reassembeling the past

Last month I participated in Barb's (Woof Nanny) purse project challenge which was to make a bag from vintage linens (curtains, dresser scarf, tablecloth, etc). I thought it would be easy but I just couldn't seem to think of the right bag for the linens I'd designated for cutting. Then recently I came across a towel that looked like ones we had when I was growing up. A lovely teal blue and avocado green brocade. I forked over $2.00 for it and brought it home washed it and then used it as a lap blanket for a while. I wasn't going to cut into this piece of my past until I was sure I knew exactly what I wanted. It wasn't really a piece of my past but it was close enough.

When I first left home , I took very little with me. My( first) husband and I were building our boat. We lived in my mother in law's pool house for a couple of months until we were able to get the interior roughed in and move aboard. During this time my parents moved from their home in Southern California to North Carolina. There were lots of things that wouldn't be making the trip , linens, china , knicknacks. Since I lived on a 32' boat, I couldn't take anything, there just wasn't room. At the time I was working as a Buyer, a job where dressing trendy was required. Every extra inch of storage was filled . We had a rule, bring something new home, take something old out. Eventually the boat was finished, I quit my job and we spent more days at sea then in port ,so there was even less room for frivolous objects.

We finally settled in Hawaii and started building our home. I was building a new life and collecting things from the past didn't really matter to me. Living on an island I can tell you , there are no treasures tempting you at garage sales, no antiques waiting to be found. Everything is used until it disintegrates, or breaks beyond repair. I collected sea shells, sea glass and seeds. It wasn't until years later, after my divorce , after my parents had passed, that I wanted to surround myself with the familiar objects of my childhood and happier times. I had inherited some art , some jewelry but it was the every day hand me down objects I longed for.

Now I live in a place where thrift shops and white elephant sales are commonplace . I am slowly reassembling my past, piece by piece with kitchen wear, linens and fashion accessories of days gone by . They may only be replicas, but the memories they evoke are genuine.

International Shipping Woes

The recent changes in international shipping rates have really put a crimp in overseas sales of my laptop sleeves and bags. To ship an average sized sleeve to the UK used to cost $10.50Now to ship the same sleeve cost $20.00 which is about half the price of a sleeve.
When a return customer ordered one for a gift, I worried about losing a sale. She asked if their was any way I could send it cheaper and I told her I would research it . Everything else was just as much if not more.
I decided to see if there was anyway I could fit it in a flat rate envelope. I squished it down as much as I could and managed to get it inside but just barely. Then I had an idea. What if I put it in a plastic bag and sucked the air out ? I used a normal zip lock bag and my vacuum and it did the trick.
Last week I had a custom order from Germany , this sleeve was for a mammoth laptop . The shipping would have been $25 .00 I asked if she minded getting it tightly packed, she would need to press it herself and she agreed it was worth the savings.
Try as I might I could barely get it folded to put in the gallon sized zip lock I've used for 13" and 15" macs which are slimmer than most . Finally I folded it in thirds and then in half and got it in the bag. It took a couple tries but I was finally able to get it compressed down to fit in the envelope and to be able to close it without tape ( a postal requirement.)

Indecision 2008 , should I stay or should I go?

Borrowing from the Daily Show, the year has started with a whole lot of indecision for me regarding Saltygal. I didn't start the business for any single reason , it was a way to keep busy, make a little money and feed my fashion and fabric obsession.
Etsy made it easy for me to have online storefront. I opened one up and made a sale the first day. I was hooked. When I started taking custom orders through Alchemy I stretched myself creatively, my business grew and I could be as busy as I wanted.
I didn't have a business plan but I made adjustments adding some inexpensive items and gaining wholesale accounts.
Now I'm at a point where I need to decide what direction I want my business to go in. Etsy has grown so large that getting any business from within the site is difficult. Alchemy is a distant memory. They have added a gift guide at the top of every page. In one click, it takes buyers out of my shop to a guide where the Etsy administration hand picks items to feature. All through the Christmas season I looked through the guides hoping one of my sleeves would be featured but they were not . I bought on site ads but never garnered any sales. My (Etsy) sales were down 75% over the previous December
When two new laptop bag crafters from Europe joined, Etsy ran features on them both and placed their bags in the gift guides. Another seller makes and sells hundreds of laptop bags, bags she does not make She lists 10-12 items a day and frequently sells as many. If I don't list or relist at least 3 sleeves a day they are buried beneath the others within minutes. Paying for on site ads didn't work and I can't spend my day at the computer trying to snag a treasury or smoozing on the forums hoping other sellers will check out my shop.
Since I'm not getting customers from within Etsy , I need to go off site. I'm not sure it makes sense to do this, it's like leading them to my competitor's door. I don't mind competing on a level field, but it doesn't seem that way anymore. I know I'm not the only seller having these problems. The forums are filled with sellers complaining about the influx of mass produced or imported items. The vintage and supply categories are Etsy's top sellers Should I stay or should I go? Should I switch to vintage and sell off all the stuff I've been collecting ?

