Sewing Across Genres & Time

Recently as I was stitching up the 60 mini haversacks I was making as a donation for an upcoming show, it occurred to me that maybe I ought to check my own supply of charm bags. Whenever I make a sale, I pop one into the order and send it along as a thank you gift. Generally I keep a good supply on hand so I can grab one when packing up an order.

Good thing I checked - I only had one left. And while they are easy to make, finding fabric with a tiny scale print to make them from can be a challenge.

So, last Saturday when I was sorting all my scraps and remnants to take to sell at the Indy Blooms Swap Meet, I pulled out an assortment of tiny-scale print fabrics and set them aside. And then I got to work.

I've had a run of custom orders this past week, and so I decided it would also be a good idea to make some extras to keep in stock while I had everything out to make them.

That included prepping the charms that I put into the charm bags, too. 

I thread a 1/8" ribbon through each one and tie it off.

And then tuck them inside the mini bag and put them into a box where I keep charms, stickers, and other things that I plan to give away.

Those finished, I got back to work on some custom orders, some that I will deliver at Indy Blooms or Midwest Mini Mayhem, others that will be mailed.

The work on Teacher Daughter Lisa's 18th century robe a l'Anglaise is currently on pause.

Just as I needed to make my own set of charm bags, I discovered that I was very low on haversacks. With two shows coming up on back to back weekends, that became the priority and I have added 35 at last count to my inventory. More are cut out and waiting on the sewing table.

Lisa's gown does not have to be finished until October, but I'd really like to finish it as soon as Midwest Mini Mayhem is over. After all, Feast planning and announcements have already begun.

I was pleased to recently receive an invitation to return as a sutler for the 2024 Feast of the Hunters' Moon. With that in mind, I have several new items I'd like to make for me to wear - a new caraco jacket and a riding habit in a different style from the one I made a few years ago.

Me wearing my much loved caraco jacket - see my chatelaine hanging from my waist? That caraco jacket was a practice piece; I often make a mock-up to learn how a pattern goes together, and then make the real deal based on what I learned from the mock-up. 

Well, that caraco turned out so well, and is so comfortable, I never got around to making that so-called "real deal!"

I need to get Lisa's robe a l'Anglaise finished before I get started on my new clothes - I can only do one major project at a time. But I have been looking at possible fabrics for the caraco and the riding habit.

I found a new source for wool at Kalamazoo this year. I was speaking with a long time friend, Brandon, and he mentioned that he had wool and would sell it to me for $10 a yard. 

That is an incredible deal - I paid $35 per yard for the wool I made the cloaks out of!

Brandon, owner of Eagle Talon Traders (here with his wife, Jessie), has been a friend of mine since the 1990s.

He gave me 6 3/4 yards of that red wool but would only accept $50, shorting himself by almost $20. I argued, but he refused to take any more. (Brandon is going to get free maple cakes from me for life now!)

So many things to make and so little time to do it in! I think of my mother who was an author at times like this. She had just received a contract to write seven new books and was about the same age as I am now. 

"I hope I live long enough to write all these books," she said to me with a smile.

I'm starting to understand what she meant!