Free time and crafts/sewing...

[wickedxgrl]

Many of you commented about scaling back your craft stuff because of space. I am terrible at starting something and not finishing. I have some funky yarn I bought back in like the middle of October that I was going to make some falls with for a girl I worked with. I never made them. It's in a bag somewhere in my stuff. Pretty much the same story for a lot of my fabrics. Despite all the ideas and plans for it I've not taken the time to do anything with it. Often I was too busy either working or too busy goofing off.

I have sewing machine that I haven't touched in.. gosh, 2 years! Mom gave hers to David sine his was ganked by his ex gf, Jamie, when they split up. I figure I'll have plenty of time to figure out how to put it to good use and finally use up my fabrics. I really want to get into making my own clothes. Nothing fancy, just anything simple with a hippie flair to it. I belong to a yahoo group called hippiesew and a lot of the members make their own clothing and also sell what they make. I don't know that I'll ever sell anything but who knows.

Anywho, those of you that do crafts, of any sort... What do you do?


-Wicked
the wanna be hippie/gypsy

[avalen]

my crafty stuff consists of crochet, and usually it goes to somebody as a gift or I keep
it myself. I even have some little afghans I've made for the dogs, oh oh oh, I remember
one year I made a bunch of crochet capes for the dogs, I sold some to dog people I know
and each one of my dogs has one and my daughters dog and her friends dogs have one I actually had a whole lot of fun making them at work, because when someone
would ask me what I was making it was always "something for the dog" they
thought I was nuts and a bit eccentric, now they know me very well and don't think I'm
nuts anymore but all those "closet" dog lovers finally came out of the closet. Now its
quite common to come into the drivers lounge and hear hows your doggies?

[snowball]

I have stuff all over some from the past that I'm not doing on a regular basis as in making porclein dolls
crocheting afghans working on one in the truck need to start another one for nephew getting married in Aug. really need to get started on it
trying to learn to knit so have a couple of those projects laying about
learning to swedish weave but finished that project almost need to do the finishing work and then want to start another but it will have to wait till the wedding gift is done as its addicitive
at Q I took wire wrapping classes need to do something with that
oh yes embrodrary have a project started need to work on and can't forget
the babys quit that I'm working on
oh my no wonder nothing is getting done
Sheila

[Nasoosie]

I have three sewing machines....one nice new one, one from the 40s, and an old treadle one from who-knows-when. The last thing I ever sewed with any of them was a tent zipper with the old treadle one, the only one strong enough to go through canvas! I made my daughter's prom dress when she was in high school. Up next to my sewing machines is a pile of material and clothes needing mending----from about 1977 when we moved here on! I think it's time to eliminate both newer machines and all that junk in the closet up there!

I knit and crochet----but haven't had the time to make anything in years! I still have a three-quarters made christening dress for either a boy or a girl which I started when my daughter was still in the cooker------she's now 34 years old! I do wear the several winter hats I crocheted, and both my kids have a couple I made. I also have one argyle sock I began back in the 50s!!! And bags of yarn all over the place! I actually did finish a couple of baby sweaters for my kids, too.

I used to paint. I used to write. I once made a swing set for my kids out of peeled balsam trees in the back yeard. I make jewelry out of road-kill porcupine quills and beads----I still do that when the ones I have wear out or I lose them. Lately I have dabbled in electronics gadgets to make my music listening more fun. Hmmmm....a lot of nothing seems to be what I do!

[soisew]

I crochet, sew, quilt & embroider so I know about dragging stuff along...The best plan, and I failed miserably the 1st few years is to decide how much you will commit to working on and then actually do it! Next -- figue out how much space you have to store those supplies easily without digging like a gopher to get it out, use it and put it back. Also -- what will you do with your projects? If they will be gifts -- storage is covered but if you fall in love with too many for yourself -- be sure you have somewhere to put them. It's very easy to pack a whole bunch of stuff in but -- repacking and keeping from adding to it is another thing! I do believe in taking along a couple of creative projects -- just don't get carried away or you'll be hauling around stuff you won't use.

After writing this I thought,,,hmm are you full time RVers or just part time with a stick home somewhere? Yet the same rule applies...garsh ain't it awful when we collect so much stuff, yet -- that's the fun of it. Quilters call thier stuff a "stash", kinda funny!

