Happy Earth Day - SFEtsy Makers Use a Variety of Eco Friendly Materials to Produce Amazing Things

It's Earth Day! Our SFEtsy team is proud to have many wonderful makers that are creating responsibly using reclaimed, recycled and earth-freindly materials in some or all of their handmade goods.

Join me as we celebrate the SFEtsy Earth Conscious Makers of 2015!

Kyla O'Neill of Impressed by Nature
Beautiful Natural Botanical Jewelry

Dorothy Reinhardt of Dorothy Designs
Using Upcycled Materials and Buttons to Create Beautiful Floral Accessories

Bronwen Mauch Tireless Hearts Studio
Upcycled Jewelry and Accessories Made from Bike Inner Tubes

Yin Yin Wu Of LoveGem Studio 
Featuring Recycled Silver Jewelry

Heather Simoni of Heathered
Eco-Friendly Wallets and Accessories

Kati Jackson of Crow Woodcraft
Reclaimed Wood Jewelry and Buttons

Cheyenne Barr of Deconstruction Crafts
Sustainable Goods 

Ayse Kozaci Jewelry
Recycled Paintbrush Jewelry 

IOGoods
Sustainable Clothing for Women & Children

Basmati Bags
Bags Made from Upcycled Materials

Lisa Spinella of Tickle and Smash
Totes and Handbags Made from Upcycled Materials

Tawny Reynolds of Sundrop Jewelry
Jewelry Created from Recycled Glass with the Power of the Sun

Creek Van Houten of Compass Rose Design
Steampunk Upcycled and Found Object Jewelry & Accessories

Rebecca Saylor of OodleBaDoodle
Reclaimed Material Pillows that Make the World More Huggable

Jacob of .retool
Bags, Wallets and Accessories Made from Seatbelts

Trish Peach of PoppyPeach
Fashion Accessories Created from Repurposed Materials

Lizette De Arkos of LDay Shop
Upcycled Clothing and Home Decor

Laura and Julien Sheilds of Yes&Yes Designs
Jewelry and Accessories Made from Books

Jeannine Komush of Tangleweeds
Using Reclaimed Leather in Her "Leaf-Petal" Lariats and Earrings

Sarah Montes Friedman of BirdBags
Using Reclaimed Textiles to Make Stylish Bags and Accessory Cases

Lisa Jones of Miss Match 
Found Material Jewelry

Fleurette Sevin of Fleurette Artglass
Jewelry Made from Upcycled Glass and Bullet Casings

Alissa Anderson of Mitten Maker 
Upcycled Accessories

Marja Germans Gard of Lemonade Handmade

Recycled gold & silver jewelry making

Dana Trousil of Boii Studio
Reclaimed clay ceramics

Emily Oinen of Clever Hands
Reclaimed Rubber Journal Bandoliers 

Kathryn Hedges of Splendid Colors
Reclaimed Cardboard Holiday Steampunk Ornaments

Candice of Candid Art & Accessories
Upcycled and Found Object Jewelry

Tarabud Design
Repurposed leather Accessories

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, visit Our Team Page about joining SFEtsy!

Tuestorial: Plush Pin

As a sewer and collector of many fine craft goodies, I usually have my eyes open to new or intriguing materials. I came across this George Washington print by Windham Fabrics on clearance and knew I had to have it. So random! So fun! So patriotic! To show off this design in an easily accessible way, I decided to make a pin with materials most crafty folks have around the house. Happy Fourth of July! 

Materials Needed:

• Top of a mason jar lid or thick cardboard about the same size
• Scrap fabric of your choice (enough to cover the size of the lid plus one inch)
• Polyester fiber filling
• Pin backing
• Super glue
• Scissors

Step 1:

Place the mason jar lid on the fabric of your choice and decide what part of the design you would like as your pin. Once selected, use the lid as a guide as you cut your fabric. Be sure to cut one inch extra around the lid!

Step 2:

After your fabric is cut, place it face down and grab your filling. Depending on the size of the lid you are using, you only need a small palm size of filler. Place the filling between the fabric and lid.

Step 3:

Grab the top and bottom piece of fabric and apply a small amount of glue to the lid. Hold both pieces of fabric in place until the glue is dry. For super glue, this shouldn't take too long. Once it is secure, apply glue to the other sides. Work your way around until all fabric ends are attached to the lid and dry.

