too thick and other thinner pieces of metal will not be sharp enough. Have a look at ebay and get yourself a proper polymer clay blade (cost: around 5 pounds/$7.20/6 euros)

2. Make sure that each layer of clay is thick before reduction. Otherwise it will become so thin, once you reduce the cane, that it will blend in with the others.

3. It is easier to reduce the cane when clay is still warm. But it is easier to cut thin slices one the cane cools down (an idea: put the cane to the fridge to cool it down quickly).

4. Black looks good as a divider between colors in the cane. However black Fimo Soft smudges a lot when cut. Very annoying.

Below is one of my first cane projects:

Doilies Galore

I love making doilies. The repetitive work that leads to development of regular pattern, visible only at the end of work, has something zen-like to it. I always think about them as mandalas of crochet art. Unfortunately they don't fit my house decor so I lack reasons to make them. And that is why I was so happy recently when I got an order for a few doilies.

So let me brag about a few finished and unfinished projects:

Spring Paper Project

Spring has been shy so far in this parts. Despite a few really sunny days at the beginning of the month and the temperature steadily rising it is still very grey outside. So, one of the evening me and Mr. P had a nice, crafting session and came up with this lovely origami cranes to put in the windows.



Now we have a nice flock of blue, green and yellow birdies, flying together around the apartment. The day feels brighter right away.


Most of the cranes are hanging in the window. But I am also thinking about bringing some young willow branches from the nearby forest and making more colorful origami decorations to hung on them.

What do you think about it? Do you like to decorate your house? Is origami your thing?

How-To: Setting the Price

After struggling with price setting for my scarf (see this post), I decided to do some research. It turns out, unsurprisingly, that pricing craft and art items proves to be difficult for many people out there. We worry that the price is too high while it is often too low. We disappoint ourselves by not charging the price, we feel is appropriate. And very often, we simply have no idea how to reach a reasonable price.

Below are some tips and useful tools collected from all over the craft sphere. I know they helped me and I hope they will help you too.

1. Arriving at reasonable price

Now, this may seem like a taunting exercise, but it is in fact a simple mathematical equation.

Item cost = cost of supplies + (hours x your hourly wage) + selling fees

cost of supplies – this is self explanatory, but you have to remember to consider all materials you used to create this piece.

hours – this not only includes the time you spent working on a piece, but also procuring supplies, taking and editing photos and posting items on the Internet.

hourly wage – this vary depending on your country of origin and how much you would like to earn. I think it is not a bad idea to start with 1,5 x minimum hourly wage of your country and then adjust according to the price your competitors use.

selling fees – this are costs of etsy or artfire postings + postage supplies

Item value/price = item cost + profit margin

profit margin – how much you would like to earn on this piece. How valuable you think it is. Some people suggest you should triple the item cost or charge as much as the market will bear (i.e. as much as people are willing to pay) but I think it is a much better practice to add the value you think is appropriate. I find it better to charge the lowest price I can bear. But don't undersell yourself. Charge what you think your creativity and skill is worth.

2. Reality check

To make sure that your price isn't completely unreasonable, compare it with your competitors' prices. To identify your competitors, check other crafters in your category. And remember, mainstream manufacturers are not your competition. You create one-of-a-kind pieces of art and they make uniform items. Their price will often be lower but it should not concern you, because you create in a different category.

3. Too high, too low

Now that you checked competition, consider revising your price. While doing so, remember that too high prices may discourage your shoppers (especially, if you cater to students and young people) but too low prices will almost certainly cause suspicion. Customers will often overlook low priced items assuming that the quality is also low.

It is a good idea to have a wide range of prices so that each of your prospective customers can choose something affordable. At the same time you will give them a chance to try your products out, before they are ready to spend the big bucks.

4. Useful resources

For more information on pricing check out this few exercises from Etsy. Use rolbe etsy calculator to calculate the price, using the cost indicators. And check out this website for postage costs.

And btw., the great photo on top of the page was taken by DCvision2006

2010 LifeCreative Jewellery Collection

I thought I might give you a sneak peek into the crochet jewellery collection I've been working on from the beginning of the year.

I'm having a lot of fun with this project. I really enjoy the process of crocheting and then starching the pieces to achieve the desired form. The items will be for sale in my etsy shop at the end of February! Or earlier if I can't wait any longer :)

You can see more photos here and here.

What Goes Around Comes Around...

I hope that your Christmas were as lovely as mine were. Have a look below to see some of the handmade gifts that I made for my family and friends and handmade and handmade-related presents that waited for me under the tree.

What goes around...
1. Crochet doilies, 2. Snowflake, 3. Bracelets, 4. Gloves, 5. Crochet hat, 6. Snowflake, 7. snowflakes, 8. Crochet hat with a snowflake


















...comes around.
1. Shot Glasses from Etsy, 2. Jewellery Set from Etsy, 3. Books, 4. Photos from Bieszczady, 5. Fused Glass Plater, 6. Supplies

Buy Handmade Pledge

I pledge that this Christmas all the gifts I give will be handmade. I will make as many of them as I can myself. The ones I cannot make myself, I will buy from independent artists and crafters.

I will also ask for handmade gifts from my family and friends.

If you want to ensure that handmade market is alive and kicking, do the same. Go to http://buyhandmade.org, sign the pledge and post the pledge banner on you website.