Happy New Year

Yes, it's been a very long time since I've posted here. I have barely been able to keep up with flickr. But new years is wonderful, the perfect time for a fresh start, so here I am back on the blog. I'm trying to stay optimistic about the future of just about everything. I will try to be more productive with my time and I've set some concrete goals to strive for as far as my business and craft skills go. Naomi designed a bookshelf/fabric storage area for me and Don is building it. Once it's finished I should be able to work on a project from start to finish without having to move every thing repeatedly. It also will give me a chance to destash.

An unexpected trip

I have just returned from a trip to Indiana. My sister in law, Gay died suddenly last week. She had waged a ten year war with ovarian cancer. It was stage 4 when she was diagnosed, her doctors told her she had about 6 months to live. She did'nt accept that, she had too many things to do, too much life left to live. She and her family live in the mid west, we are in the northeast, so we didn't see each other often. We kept in touch mainly on the telephone and with email and letters but the times we spent together were always over far too soon. She was smart, funny, loving, kind and an eternal optimist. The world needs many more like her.

Slipstream

I've been stuck in an enormous rut lately making the same things over and over. While being successful and making lots of sales has always been one of my goals, it's not exactly why I started my Saltygal business. I started it because I loved thrifting old items and recycling them into something new and useful, especially fabrics. I had made and gifted just about everyone I knew with my projects so I decided to sell them.
I couldn't keep up with demand using my recycled fabrics, Finding and cutting them apart was time consuming. I started using new materials and slowly went from making one or two of a kind to wholesale manufacturing on a small scale. I am not complaining! My fabrics and supplies were taking over my limited space so I decided I needed to clear out some of the boxes of vintage garments I have amassed since moving here. I made a big dent in the wools this past winter turning them into pillows and handbags. I had stopped collecting silk shirts a while ago, so I was able to weed out all but the best into one small container. I have a particular weakness for vintage ties and slips. Something about those silky fabrics. I've saved far more ties than I've used. I can't bring myself to to cut into the pristine ones . I have well over 100 ( I'm afraid to count them all) Luckily they are small and easy to keep. I think one day I'll make an enormous coverlet or a mass of pillows with them .
The slips I'm ready to part with. I sold some on ebay. I have cut apart a few to reclaim the lace. The rest are just perfect for summer tops and dresses. Here are the first two. The yellow one was brand new with tags still on, from the seventies, rather lightweight. I took the skirt off and replaced it with a sheer print. I lined the the bodice with some of the fabric from the skirt.\ The turquoise one is older and had seen some wear. I had to reinforce the bodice, luckily I had some vintage rayon hem tape that was a very close match. I detached the bodice from the skirt and inserted a sheer print over skirt then reattached the bodice. I'm quite pleased with the end result. I also spent time making myself some pattern weights with some of my Japanese fabrics and kimono scraps. Now that I've had break from the production line, I can go back and sew without dread.

