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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Savvy Entrepreneur: Craft Swap Recap

One of the essential ingredients for success in running your own small business is a support group. As you're probably well aware the SF Esty Street Team is a great resource for just that reason. We have over 400 members in the Bay Area will all levels of experience and all sorts of backgrounds. There is almost sure to be someone who's "been there, done that" when you find yourself with a problem to solve. But beyond just being a resource for knowledge, having a group of like minded entrepreneurs to turn to when you're feeling overwhelmed, frustrated or simply beat down is invaluable.

All of this is why I was so pleased to hear that three of our team members have taken it upon themselves to form a meetup committee with the mission of having more in-person events for all of us to really get to know each other and make some deeper connections.

Lisa of Tickle and Smash, Rochelle of Haute Mélange, and Géraldine of Géraldine Adams Illustrations are the trio behind the most recent and biggest of these events so far, The First Annual Craft Swap. Held at TechShop, the afternoon was filled with all sorts of crafty goodness.

There was a plentiful swap table filled with all sorts of treasures.

GoGo Craft was in the house to to help us all make a banner with plenty of tools and supplies at the ready.

And one generous crafter donated boxes, upon boxes of inspiring materials.  

This is just the beginning of many more events to come, from smaller monthly meetups at cafes and wine bars to bigger events with hands on demos and networking. So watch for updates on Facebook, Twitter and here on the blog.

Thanks again, Lisa, Rochelle and Geraldine!

Rochelle and Lisa (Geraldine was unable to be at the event)

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I encourage comments directly to this post, but also feel free to email me directly with questions, reactions, struggles, etc. genevieve [at] lightboxsf [dot] com

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Jen from Mama's Magic Studio about joining SFEtsy!