A Brief Taste Of Spring

I finally ventured into the garden today, encouraged by the Spring sunshine and mild weather to tidy up a bit before the next bout of cold weather, due to hit us at the weekend. I was accompanied throughout by a very cute, chirpy robin - who declined to be photographed - hopping from tree to fence and following me around quite happily.

My garden always looks a mess after the winter months - littered with pine needles and cones from the monster tree in the corner that I can't get rid of, they cling to everything and get into all the corners and are a nightmare to collect up. The grass is long but too wet to cut, so the cones are hidden, just waiting for the lawnmower to find them and spit them out in bits. One of the local cats seems to prefer using the grass as a toilet, instead of the dirt, so I have to tread carefully to avoid the little piles of poo, as well as copious amounts of bird droppings from the aforementioned tree! It's not a pleasant prospect getting it back into shape at this time of year, but it does always look better for it.

Today was just the initial tidy-up, the main work will have to wait until it dries out a bit - the grass is actually water-logged in places, it's been that wet recently, and at least one shrub has succumbed to the cold weather (or maybe I killed it off!). Now that I've started, I actually can't wait to get going on it properly, so let's hope the weather warms up again soon.

Wednesday Walk

It was a bright, breezy walk along the seafront today. The sea was a bit choppy, and not too many people about, but much milder than of late. I'm trying to walk more often again, now the days are getting longer, so Wednesday Walks might be a good way to ensure I get at least one decent walk each week. I also need to break in my walking boots again before my walking holiday next month to Northern Cyprus - or rather, to harden my feet after the winter months!

The only problem with all that walking and fresh air is that it gives me an appetite...for all the bad foods! Today I succumbed to a packet of liquorice allsorts and some ginger biscuits.......

Monday Morning, MOT and Making

It's dull and wet here today, with a pretty miserable day forecast weather-wise. It's also the day my car has to face another MOT.......so I can't go far, and probably won't want to anyway! A perfect day to listen to the radio and get on with some making and photo-editing.

Today's making list includes indigo-dyed planner covers, and I'm thinking of doing some passport covers to use up some of the smaller pieces of fabric, and maybe a few more needlecases & pincushions. I won't get them all done today, but I like to have a few ideas in place.

It's a shame it's too wet to get out into the garden, it's in desperate need of a tidy up after the winter, but there are some signs of spring - the daffs are out, the camellia has been flowering for a while now, and birds are hopping around looking for worms - all good signs!

Bad news on the MOT...it failed! New headlight units needed (not a surprise, they're very cloudy and I was warned about them last year); number plate light not working (that's ok); anti-roll bar link, something to do with the suspension (no idea really!); and advised to have 3 new tyres fitted, as they're quite worn. Well, that's a bit more than I'd hoped, but it's an old car and not unexpected. Hopefully, it will keep it on the road for a while longer and - as the man at the garage said - it's cheaper than replacing it!

Back to the 'making' then, and hopefully a few sales to help pay for the car.

Making Memories 2

Here's another one from my pattern archive, this time from the 1980s (note the big shoulders!). I don't recall the exact year I made it, but I do remember very clearly wearing this outfit to work, it was a real favourite.

I made the slim skirt in a black crepe fabric, fully lined. It was mid-calf, like the one on the left. The long sleeved top was in a golden-yellow and black houndstooth check fabric, a soft brushed cotton or cotton blend, with black buttons. The top has a fitted band around the waist, with the upper blouson part and lower peplum both pleated into it, and slanted pockets in the peplum. With my black heels, it really looked the business.

Of course, being the 80s, I accessorised it with a chunky necklace, huge clip-on earrings, and big hair!

Taking Product Photos

One of the most challenging aspects of selling online - for me anyway - is getting the photos right. I'm fairly comfortable with camera settings and composition and I've taken hundreds of photos of views, sunsets and people...but I still struggle with product photography.

There's no doubt a good photo can really help to sell a product, and a bad photo can definitely put buyers off. So it makes sense to take a bit of time and effort to get the best photos you can when selling online.

An expensive camera is not essential - you can get perfectly good photos with a small compact camera or even a phone camera, but you'll probably need to edit them with Photoshop or other photo-editing software to get great photos.

I'd say my product photos are generally ok, but I'm never truly happy with them and, like most people, I'm continually trying to improve them. I currently use a compact Lumix camera for most of my photos, and I prefer to take shots against a plain white background. I find this gives a cleaner look, and allows me to get more accurate colours.

I use a couple of large sheets of white mountboard - one on the floor and one behind the object - and position them to catch as much daylight as possible without any direct sunlight hitting them. For me, that means in front of my living room windows, on a bright but slightly overcast day. Direct sun means deep shadows, which I want to avoid, so I wait until the sun goes behind a cloud, or move away from the windows slightly.

If you're not comfortable using your camera's manual settings, leave it on 'auto' mode, but turn off the flash. I never use flash for my photos, as it drains out the colours and creates an unnatural look. It's much better to add brightness later if you need to.