All Ashore Ditty Bag

Barb aka Wolf Nanny has been an inspiration for me since I first found her blog and fabulous flicker photos. She is an incredibly talented writer and crafter and one of the best thrift hunters around. She started a new blog called the Purse Project and challenged anyone that's up it to join in and create purses according to a theme or material. It's not a competition, it's a fun way to stretch your imagination and skills. So this is my entry for the first challenge, which was to create a bag using a kitchen towel. I had purchased a vintage linen towel last year for just that purpose. Something always seemed to come up and I never got a chance to make that bag. If it weren't for this challenge it would probably still be sitting at the bottom of my vintage linen bin. The towel was a woven Irish linen that had seen better days. It had faded in places and was permanently stained in others. It had a compass rose on one half and a port side lantern on the other both framed in coils of 3 strand with signal flags on the borders. I decided to make a nautical style bag, but the fabric was not very strong so I used canvas for the bag making it with a big round bottom and using the the linen towel for outside pockets and trim on the inside pockets. I used red polypropylene"small stuff" for drawstrings on the inside and 3 strand cotton for the handles. I tied a stopper knot on the ends, seized, fringed , and then laced them through brass grommets. I embroidered over the faded compass rose in a simple satin stitch .

group portrait

group portrait
Originally uploaded by Saltygal.

the latest batch of owl pillows just before they head south . I'll miss them

ready to ship

ready to ship
Originally uploaded by Saltygal.

I just finished my first reorder from the new account. Everything that could go wrong did and I thought I'd never get it done. I know how long it will take to make things. I figure that out when I price my items, but that is in an ideal world. I don't live in an ideal world. I will add another 20% on to my time estimate next time. I have three custom orders to finish tomorrow and then I am going to spend the rest of the week in my garden.We had warm weather for almost a week then 3 days of rain and now everything is just jumping out of the ground.I love spring! The etsy shop has been sadly neglected. I am so discouraged by the copy cats, the resellers and the manufactures selling their so called "handmade" items, it's just not fun anymore.

Cinco de Mayo

Hearts and Roses Jacket
Originally uploaded by Saltygal.

I think Cinco de Mayo is destined to become of of those holiday that in the US everyone celebrates. Just as we are all a little bit Irish on St Patricks Day, we will all be a little bit Mexican on Cinco de Mayo. Tequila and tamales instead of whiskey and corned beef. I grew up in Southern California where Mexico's history was taught hand in hand with California's. I was in love with anything to do with the Missions and then later on the Aztecs. When I went to Middle School one of my best friends a had a painting of the Virgin de Guadalupe in her bedroom, it was the first time I had even seen her and I was smitten. She was so beautiful in her red dress with her turquoise veil of stars surrounded by flowers and golden rays. Everything about her was just so much more colorful and symbolic than the Virgin Mary in my church.
I celebrate Cinco de Mayo every year because there is a little bit of Mexico in me. Don't we all need more color and symbolism in our lives?

Wish you were here

Wish you were here
Originally uploaded by Saltygal.

The craft blog had an entry on pillows that told stories through needlework. My first true craft was embroidery which I learned from my Grandmother when I was 8. I embroidered pillowcases ,towels and mostly useless things like dresser scarves and arm chair covers, using Vogueart or aunt Martha transfers or pre printed linens from Woolworth's. I graduated to picture kits from Erica Wilson. In high school I made a tidy sum embroidering jeans and cotton shirts. I didn't sew much once I married and moved onto the boat concentrating on "marlinespike seamanship, - a kind of macrame on steroids. I made this pillow for my husband Don when we were courting. The center is a replica of post card I sent to him, complete with LOVE stamp.(I've blurred the address out to protect the Innocent) It has a map of Maui where we went on our first trip together, a feather because I collected feathers and on our first meeting , he bravely plucked some feathers from the bottom of macaw's cage , which was clearly marked 'Beware Bird Bites". There are windsurfers, a field of golden flowers with a butterfly , maile vines , shamrock, a heart with a lock and key and an aol symbol(we met on an aol message board.) It's not finished , but then neither are we:)

I have been sewing.....honest!

yo yo tote
Originally uploaded by Saltygal.

I been sewing up a storm but my camera still hasn't arrived and I haven't been able to borrow a camera. My broken camera is still working , but I have not been able to get the settings right and the pictures are awful. My camera was shipped last week and I have a feeling it was on one of those trucks that got stuck in the big snowstorm that shut down the turnpike in PA. I thought for sure it would come yesterday but now I guess I'll have to wait until Tuesday since Monday is a holiday :(
I saw a bag shaped like this in a Japanese magazine and fell in love with it. When I had my boat I made lots of canvas buckets , so I started with that pattern and added the drawstring top . It looked too bare. I was going to add an applique but my * consultant * (aka daughter Naomi,) nixed the idea. Then I thought,, maybe some buttons? Believe it or not, I didn't have enough buttons to make a statement, so I decided on yo yos with buttons . I'm pretty happy with the way it came out and will post a better picture when the new camera arrives!

