You’ve decided your business is coming along and you want to try and participate in a craft show.
This is what you can expect…

You will get an empty booth.

Some shows will let you rent a carpet, tables, chairs etc.
Check with the event organizer for exact details as it varies from show to show.

You start unloading the equipment and supplies you brought.
A u-haul track and dolly may be in order.

Start  by arranging the items you bring in, by approximate location to where they should be.
Make a mini map for yourself and plan ahead where you think things will fit in your booth.

A lot of commotion is going on.

Take a look and see what other folks are doing.
You can get great ideas for your next show!

Check out what containers they are using to carry their items.

Maybe you will want to get your own draperies.

You start by moving the tables away from your walls and hang everything you want.
Don’t forget to bring a ladder.

Once you are done with your wall set up, arrange your furniture.

Then it’s time to start arranging your table displays.

Take use of the space under the table.
You can hide your containers and wares under there tacked away.

You will need pens and paper.

Think about how you will charge your customers.
Most people prefer to pay with a credit card…

Take advantage of all areas of your booth for display.

Long power cords, splitters and lights could be very handy.

AAA Vac and Sew in San Mateo were kind enough to let me tag along.

You can check out the store:
AAA Vac and Sew
501 S. B Street • San Mateo, CA 94401
Phone: 650-344-5006
Email: aaavacsew2@sbcglobal.net
http://www.aaavacsew2.com

Every square inch of your booth is prime real estate.
Treat it as such!

Walk around and say hi to your fellow vendors, you may need to borrow something later on.

You may want to “close” your booth once you are done for the day.
And most important, have fun!

You can find more information about the Quilt, Craft & Sewing Festival
This year it’s FREE, enjoy!

September is national sewing month!

The observance of National Sewing Month began in 1982 with a proclamation from President Ronald Reagan declaring September as National Sewing Month “In recognition of the importance of home sewing to our Nation.”

You may belong or are looking for a a sewing guild.
American Sewing Guild is a membership organization that welcomes sewing enthusiasts of all skill levels and from many different walks of life. Chapters are located in cities all across the country and members meet monthly to learn new sewing skills, network with others who share an interest in sewing and participate in community service sewing projects.
http://www.asg.org
2011 National Sewing Month Sew for the Love of It!
http://www.nationalsewingmonth.org/html/contest.html
Contest runs through September 30, 2011

Will be checking the San Mateo Quilt, Craft & Sewing Festival, you can find more information about location and time:
http://events.artsandcraftsplaza.com/quilt-craft-andamp-sewing-festival-4272.html

Happy sewing everyone!

A friend came across a flier to the 1st Lebanese Festival. Thanks T!
Armed with a camera, here is what you missed, or did you?

Bouncing houses for the little ones.

Various performances along with a mock traditional wedding.

Check out the different booths.

A nice selection of gaming booths

Face painting anyone?

Fun prizes

One of the booth with variety of drinks.

Nice selection of traditional foods

Of course the desert is a must

You can check out more information about the Lebanese Festival.

Keep an eye out for next year’s event!

The second part of the field trip with the sewing class, was to the Lacis Museum of Lace & Textiles

Established in 2004 by merging of the Lacis Retail store and the extensive collection of Kaethe and Jules Kliot.
An amazing dedication to the preservation of the finest of human handiwork.

You will find thousands of specimens from pre-Columbian Peru, the finest from the 17th c. European courts and examples of the machine laces exemplifying the 19th c. industrial revolution.

You are sure to find something interesting in the extensive library.
Rare & Special Titles are available.

Be sure to check the displayed lace within the panels

A wonderful place dedicated to preserving cherished heirlooms.

A wall of accessories to match.

They offer free shipping for all retail orders placed online.

Full Wholesale privileges are available.

Discounts are offered to Teachers, Schools and Institutions and Manufacturers .

They even have dreidels.

Remember “Gone with the Wind”? This is currently on display curtsy of the owners.

A few more period clothing on display.

 A gorgeous gown and a matching hat.

Be sure to check the new items introduced page for new items being available.

Lacis Bridal Services, send a photo of your dress and get photocopies of available laces.

Take a look at the Free Downloads page.

Want to check out the store?

http://lacismuseum.org

2982 Adeline Street
Berkeley, California  94703
 
at Ashby & Adeline St., adjacent to the “Ashby” BART Station
Hours: Monday thru Saturday 12:00 – 6:00 pm
Free Admission
tel: 510-843-7290

Went on a field trip to Stone Mountain & Daughter, a wonderful fabric store, with the sewing class.

Stone Mountain & Daughter store has 2 floors filled to the brim.
You will find brochures with the different selection of sewing and quilting classes they are offering, as you enter the store.
You can find a list of classes being offered:
http://www.stonemountainfabric.com/sewing-classes.htm

You have great selection of various fabric types.
As well as, grouping of  cotton prints and solids for the quilter, fashion and DIY sewer.
You will find Silks, Jacquards, Dupioni, Charmeuse, Chiffons and so much more!
Designers fabric such as Amy Butler, Robert Kaufman, Alexander Henry, Kaffe Fassett, Kokka of Japan, Echino and many others.
Look through the wonderful selection of yarns and books.

The top floor is where the classes are held as well as 50% discounted fabrics.
You can also find a variety of patterns, notions and accessories for your convenience.

