Making it up

This is my primary workspace, outside of my desk. It's our kitchen table, theoritically seats 4 when it's not covered in my sewing stuff and also isn't in our tiny war-time house kitchen. (We can't open the apartment-sized oven if someone's sitting at the table. That's how small our kitchen is.)

Yes, it's disorganized. Some would say mess. Others would say, 'Oh, wow. That's a disaster'. I seem to work best when my workspace looks like this. Can I find everything I need at the drop of a hat? Heck, no, but I can't do that when it's nice and tidy, so what's the difference.

I also clear everything off the table every 2 weeks to make bread. It's quite the challenge when you have no storage space, except under the table itself. That's something I'm going to have to rectify soon because there's a furnace vent that is on the verge of being covered and in a house with crap for insulation, we need all the vents to be as clear as possible.

But back to my work. That tote bag is the first piece I've made that wasn't done for a craft show in a month. And I love it. The lining, the duck cotton exterior, the eco-felt flower that I embroidered on the outside... it's the perfect tote for any occasion. I'm hoping to have it listed in my Cargoh shop by the end of the week. First, though, I need to build a light tent.

I've been trying to come up with designs for a few new pieces lately that (a) are within my skill range; and (b) within my price range. We've got some pretty amazing thrift shops here, as I've mentioned before, and there have been some pretty killer finds beyond the scarves I wrote about before.

Like these. Lovely pieces of soft corduroy, beautiful wools and whatever-the-blue-plaid-is (I think it's a cotton/wool blend)... I'm excited to be moving beyond cottons, especially into wools. I have a lot of it, all in suitweights and all in dark hues, but I'm trying to be as stingy with it as possible right now. It's too nice to just hack up for any project under the sun or cut for something I never intend to make. Right now, I've cut a few pieces to use in a iPod/iPhone sleeve design I've come up with.

Progress is being made. Decisions are being made. Pieces are being made. I want to have as much as I can in place for October 1 - what is essentially going to be the beginning of holiday shopping for me and my shops - but I don't want to be making things for the sake of making them to sell. Quality in my work - and workmanship - is something I need to focus on right now. And I think it'll show in the pieces I've got planned.