Step 4:

Time to make it official! Take your pin backing and apply some glue. You probably want to test which spot on the back would hold your pin best (usually towards the top is the best placement for a larger pin). Once the backing is applied and dried, you are ready to show off your favorite fabric design! George Washington approves...and he cannot tell a lie.

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Our Team Captain about joining SFEtsy!

Tuestorial: No Sew Coasters

This week's Tuestorial is brought to you by Rebecca Saylor of OodleBaDoodle! Rebecca hosted a workshop this past Friday at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles to show fellow Etsy folks how to make these unique coasters. Jen Johnson of Mama's Magic Studio wrote about the event on our blog here and now we are here to show you how to make no sew coasters of your own!

These would make a great Father's Day gift and a chance to use up scrap fabric you might have lying around.
 

Rebecca showing off her skills!

 Materials Needed:

• 8x10 piece of fabric for the 8 pieces you will cut (Fabmo supplied the materials for Rebecca's workshop. Linen and cotton works best!).
• Scissors
• Pins
• Rotary cutter or kraft knife
• Cutting mat
• Print this pattern here to use when cutting your fabric.

Step 1:

Begin by selecting your fabric pieces. If you don’t find a large enough piece, you can also begin by choosing your favorite color plus a neutral (such as white, beige, brown, or black).

When selecting patterns, it’s best to vary the size of the pattern. For example, select a small floral and mix it with a bold stripe. Or a large floral pattern with a thin stripe.

Common patterns to start with are florals, stripes, polka dots and plaids. Stripes and  plaids can create a nice chevron pattern.

Step 2:

Pinning!

Once you’ve selected your materials, begin by pinning the pattern pieces to your fabric. Make sure the pattern is pinned neatly and straight, this will make it easier to construct the coasters in the next step. You will need 4 pattern pieces for each coaster. Since we are making 2 coasters, you will need 8 pattern pieces.

Step 3:

 

Cut your pattern carefully being mindful of each of the cutting lines. Once you’ve cut the main part of the pattern, snip the two small diagonal slits on the edge of the right side of the pattern.

Using a rotary cutter, or a kraft knife on a cutting mat, make a slit the size of the dotted line on the left side of each pattern piece.

Step 4:

Now that you have completed the cutting, it’s time to assemble your coasters! You may have noticed that you created a small tab and a “tab slit” on each  pattern piece.

Lay out the pattern pieces like this:

 Step 5:

Working counter-clockwise, starting with the upper right corner, pull the “tab” up through the right corner tab slit. Repeat this step with the remaining 3 sides.

If your tab slit seems tight, you can gently snip the slit to make it a bit bigger. Be careful not to make it too large.

Step 6:

Enjoy your new coasters! You can use all types of fabric, textures and patterns to really personalize these coasters for your home and they make great gifts :)

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Our Team Captain about joining SFEtsy!

Pacific International Quilt Festival (P.I.Q.F.)

A few weekends ago, I made the great trip up North (S.F. to Santa Clara) to attend the Pacific International Quilt Festival or P.I.Q.F. This event attracts quilt shops from all over and also hosts a collection of over 800 quilts. If you are a quilter looking to advance your skills, the big attraction is the variety of workshops and lectures offered by vendors such as Bernina.   

 

Amazing quilt entries. Showing detail, skill and time dedicated to making quilts a piece of art!

This festival isn’t just for quilters. If you are a sewer or interested in textile arts, walking the large convention center will engage you in new tools, award-winning quilts and talking with fellow show goers who are excited to share their finds or latest projects.

So many tools and trims to make your projects better! FYI, a hemostat is my favorite sewing tool.

I discovered new fabric, tools, beads, buttons, rick rack, patterns, machines and even creative ways to setup your workspace.

Many of the shop vendors are local so it’s easy to discover fabric shops in your backyard. Everyone is friendly and excited to share what their store is all about. Almost every store offers classes too (check out Bay Area quilt shops Cotton Patch, New Pieces and Sew Bee It Quilting).

First time seeing mustache fabric! Now added to my collection.

Since there are hundreds of vendor booths, the creative displays offer endless inspiration to use at your next craft show. 

Creative ways to display fabric, gifts and completed projects.

Hi fabric tree! Hi fancy bowls filled with lovely trims!

Kitty and Elvis approve

If you went this year, we would love to hear your feedback on the show! Next year's P.I.Q.F. will be held in the same location, Santa Clara Convention Center, on October 17-20, 2013. Mark your calendars!

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Katy or Steph about joining SFEtsy!