Show Prep of a Different Sort

I am heading to my first live show since October, 2019, and not only will I be bringing models, I'm bringing Horsiemama's Mercantile, too.

When I shop, I like to look at a variety of things, so I decided to bring more than just haversacks. 

Already packed are some Christmas ornaments including these gingerbread line dancing cowboys and cowgirls,

horseshoes,

unicorns,

and heart horse heads.

Then I've embroidered some new hand and kitchen towels,

some horsey,

while others are not.

Of course, it wouldn't be the Mercantile without haversacks.

I absolutely love these unicorns with candy corn horns! So clever!

Large print Headless Horsemen in orange and black,

and small print Headless Horsemen in green and black. (Shameless teacher plug - read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving! You won't be sorry you did.)

I am also bringing several custom orders to hand deliver at the show, too.

Towels and haversacks, including a custom one for the Dundee mold are in one order.

A new show tablecloth for a friend who loves the Fighting Stallion mold.

A close-up of the fabric - see how the print looks like the Fighting Stallion?

I have finished sewing items to take, so now I need to do a mock set-up and make some sort of poster or display with prices.

After that, I will figure out the models I am taking and their classes. I am not sure how vending and showing will dovetail, but I am going to give it a try.

Mercantile Possibilities - a Sneak Peek

Last August when I opened Horsiemama's Haversacks & Mercantile, I only offered haversacks. But I had included the word "Mercantile" deliberately because I intended to offer other horsey items, too.

Here's a sneak peek at some of the things that I am considering adding to the Mercantile.

A gingerbread English rider. With the breeches and boots the same color, you can't see them very well so I plan to vary their colors.

This horseshoe design can also be used as an appliqué on clothes, towels, bags, and more.

Ginger Shires in Purdue colors (top, made for Craig), and then in a variety of unrealistic colors

because the Pony Pals especially love pinks, purples, blues, and other colors.

The ginger line dancing cowboy and cowgirl are complicated to make but I love how they turned out. You can see that I learned to vary colors so that the boots show!

The ginger horse in the upper right is how the design says to make it, but that white icing blaze can easily become a unicorn horn as it did in the other three.

The Heart Horses were well received when I first showed them in January and are already on offer in the Mercantile.

I'm not just working on ornaments - I am experimenting with towels, both the standard kitchen towel as well as flour sack ones.

I have quite a supply of blank towels on hand, but I am practicing first on cheap muslin scraps to be sure I understand how the digital design will stitch out and to ensure that my color choices worked.

This design has gone through four iterations but I am finally happy with the colors.

This is my favorite towel design so far even though it's not horsey.

This design of a barn in the snow has taken a lot of practice pieces and color changes from the original design to get it to where I was satisfied. I am going to see if I can also make it as a white barn with a green roof and trim.

This is a very rough first stitch out on a piece of terry cloth but I think it is going to look nice. 

In addition to the Horsiemama Facebook page, I also have a room in the Road to BreyerFest Sales and Trade site where I will be posting things that I have made.

It may seem odd for me to be stitching things for Christmas already, but I'd like to have a lot of things ready to take to live shows now that states are beginning to open up as more and more people are fully vaccinated. (Indiana is 100% open.)

And, since I have another spinal fusion coming up later this month, I don't know how long it will be before I can sit down and sew again. After my first one in 2016, I had bending, twisting, and lifting restrictions so I assume I will have those again (and possibly more because he is fusing more vertebrae than he did last time.)

Preparing for live shows and time away from the sewing machine due to surgery are legitimate reasons that I am sewing so many things right now. But an even bigger reason (maybe even the REAL reason) is that I am having fun experimenting and making horsey things.