Happy Shopping

Long before the advent of the 5p plastic bag charge I started making Happy Shopper bags out of beautiful barkcloth and vintage cottons. 

I made my first one six years ago now and then sent it off to it's delighted new owner. Many more bags have been sent hither and thither over the years. 

A couple of months ago I fired up my machine to start making Happy Shoppers again.  I was thrilled to hear from a lady in Australia who wanted to buy another one to add to her first which is still going strong and being adored. It was wonderful as a maker to know that something I've made and sold is still used and loved. Handmade goods have a part of the maker in them. A lot of love and thought goes into the making of each item, so it's unavoidable. To know they bring a bit of sunshine to someone else is a very good thing to hear. 

The hardest part of making these bags has been adding to my stash to ensure I've got a steady supply of beautiful fabrics to use. 

How awful it is searching markets and online for beautiful fabrics. Ah well, someone has to do it don't they!

The other very difficult bit is sharing it, but that's why I buy a lot of what I do. I choose fabrics that catch my eye that I know I will love working with and that will be loved by their new owners when they become a new thing.

Our new home is up and running so I've commandeered the dining room as my workspace. 

At present I'm between jobs and suddenly Bobo Bun is coming back to life as a small business once more. Rather than completely planning it, it just happened to me once I think all the business of the past year or so had been boxed away. I have lots of plans and am busy beavering away on all sorts of things. All the same I think I shall have to find a part-time teaching job eventually, but for now I'm trying to use my time to make what I love work for me. 

Working from home means I'm also here if my man stops by with a delivery for me. Funny that I was working on red rose fabric at the same time. Serendipity.

Once I've cut and stitched together the main bag, there's the serious business of choosing the perfect spotty lining and stitching together my labels.

I love each part of making these bags as I'm surrounded daily in a sea of colour and textile history.

I've even been adding to my vintage towelling collection so I can offer some Happy Shoppers in these too. After all they're not just for shopping, but for days out, taking crafty things and work stuff here and there too.

Alongside the Happy Shoppers that I make and sell through instagram, I've also received a few commissions for  bags in favoured fabrics. 

This one was for a surprise gift which I duly posted off. 

I was really pleased to hear this morning that it is loved.

Another favourite fabric has been this gorgeous mustard cut from a beautiful 1950's bedspread. I've made a fair few bags from it and now and only have the frilled edging left to play with.

Each scrap always get used up somehow or other mind you. 

I've had a few requests to sell the scraps from my making. This morning the talented Pompombelle (instagram) let me know she had finished creating another beautiful creature of hers. Seaside Sally wears a skirt and hat adorned with one of the fabric scraps she bought from me. 

Isn't it wonderful how we are keeping all these beautiful throws, curtains, bedspreads and fabrics alive by re-using them to bring colourful splashes to our everyday. 

Boy I do love vintage fabric.

Springy things

As usual my head has been bursting with ideas of things to make. Things I want to make for the buns, things to sell at the Easter market in Southwold, things just for the joy of making things and finally to have something to put on my as yet empty folksy shelves. Life always seems to have other plans and so I seem to live in a permanent limbo of WIP's. I think I will have to settle for what I have achieved and stop worrying about the list in my head of all I haven't yet done. The problem of being a perfectionist is that you drive yourself nuts and probably everyone else too?

I absolutely love applique work with felt. The choice of colours are so intense and as there are no fraying edges to worry about it satisfies my love of quick results. Did I also say I was very impatient. In my workbox there are a pile of these egg cosies to be finished off and little chicks in various stages of life. These chicks are so very cute, I found them in Nicki Trench's Super Cute Crochet. I actually want to make eveything in there as each page you turn emits another ooohhh - aaaahhhh and a bunlike can we have one of those. I always agree. Drat now my list is even longer. This lovely sugar mouse is from the same book. I made another in green, but he has weight issues and so he kept rolling over.

I also love making little Yo Yo brooches. They're a good way of using up scraps of fabric. I always add vintage buttons. The rose in the centre of the pink dotty is from a collection of 30 I won on ebay. They are from New York so I sat until the wee hours to make sure I won, I wanted them badly and they are really worth it.

At the car boot I'm always on the look out for vintage children's card games to put my brooches on to. I love these happy family ones I'm using at the moment as once you take off the brooch all the gorgeous faded colours are revealed.

I've been making these button hearts for a while now as they sell well and look so pretty. I've only recently started putting a scrap of fabric on the wire to add a bit more colour.

Finally some crochet flower brooches in grown-up colours. I've made some zingy bit too bright ones for the hair ties for little buns party. I'll try to remember to put them on another post. The pink brooch at the top has got to be wrapped in a moment and delivered to a lovely friend who is having an operation tommorow. I hope she likes it.