Sewing Frenzy

Well, my kitchen looks like a factory. Piles of jeans and totebags and fabric everywhere. The kitchen table is covered in my tools and supplies. The ironing board is a permanent fixture. I'm getting nervous about having enough stock for all the craft fairs I have booked myself for. What was I thinking? Good news is that I've gotten much faster at constructing the bags and have figured a bit of a system to make it go more smoothly. For example, to make one tote I use 2 or 3 different colours of thread. I just have a basic sewing machine-- nothing fancy like Alison tells me they have at school where you can load in a bunch of colours of thread and then flip a switch when you want to change! Anyway, what I've started doing is sewing 4 or 5 bags at once, first sewing all the white thread parts, then the blue, then the black.
I have also been doing some steps when I'm between calls while working...pinning sections together, making the panels of pouches with double-sided tape prior to sewing them, etc. (I wished I'd found the double-sided tape sooner- it really speeds things up and makes it so much easier to make neat panels of pouches)

Today I decided I'm going to make up a bunch of fudge for the craft fairs. I can sell it in small bags and give out samples. Fudge should bring people to my table! I'll make a few different kinds. I found a new recipe that I'm going to try.. double decker chocolate peanut butter fudge...mmm. I had to steal the picture to show you because it looks sooooo good! I linked the blog I found it on. They have amazing pictures of food porn there:-)

I spoke to the owner of the craft showcase shop in Abbotsford and decided to postpone getting involved with that for now. I really don't think I can supply enough product and they are too far away to make it convenient for me. I'd like to go there and see how it looks and how it runs though. It's something to think about after the craft fairs are over...that's if I still want to continue making the bags by then!

I've been trying to figure out a way to be able to accept credit card payments from customers at the craft fairs. I don't want to set up a merchant account- it's way too expensive, with monthly minimums and monthly charges as well as a long commitment. Someone on Etsy forums suggested using Paypal to invoice the sales, taking the credit card info in person and entering the invoices through Paypal later. I think I'll give it a try. I think being able to accept cards makes a huge difference for sales.

Doing my second night shift tonight. It's a nice night so far. Thanksgiving is on Monday, so we're having a family dinner at our place Sunday (I'm working Monday) ....so we have to go turkey shopping soon!