Category: Uncategorized

My Etsy learning curve

January 5, 2012

Well, I finally took the plunge.  My Etsy store is officially up and running.  I have  five items listed…woo-hoo!

Come visit my Etsy shop!  Simply click on the logo to visit.

(Never mind this was on LAST year’s to-do list!)

More will be listed shortly, but my camera battery needs to recharge.

Surprisingly, taking good photos and setting my prices proved to be the biggest hurdles. Other than the jar of buttons, all of the other items listed so far were part of the “gift” my neighbor left me when she moved. I have finally culled through all of the boxes and donated everything I didn’t think I could use or sell.  I paid a friend’s daughter to photograph/scan the vintage patterns that will be listed shortly.  They will probably go for $5 a pop, unless it’s a Vogue Designer Original with the label or a wedding dress pattern.  Valuing stuff I couldn’t currently find listed on Etsy took a little more sleuthing.

My pricing objective are to be fair, competitive and offer a good value to potential shoppers. I hope the pricing part will get easier as I get a little more experience under my belt.  I know it definitely did when it came to pricing t-shirt quilts.

School Spirit Banners

January 4, 2012

Ever tried to find instructions on how to make a school spirit banner?  Huh?

I co-sponsor the reading bowl team at my school.  The academic coach (who has a lot more faith in my sewing abilities than I do sometimes) asked me to make the banner our Radical Readers will carry as they march in to the arena at the beginning of the book battle competition – sort of like the Parade of Nations at the Olympics.

We knew we wanted one mounted on a pole and made from fabric in the school colors.  The first question to answer was, “How big should it be?”.  I know you are dying to know the answer.

For your information and edification, here are the most common school banner sizes:

Marching band banners (used in parades, etc.) – 3′ x 8′ or 3′ x 10′

School banners – 3′ x 5′ or 3′ x 6′ or 3′ x 7′   (3′ x 6′ seems to be the standard size for banner contests)

For our project, I’m making a 3′ x 6′ banner out of a bottom weight poly/cotton fabric.  It will be lined with a thin layer of quilt batting.  I’m also allowing for a 3″ casing to hold the hanging hardware (a dowel rod from HD, most likely).

Once the coach gives me the wording and we decide on the color scheme (school colors are green, white and black), I can move forward with our project.  We need high contrast to read the sign from a distance, so it’ll either be white on a green or black background or green/black on a white background.  I’ll let her make that determination.

Will post pics and a tutorial when completed.