Stocking Up

My Christmas sale went well and I was able to find homes for most of my remaining inventory of small purses, but that means I need to restock for next year's shows and events. My favorite thing to make is my coin purses and clutches. And is it any wonder? Look at all these yummy colors and textures I get to work with!

This pile of goodies has gone through step 1: Take a roll of nylon cord and crochet it into a purse. Step 2 is to make linings and set zippers into the purses.

I'm a "batch" worker. I like to crochet up a dozen or two, and then I set up what my husband and I jokingly refer to as the "Mills Sweat Shop."

I clear all the junk off the cutting table, pull out the sewing machine, the ironing board, and all my fabrics, zippers, and notions. I select a couple of favorite movies or a television series and pop it in the DVD player to entertain me while I work. Then I spend an entire day --- or a couple of days --- making linings and setting in zippers until I have a nice pile of finished little purses. Oh, and half-watching movies or tv shows during the process. :-)

The cat was very excited about sewing day and decided he might like to help me. He jumped up on my cutting table and walked over to this aqua purse and settled down to snuggle it. He is my husband's cat and very sweet but not a good sewing partner. He tries to lay on all the stuff you need most or just generally gets right between you and your work and insists on being pet. I yelled for backup. My husband came and got him and explained to him that he cannot help sew. To his credit, Sam the cat quickly learned that he was not to be tolerated on my cutting table and made do with walking around crying pitifully because he was being excluded.

Back to sewing ... It's usually 10 to 12 hours of work spread over a couple of days, but it's the easiest way to get a big batch of them done. Once I get into the groove of it, the process goes faster and gets easier with each one. And it is sooooo satisfying to see that pile of finished bags at the end of the day!

The next step is to make sure all the purses have a macrame wrist strap. I used to offer the strap as an option. Nearly everyone asks for a strap, so this year it's a standard feature.

Finally, I decide how and where to sell each item, price them, and put them up for adoption. Some of these pretties are headed off to a store that sells some of my products for me. Others will go online. And the rest will be set aside for my Mother's Day Gift Show this spring.

Time to start the next batch! If you'd like to try your hand at making one of these purses, all the patterns are for sale at my site.

Happy crocheting,

Lisa