Want to check out the store?

www.stonemountainfabric.com

2518 Shattuck Avenue at Dwight Way
in downtown Berkeley, CA 94704

Local 510-845-6106
Toll free 1-866-4SEW-FUN
Fax 510-845-6114

OPEN 7 DAYS • Mon – Fri 10-6:30 • Sat 10-6 • Sun 11-5:30
please call for special holiday hours
email: fabriclady3@gmail.com

We start by tracing the Apron’s pattern to our fabric

We decided to add another color by framing the apron with quilt binding.

We start by cutting a piece of the biding to cover the top of the apron.

We are now working on the back side of the apron.
We pin the binding on the short fold to the apron’s fabric.

We sew it with a straight stitch.

We turn our apron to the front side now.
This is how it should look from the front.

We will fold the binding to the front of the apron.
Stitch it, making sure to cover the stitch that is already there.

The stitch from a closer view.

We are now going to repeat the process around the rest of the apron.

Closer look at the corner top of the apron.

The binding stitched around the entire apron.

Closer look at the top corner.

We cut the straps, one for around the neck and two to tie the apron.

We fold the strap in half and iron.

We now fold from both sides into our center fold and iron.

We hide the edges by sewing a ribbon in matching color to our binding.

We pin the strap to the back of our apron.
Be sure to measure equal distance from both sides.

We sew the straps by making a square to secure it to our apron.

Cut any access thread and put a dab of Fray Check to make sure it wouldn’t come unraveled.

We fold the end of the strap and sew.

A look for the back side of the strap.

We cut the fabric for the pocket.

We will now embroider a chef on our pocket.
See instruction for Embroidery on our post: “Mickey Mouse Embroidered on a Towel“

The Embroidered pocket.

We will use a narrower quilt binding in the same color for the pocket.

We will make sure our corners meet at 45 degree angles.

We will attach the pocket to the apron.
Remember to reverse your stitches at the top of the pocket to secure it better.
We stitched around the pocket twice.

A view of the pocket from the back.

Your project is now complete! enjoy.

To create these gorgeous Silver Hoop with Purple Swarovski Crystals Earrings we will start with the hoop.

Use a hoop that you can open on one side by just pulling the bar out.

We start by stringing on the hoop bar various Swarovski Crystals in different shades and sizes.

By selecting a single Swarovski Crystal and mirroring on the either side, we create a pattern.

Once we are happy with the look, we will close the hoop bar by inserting it back into the slot.

To attach the hoop to the ear wire we will use a jump ring.
A jump ring, is a ring that has an opening and doesn’t complete the full circle.

We open the jump ring by using 2 round nose pliers. The first plier we use to hold the jump ring.
The second plier we use by moving it away from you.
Reverse the motion to close.

We attach the first jump ring to the ear wire.
Open and close the jump ring with the ear wire inside it.

We will attach a second jump ring to our already attached jump ring with the ear wire as well as to the hoop.
By attaching the second jump ring, we create more movement to our Jewelry piece

Make sure you attach it in a way that both the ear wire and hoop are facing the same way.

Your project is now complete! enjoy.

To embroider Mickey Mouse on a towel we will use a stabilizer and a topper to sandwich the towel.

We will start by hooping Wet N Gone, a water soluble stabilizer.

We will then use a spray adhesive to attach the towel to the stabilizer.

It is possible to hoop a towel if it is not too thick, however, we find that using the adhesive works best as you can better position the towel.
We don’t recommend using sticky paper stabilizer as it will pull on the towel.

When positioning the towel, make sure you find the center point of the towel and align it with the center points on the hoop.

This is probably one of the most important step, be sure to take your time and get it right.

We will use the spray adhesive again this time on the towel.

We will put the water soluble topper on top of the towel, which will keep the stitches from sinking into the towel.

Now we are ready to put the hoop into the embroidery machine.

Select your design. We chose Mickey Mouse that is built in the Brother machine. We are using Brother’s Quattro Innovis 6000D (D is for Disney).

We then select a heart border and make sure none of the stitches overlap.

You want to make sure Mickey’s ears are not clipped by the border. Use the size button to achieve the appropriate size.

Mickey and boarder are ready to be embroidered.

We suggest keeping a bottle for used needles, best practice to always have a place for them.
Be sure to change your needle every 8 hours.
As well as, keeping a plastic container on hand which we use to store the small pieces of thread.
Once you have enough you will be able to use that for another project.
Keep an eye out for this project.

We can now start embroidering Mickey
Make sure you have enough clearance for your machine to move the hoop freely.

At first it doesn’t look like it’s going to come together.

As you embroider more colors it all comes together.

Choose the color you want for your border, we used Red. Default is Black.

Remove hoop from your embroidery machine and cut any jump stitches that may be there.

You can now remove the water soluble topper. You can usually gently pull on it and it will come off.
Spray the design with water and use another piece of water soluble to get it all off by dabbing it.
It especially helps when it’s a gift to someone and you don’t want to explain that it will dissolve once they wash it.

Now it’s time to tackle the back side of our embroidery.

Cut the water soluble as close to the stitched as you can.
Be sure not to cut into the stitches or the towel.

The rest will dissolve once the towel has been washed.

Your project is now complete! enjoy.

Arts and Crafts Plaza is for creative people everywhere!

Connect with other Arts and Crafts enthusiasts. Designed for the hobbyist and do-it-yourself folks.
In Arts and Crafts Plaza will be find posts about the various craft fields.  Are you  interested in Jewelry / Knit / Crochet / Sewing / Embroidery / paper crafts? This is the place for you!

Our Mission: Our mission is to provide you ideas mixed with a little inspiration to inspire you to create.

Let’s create something!