Fall Back

After a lazy summer of gardening and collecting , I'm getting back into sewing and creating new products. Sales have definitely slowed for me on Etsy, where I used to get new customers without even trying . When I first started making my laptop sleeves, there was only one other person making them and theirs was a true bag, one with a zipper and handles. Gradually more sellers started producing bags and sleeves. Some truly gifted crafters, like Alice of Flickabags and workingclass hero, have essentially closed shop and gone elsewhere. Now there are dozens of people making sleeves and laptop bags. Since etsy allows cottage industries, I can post a bag in the morning and find it 20 pages back by noon . Not much chance of being seen by the casual browser.
The one thing that really bothers me is that if you do a search for laptop sleeve you may have to sift through a couple hundred listings to find one . Many sellers migrated over from ebay and use ridiculous titles like
Custom laptop notebook briefcase backpack messenger diaper tote bag purse sleeve
in order to drive traffic to their pages. Personally,I wouldn't buy from someone with an ebay type title ( unless I was on ebay), but that's just me. I can't say that I blame them as etsy's search feature is virtually useless . I just think it looks tacky .
I've thought of closing shop there but I 'm too stubborn to give up and leave what little new business I have to these interlopers.
So I have started selling on Icraft a Canadian site that screens it sellers for quality and has truly handcrafted items for sale. I haven't sold anything so far but I really like the look and feel of the site and I'm sure I will soon.
I'll also be participating in a few craft shows leading up to Christmas. I've only booked a few close to the holidays because I need to build up some stock. I'll post links soon.

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.