Fabric fetish

I have been going mad for fabrics lately. I keep swearing I won't buy anything new and just *use what I have* but now is the time when new collections are coming out and I don't want to miss a thing! I have a particular weakness for Japanese fabric, both traditional and modern, with shipping they can easily cost double the price of domestic cottons. I am also enamored of reproductions of 30's 5o's and 70's fabrics. Then there is oilcloth Now that I have a $50 Teflon foot, sewing it is so much easier. I have a stack of bags ,bibs, chalkboards and mats all cut and ready to sew. I just have to sit down and do it!I have been too preoccupied with other things.

My camera has been broken for a while and I was trying to make do with my son's when his broke. Luckily it was still under warranty. I have been spending a great deal of time trying to figure out a way to justify buying a high quality digital when I have so many other expenses. The fact is I am lost without my camera , it's not good for my blog, my business, my far away family or my mental health. So i ordered a new camera for my son and I'll borrow it and hopefully by the time summer rolls around I'll have stashed away enough to buy that canon eos

Todays haul

Today's haul
Originally uploaded by Saltygal.

Today was the first estate sale I've been to this year. I went for the button collection . We had to wait over an hour ( in 23 degree weather) to get inside. They only let a few people in at once. I was number 65 and I thought for sure the buttons would be gone, but I got 2 huge jars and a bunch of other sewing things. I love old tools and supplies , Today's finds included a 6"embroidery hoop exactly like the one I learned on. It is really nice wood, so much smother than today's models with a thin strip of felt to help snug the fabric. No tightening hardware so it was easy to learn with and not get tangled. Another find was a sweet little pincushion to hang on the wall. I think that's a great idea and I'm going to hang mine is side my closet for safety pins and to put the pins I take out of my husband's new shirts. I think I'll make a few to gift to girlfriends.
The best find were the two giant jars of buttons from Victorian times up to now . While sorting through them I love to imagine the garments they were on and think about the people that wore them. These were the buttons of stylish people. The men wore white shirts and the women pretty dresses. There were few utilitarian buttons. No uniform buttons.There were lots of pearl shirt buttons and smooth colorful Bakelite, Glass , cut steels and rhinestones. Big fancy coat buttons,small figural plastics and big chunky Lucite. Unfortunately they had all been stored together and I had to throw out many of the celluloid, composition , fabric and 2 part buttons. If you have old buttons it is worth the trouble to separate them by material and keep like kinds together because some will disintegrate or rust when stored with others. This person had saved her extra fabric buttons, beautiful velvets, silks and crocheted buttons It was a shame to have to toss them. All but the most recent were rotting away , but you could see they were once beautiful. It took me all afternoon to sort them., my dwindling selection of red green, pink and pink replenished . My stock of black ,white, brown and grey now overflowing.

Alice's set

Alice's set
Originally uploaded by Saltygal.

This order serves as a perfect example of the dangers of attention deficit crafting. I had an order for 2 sleeves from one of my favorite customers . She is a real peach and has sent business my way many times. I wanted to really make this set perfect. I made the outer sleeve and it fit like a glove. I started on the small sleeve. The small sleeve required extra padding so I used 2 layers of padding and was going to quilt it. I didn't want the quilting to detract from the fabric, so I hand quilted around each of the skulls.I wish it showed in the photo ( still using the broken canon) It came out really nice and I had a button that was a perfect match for the eyes on one of the skulls. I was ready to take the shot when I noticed I had made the sleeve with the skulls facing upside down. I had marked the fabric which side up in the interfacing but i used a fade away marker . I was distracted and left it on the table for a hour and when I came back, the marking had faded and I completely forgot that the fabric had an up and down. Well no problem I thought, I had plenty of the skull fabric. When I went to get more of the aqua ling I only had a small piece left. I dashed off to the fabric store, no more, I went to the next store none. So I came home and tore through my scrap bags and found another piece just the length I needed. I worked very carefully and got the bag out of it but what a waste of time and energy! I'll never use a fading marker for that again!

