What you can get at the thrift store...

I have had some lucky finds at the local thrift stores this summer and I promised my sister that I would post some of my finds.  So Holly, this is for you!  Drum roll please....
For two dollars I purchased all of this embroidery floss...watch out Joanns.

I love the vibrant colors.

Another recent find was a 2 1/2 yard length of vintage fabric for one dollar...we'll see when I get the courage up to cut into it.  As I try to muster up enough courage to cut it I wonder if that was how the original owner of this fabric felt and maybe that is why it is still one long piece of fabric.  That seems tragic to me, I will repeat my Mother's mantra..."just cut the fabric, just cut the fabric."

For me shopping at a thrift store is not only economical but its a small act of defiance against our misuse of resources on this earth.  I am always overwhelmed by the sheer volume of clothes (and a lot of them are gently worn) that overflow the thrift stores.  I can't help but wonder why then do we (myself included) feel the drive to purchase something brand new and support the pointless overuse of all the world's resources?  Haven't figured it (or myself) out yet but I am trying to think about it with more and more of the purchases that I make.  Anyway...Happy Thrifting in the meantime.

Craft Expo this weekend.

This weekend will be the second craft fair I have done this fall.  A friend of mine and I combine our forces to make a booth of handmade, hand sewn objects that are a labor of love.  I am trying to figure out what makes my hand sewn objects unique and what exactly I love to sew.  I have loved using this preparation time for the fair as a time to experiment.  Its a great chance for me to try out something and think, "whats the risk?  I can try to sell it or maybe someone gets it for Christmas."  Selling my crafts is so new to me that I feel free to dabble but here are some things I've figured out for sure about creating items for sale.
1.) I love, love, love to sew with vintage textiles (although I'm not sure if people love, love, love to buy them?)
2.) I have to change it up a bit every now and then or I get bored (change from sewing to hand embroidery, change from sewing bags to sewing aprons, change from one fabric to a new one). I usually have three, maybe four projects going at once.
3.) It is definitely a labor of love and you will probably not be able to charge someone a price that is equivalent to the love you put into the item.  You have to love (and enjoy) what you are doing or it won't be worth it.
4.) The devil is in the details, I loathe some of the little details, its something my sister seems to excel at, however for me it takes a force of nature and caffeine to finish the details.

So far these are the things I am learning about making handmade objects to sell.  I know there is more to add to this list so it will probably grow later.  For now here are some of the make-up bags that I will be selling this weekend.