Friday 16 March 2012

Almost finished item

It's been a long time coming, but the Coraline cardigan is almost finished! You can see my first post on it back in January 2011, and susequent work in progress posts in February (the body) and March (the sleeves). According to my Ravelry though, I first bought this pattern and wool back in October 2010! That's a long time coming indeed!

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Well, it is currently blocking on my kitchen floor, though I'm getting impatient so I'm going to move it through to Tron's room, where it's a balmy 20 degrees C. I'm a bit worried that the wet towel will damage the wood floorboards, so some technical jiggery pokery involving bin bags might be in order. I want it to be ready this weekend so Andrew can take a photo of me wearing it so I can show it off to the world! In Ysolda's version she buttons it at the top but personally I think that looks a bit silly on me so I'm going to do one button just below the bust. People with little boobs need to do all they can to enhance and show them off, know what I'm sayin'?

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By the by, this is what happens when you soak New Lanark wool in your white bathroom skin. Thank goodness it washed off, we might be moving over the summer and Andrew would not be pleased with me if I lost us the deposit by staining the sink. I've already stained the wood floor in the lounge when I attempted to make elderberry wine...

In other news, I'm in the process of shutting down my Etsy shop. As I've already discussed on here, I've not got the time or inclination to dedicate to the shop at the moment and once I (hopefully) graduate and (hopefully) get a job I'll be wanting to spend my free time crafting and thrifting for me and my friends and family, rather than for the shop. It's been fun over the last few years and has made me a fair few pennies for treats while I've been a student but I feel like it's naturally run its course. I wouldn't rule out doing it again in the future (with a proper camera this time!) but for the moment it's going to Etsy heaven. I've already deleted the facebook and twitter accounts, sold Veronica and in the process of ebaying the last items from the shop so soon it will be no more. If anyone of my 'real life' friends fancies anything from the shop, just have a looksie and let me know. Some of it I'll happily just give you, some I might be keeping myself, others I might want a few pounds for to cover my costs but either way, it'll be a bargain for you!

4 comments:

M-J said...

wow, love the colour of the cardigan. Good effort! Re the shop, it's sad that you're shutting down, I'm STILL debating whether it's worth the effort for me to start up a shop! If nobody wants your fabric bundles, I'll take them (though that might be cheeky since I gave them to you before, but now I've started sewing, it would be good to have something to practice on!) xx

Unknown said...

Of course you can have the fabric bundles, you gave them to me in the first place after all! I have a load of felt that I'm passing on as well, some of it is going to a friend down south but you're welcome to some too if you need/want any felt?
I think the thing I found with Etsy is that for me, it became more of a chore than a hobby so it wasn't worth continuing. The time involved with sewing or knitting something or the time spent shopping for vintage was time I'd rather spend sewing, knitting or shopping for me! It seems from your blog though that you're already making stock for a shop, if you enjoy making stuff to sell then I say go for it, it's super fun when someone buys something off you and the extra paypal funds have been really nice! Plus, if you're thinking of giving up work to have babies in the future, it's the kind of thing you could build up for that time, so you can work for yourself and still make some money! xx

M-J said...

ooh, I wouldn't say no to some felt either! Thanks Amy!
I'd built up a bit of stock and was kinda getting ready to launch my shop, but then took my cards down to the parents at the weekend to see what they thought, and between my mum, sister and grandpa, I sold 20 to them! So stocks are a bit low again! I only charged them £1.50 per card, but would need to be looking at a lot more if I were to open a shop, as it's OK to give them away cheap to family, but it's not the same if I sell them to strangers. So I'll need to have a think about the designs that they liked and build more on them.

Unknown said...

Awesome, I'll make you up a little fabric bag to bring to the Conservation reunion!

That's awesome about selling your cards, I think if friends and family are prepared to pay money for them then that's a really good sign! Have you looked on Etsy to see how much other people are charging for similar cards? The nice thing about selling cards is your postage costs will be low, posting to America or Australia can be super pricey if you're selling bulky clothing! I found I made way more sales once my stock had gone over 50, if I was going to open a shop I'd definitely aim to open with at least 50 items, I think it makes you much easier to find in the searches people do. Very exciting though!