Button up your overcoat

Winter is finally here. Today the highest temp in my yard was 10. It was nice and sunny but with the wind it was brutal. Good time to stay inside and sew. I would love post a WIP but my camera is broken and I am waiting to see if I want to fix it or trash it. I bought this camera, a Nikon after my first digital; a Canon broke on a day just like today. My son was playing Hockey at the Larz Anderson Rink in Brookline. It's an outdoor rink on the top of a hill that gives a lovely view of Boston. I didn't want to leave the camera in my car so I kept it with me wrapped in a scarf and took loads of picture of the game and the view but the cold was too much and the screen froze. So take care of your digitals on a cold day.
I have a nice pile of things cut and ready to sew, headbands, oilcloth bags, and some jewelry pouches for Valentines Day . I am giving the Etsy Showcase ads another chance next week. I signed back on before I realized that they would be placing the ads on alternative sites instead of Boing Boing.
Time to sew. Hopefully I'll be back soon with some pics of the finished projects.

Well this is a bummer...

So I am finally able to post . I decide to clean up my blog and when I change the template and attempt to paste in all my links I find that the disk I copied to is corrupted . So new links a new page ( for now I like simple but it's a little stark . Then my camera breaks .Great

I'm in!

I have no idea how it happened but I can now access my blog again. First through flickr now the right way ! Hurrah! So to catch up ... I've been busy still mainly sewing. The warm winter has made it possible for me to continue working in my basement without having to stoke up the wood burning stove to keep cool. A small portable radiator found at the recycle center is very efficient and much cheaper to run than burning wood in our old stove. Our basement is insulated very well. My Hawaiian plants - banana,taro and sweet potato spend the winter there and it is only a lack of sunlight that gives the any stress.
My Etsy shop plods along . V2 is not what it was cracked up to be , and while it has some cool features, finding anything is like searching for a needle in a haystack. The search engine is primitive beyond belief. The influx of new vendors has lead to widespread abuse by resellers, importers and people who think they can list anything they like as long as they call it vintage. They are under staffed and over worked. There are people who have found a way to exploit the system, but without considerable effort on my part to bring business directly to my store, I am not gaining new business. In fact my views have dropped considerably. I took advantage of their first joint advertising campaign in December. It was to be on BoingBoing the blog that has brought me more business than any other source. I asked for 3 days in early December. I ended up with the 19,20 and 21st of December and in 3 days sold 4 items all to non paying buyers . I've never had a non paying buyer before. The new shopping cart system also has it's problems but I think they are one thing that can and will be fixed . I'm not so sure about the other problems.
So marketing was taking up so much of my time that I didn't have enough left to create new things and fell back on making the same old same old to keep the shop filled. Of course there are things I will always make and sell, but my idea notebook has grown dusty.
So this year I will focus on making new things. The best thing about etsy is that it's cheap to sell there. I can clean out my scrap bag once a month and make a batch of headbands and put them there and throw in all my prototypes but this year my main focus will be making new things, perfecting techniques and taking things from notebook to finished product on my own time.

Upcycle bb entry

Upcycle bb entry
Originally uploaded by Saltygal.

Wow! I think I finally figured out a way to get back into my blog through flicker ! I have had trouble ever since google came on scene. Anyway if this makes it you'll be seeing more posts from me.

busy busy

This is awful. No posts in forever. All apologies. Damn, I have been busy. A good busy, a satisfying busy. I have been making lots and lots of the laptop sleeves. I need a new map. I have been tracking all my sales and placing a little pin on the map for each one. My "target market " has shifted considerably since the boingboing post . I have sold in the UK , Japan and Germany. I only have a North America Map and so I have a flotilla of pins in the Atlantic and a raft in the Pacific. I have been selling lots more sleeves to men, and it has been a pleasure. They are not afraid to ask for special things and several have bought bags not only for themselves but as gifts as well. The only down side is that I have little time for new ideas, and I have a bunch of new ideas. I can't seem to stop myself from buying new fabrics and trims so if and when it slow I'll be prepared. Well I promised myself an early to bed this evening and I'm already an hour into the new day so I 'd best say good night . Here's a picture of the newest laptop fabric, I am so in love with it. I have never has such a difficult time sewing anything, this may be the first and last thing I make with it . I call it amp because it reminds me of my dad's Fender amplifier. I wish I had a laptop, this would be the fabric I would choose for myself.