Over the last several months, I've built up a little collection of
slim bags. It's so easy to tuck a small skein of cotton yarn in my purse so I can work on one anywhere I find myself waiting around.
I've been stacking them up on my craft table and I thought I better get some fabric to line them.
Here are some fat quarters I picked up at Joann's. I'm absolutely in love with the wood grain print. I have some tree-themed embellishments planned and I think I'll be hilarious to have the interior of the bag be wood-paneled. They didn't have it on a bolt, or I would have bought more. I'm also partial to paisley, lately.
The selection at the fabric store isn't lighting me on fire, though. I don't know if it's bland or if it's just too easy - all that fabric laying there in an orderly fashion. So I made a trek to my favorite outlet warehouse.
They had expanded their fabric section and moved it upstairs since the last time I was there. I walked around with my little crochet bags trying to match colors and touching everything. It's like a treasure hunt. Most of the fabric is on huge long (5 feet?) round bolts that you have to wrestle out of the shelves.
The best part is the fabric department guy. He is typical South Philly - think Saturday Night Fever era John Travlota, but with a different accent. He's totally macho, but still chatty and personable. We joked about the misprinted sign that said the upholstery fabric was $2.00 to $599.00 a yard. He told me stories about the most expensive fabric he'd ever seen (in New York, of course), and regaled me with the story of how he moved all the fabric upstairs by himself on a 90 degree day.
As he talks, he measures out a little extra fabric for me from every bolt. He comes up with reasons that I should get a discount on particular fabrics, "Well, this was on sale last week, so ..." I leave there smiling every time. Just as much from my wonderful haul of discount fabrics, as from how nice it is to shop somewhere that they look you in the eyes and talk to you.
The fabrics don't look great as a group in the photo ... but they match their respective yarns very well. Now I just need to get the bags embellished so I can line them!
The plan is to sell them, probably on Etsy. I've got a list of all the things I should have in place before I start selling: labels, packaging, tags, freebies, etc., but I think I might be listing myself into a corner. I'm going to finish up a couple and jump in. No matter how much I plan, I'm sure things will grow and develop on their own. I'd rather start sooner than later.