Day 33 - New Uses for a Kitchen Stool

I have discovered a new use the kitchen counter stools.  As the bolt of canvas fabric took too much room on the counter, I found the two stools worked great as bolt holders....

What is Handmade?

On one of the venues I sell through, Etsy, there was a recent uproar regarding Resellers and the true Handmade Artisan.  There was a large outcry to boycott the resellers, to change our Store Avatars to a picture of the hands behind handmade.  I am too embarrassed by my hands, and the thought of having an avatar photo of my hands without a manicure, was too much, (oh the horror!).  

So these are the hands behind HM Mills.  The dark spot on my wrist is a burn I received from the iron, and what you can't see are all the pinpricks and scratches from pins.

The dialog back and forth got me thinking about my handmade business.  What is handmade, do I make the metal components for each bag, no but someone else makes them in a factory.  How about the fabric, do I weave the wonderful hemp or linens I used in my Messenger and Market bags, no someone else does that in a factory too.  To me, handmade is being an Artisan who starts with a flat one dimensional piece of fabric.  An Artisan who is choosey about the fabric and chooses based on durability.  An Artisan thinks about how she can make a Messenger Bag better, (i.e. large enough to hold a 17.3” laptop or pockets big enough to also carry an iPad, etc.).  An Artisan, cuts, folds, pinches, sews, presses, sometimes there is a little swearing and forces that wonderful piece fabric into a wonderful Messenger or Market bag.

And that is Handmade...

Day 20 Project 65 Takes Over

Project 65 Tote is taking over.  

I do have a studio, here is the post to prove it, but as I work through the phases of this project, I am starting to notice Project 65 Tote  is slowly taking over the portions of the house.   From my previous post, you already know that I have set up a Cutting Area and  my wonderful island in the kitchen has not seen the light from underneath the large cutting mat for nearly two weeks.

The small guest room (which also houses my Elliptical machine) has been converted into a receiving area for all the supplies that have slowly been trickling in during the past few days. 

Now the guest bed has been converted into a  holding area for cut out bag components. 

What’s next, hmmm….

I have to admit, I have been eyeballing the dining room table as it may have some possibilities and we never use it.  Why don't we use it, you ask?  I don’t use the dining room because DH and I always eat our meals in the kitchen on that island… ; )

Day 13 - 130 Pockets

My revised weekend goal was to complete cutting out all the pieces for the bag’s interior (which includes the lining and both the slip and zipper pockets) since the canvas portion of my fabric order did arrive in the 94lbs fabric shipment.  However I had a few orders that needed to be completed by the end of the weekend, but I did manage to cutout the slip and zipper pockets for a total of 130 pockets.

Day 11 - 94lbs of Fabric

My original thoughts on how I would write this post this morning was more around the arrival of the 94 lbs of a fabric required for my 65 Tote Project.  And yes, here is what 94 lbs of fabric in your living room looks like, in case you ever want to decorate with three bolts of fabric. 

Michael Miller Magnolia Lane Magnolia Branch Aqua -

 Designed by Laura Gunn

Instead, today’s post is about about Risk and Project Planning. I failed to evaluate my risk and hence failed to plan on how to mitigate that risk.   

This afternoon as I pulled into my driveway with great anticipation (I had been tracking my Fabric shipment via the UPS Tracker online) imagine my disappointment when I noticed that one of the bolts of fabric was not the lovely fabric designed by Laura Gunn, but an unrecognizable white and red striped canvas. So here it is on a Friday evening and according to my Project Plan Schedule, I should complete cutting all fabric this weekend.  Hmmm I did not factor in, receiving the wrong fabric, that customer service does reopen until Monday and as of today, I am officially behind schedule.  Oh the madness.