When it comes to clothing construction -- it's so much fun to make your own clothes. I sewed for my family since I married when I was 18 and before that too -- oh ages and ages ago....I want to get back into it too -- some custom western shirts, household items, etc. The problem with that too -- if I make one item I need to ditch something else. Garsh what a choice but necessary unless the closet is empty. Anyways -- stuff you make is 200% sturdier than store bought, china made stuff and well worth the time and effort -- go for it! The hard part -- you really need a large cutting table especially for items like pants and skirts that take a lot of yardage. If you will indeed be in an RV -- that is tricky to say the least but doable! Another fun thing to do with the type of clothing you mentioned making -- take some of your old clothes and "redo" them. Altering/customizing ready made duds a lot of fun! Selling stuff is, unless you are custom making for someone or have a boutique already to take it, most of the time isn't a money maker. Where the real easy money is -- custom making to order for people but the biggest -- patterns for original designs. Especially for quilts, embroidery, clothings & craft items. If you create an original pattern for anything, copywrite it -- and find a source to sell it (through a magazine ad, quilt shop, etc.) that's where you can really find a few $.

Mostly -- just enjoy your crafts!

[AlmostThere]

I sewed all my daughter's clothes when she was little. Also when my kids were young I made allot of holiday decorations from construction paper with them. Then we moved to Alaska and the long winters cause allot of people to take up different crafts. I started with acrylic painting. I painted on gold pans and also did Russian tole painting. From there I did fur sewing. Made some mittens and mukluks then quit that craft. After that I went to quilting. Loved making the squares but hated piecing it all together. There's a knack to getting it all to align. I did cross stitch for a while. Then I bought a serger sewing machine and made my husband way too many fleece jackets. Poor guy. I bought a table top loom and tried my hand at that. Also learned to do granny squares and made a bunch of crocheted afghans. I also like musical instruments (mastered none), so had a piano, keyboard, auto harp, recorder and harmonica. The last craft I did was rubber stamping. It was allot of fun. I didn't get as far as doing scrap booking. It just never interested me. Mostly I made greeting cards.
After the divorce I sold all the music instruments, the serger, all my stamp and painting stuff. All I have left is my sewing machine. I've thought of taking up beading but still haven't convinced myself on it.
All my thoughts this past year has been on trying to figure out how to go RVing. I want that to be my next hobby!

[wickedxgrl]

Thank you all for your replies and wonderful tips!!! I know I will pare down eventually. The bulk of it is fabric. Mom says I can't buy any more till I use up what I've got. Some of will be used for clothes, not sure on the rest. Will figure it out when I get time to re-sort it all, lol. My main goal is to make clothing; skirts, tops, maybe a dress or two. Want to try my hand at making some ponchos and/or shawls. May try making some patchy pants or shorts.

I will eventually use my fabric up. I will probably make some things and give them away. I've picked out fabrics to make small bags for all of my different tumbled stones. I may make some and give them away as gifts.

Personally, I'm not into quilting, knitting or crochet. I doubt I'd have the patience to make any sort of blanket unless it was a small throw type.

If I decide to sell anything it would probably be on etsy but that won't be for a good while.

~Wicked

[OutandAbout]

Wicked, nice topic.'

I started out learning to knit and crochet and also macrame as a teenager. I found the knitting to be too slow, but made some scarfs and a few throws. I have made a number of afghans, the granny square ones, not near as nice as your ladies. You've got talent.!!! I also learned to make baskets. Appalachian egg baskets and did sell them at craft fairs for a couple of years, until the imports took over. I just could not compete with the imports. I made a lot of christmas ornaments too. I am now trying my hand at painting and hopefully carving gourds. I went to a gourd festival and I am hooked. they can be painted, stained, dyed, carved, burned (wood burning), etc. I can also combine beading, basketry and painting with the gourds, oh what fun. I worked at a Michael's Craft Stores for about 1 1/2 years. Boy did I get a lot of stuff to try. The store manager gave us the damaged packaged goods instead of throwing it away. I'm glad I have teacher friends to give stuff to for their classes. I like to think I started a lot of kids crafting.

Linda

[AlmostThere]

Oh, Lord! I forgot about the macrame era! Did a slew of those, too!
Oh, and now Jenny reminded me that I did a college course in photography. Had my own darkroom, too.

[bluepinecones]

At one time I did a lot of crafting; so much so that I was one of the founders of the North East Al Craftsmen Assn. back in the early '70s. The organization is still going strong http://www.neaca.org but I dropped out years ago. One of my favorites was macrame; won several awards with many of my designs - everything from silk evening bags to a wicked little old witch. It really doesn't matter which craft(s) you choose as long as you enjoy doing them.

[SeeyaGal]

When I lived in the stick house and did not use the computer I did alot of ceramics and Beginning Tole painting on wood. Now that we live in the MH I switched to Photography and all my crafts sit in the cupboard because I'm either taking photo's or on the puter!! Need to limit my time on the puter LOL. I also love gardening which I hated to give up when we hit the road but since buying the property in Yuma AZ I have a desert garden now and love it. I'm a bird watcher so I love to photograph birds or any critters.
Next year I want to learn how to sew.