I take lots of photos, from different angles, to capture all the details of the product. I don't use a tripod, as I find that too restricting, but I'm careful to keep the camera as steady as possible, and I take my time setting up the shots. I can use this simple set-up for most of my products, with the exception of my silk scarves and some of my larger bags.

I love the idea of using 'lifestyle' shots to show a product in use, but it's not really an option for me. My house doesn't even vaguely resemble something out of Ideal Home magazine, and I don't have many blank, white walls, interesting corners or bare wooden floors to give me that trendy, chic showhome look. Nor do I have space to set up a permanent 'studio' just for photography - although that would be nice. (Maybe if I cleared the garage.........?)

Some products, such as bags and scarves, look great photographed on a 'live' model, but I don't have one of those available either, so I have to be a bit less ambitious and settle for a dressmaker's dummy, a chair or a handy hook instead! Sometimes you just have to get a bit creative.

Anyway, once all the photos have been taken, I load them onto my laptop for editing. I have a very old version of Photoshop Elements that does pretty much everything I need it to do and not much more, which is fine. So, I crop, I straighten if necessary, I lighten the shadows and brighten it a bit, add a bit of contrast, get rid of any colour cast, check the colours look reasonably accurate, and save the edited copy. Then I reduce the size to 1000 pixels width for faster uploading. And that's it. Repeat for about 10-15 photos per item, and you can imagine how long the whole process takes when photographing a batch of products.

I'm off now to take some photos!

Craft Fairs in March/April 2018

I made a decision not to do any craft fairs this year, to take a break and concentrate on making and selling online.

I'll still be visiting a few though, to check them out as possible venues for the future and to review them on here. I'll be reviewing them as both a potential seller and customer, looking at the venue, facilities, number of stands, customer numbers and demographic, quality and diversity of crafts, whether goods are handmade or not, and the general atmosphere of the event.

The first one I plan to visit is the Contemporary Textiles Fair at Landmark Arts Centre in Teddington. It starts on Friday 16th March, open in the evening from 6-8.30pm, and 10-5 Saturday & Sunday 17th/18th March.

"The Contemporary Textiles Fair 2018 brings you over 70 stands featuring the best contemporary textiles in the UK. This annual event is almost unique in its focus on textile artists and makers, unencumbered by suppliers and other craft disciplines. Our exhibitors show and sell a vast range of contemporary textiles, from needle-felted wool portraiture, to silk-knitted garments, stitched mixed media canvases, to geometric weaving."

 I've thought about selling at this event for the past couple of years, but wasn't sure whether it would work for me or not, so it will be interesting to see what it's like.



Other events in March/April that I've sold at previously, and might do again, are the Lancing College Craft Show on Saturday & Sunday 7th/8th April and the Farmers & Makers' Fair at Architectural Plants, near Pulborough, on Saturday 31st March.

Both of these are 'handmade-only' events, so there shouldn't be anything bought-in or mass-produced, and sellers/goods are carefully curated and checked by the organisers when booking.

I've sold at Lancing College for a few years, mainly at the October Craft Shows, and really enjoy it there. It's well-organised, friendly and usually quite busy. It's certainly one that I'd consider doing again.

Architectural Plants started their Farmers & Makers' Fairs last year, with the first one in September 2017. I had a stand there and did very well. It was busy, with a good visitor demographic, and had obviously been well-advertised. They followed up with a Christmas Fair in December, which I didn't go to, and they have three more fairs planned for 2018. I hope to visit at least one of them to see how they're doing now, and whether they're still as well-attended as the first one.

Making Memories 1

Patterns are something I have far too many of - both sewing and knitting patterns.

For many years I made my own clothes and built up a huge collection of sewing patterns - from 1970s Style and Simplicity ones, to 1980s and 1990s Butterick and Vogue Designer ones (I was able to afford them back then!). I made hundreds of dresses, jackets, skirts, blouses, trousers and tops...even a few coats and bridesmaid's dresses. I did get rid of a box of patterns when I moved house - older ones, in smaller sizes that I knew I'd never use again - but I always regretted not keeping the envelopes, or at least photos of the envelopes, so I could recall the many outfits I made.

I also gave away most of the clothes I made over the years - I had far too many in my wardrobe - and often wonder what became of them. I kept a few items, special ones, but most have long gone. Every now and then I see a vintage pattern for sale online that I used to have, so I take a copy of the image and save it in a special file. I still have a few scraps of fabrics that I used as well, so I'm keeping small pieces - I plan to start a scrapbook, with the patterns and fabric scraps, to remind me of all the clothes I made over the years. I've also unearthed a few photos of me wearing items I made, although there aren't many, so I'll include those too.

This is one of the earliest dresses I remember sewing. I made the maxi version to wear to my cousin's wedding in 1970 - it was in a deep royal blue and white and I loved it! I can still recall tacking the massive frills onto the bottom of the dress the night before the wedding, with my Mum's help. We always left it a bit late to make our outfits, but always managed to complete them just in time! I also remember the blue platform shoes with chunky heels I wore with it...so stylish!