Pip Robins » Fabric

Happy Holidays!

admin — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:15:51 +0000

Happy Holidays, my very few – and mostly spammer- blog readers.

I made these orange slice ornaments the other day, and they’re just gorgeous. They look like stained glass when in front of a light. I followed these directions, just in case you’re wondering. Mine only took an hour to dry, and they’re still a bit too toasty.

December has been an absolute flurry of activity, cowl sales have far exceeded my expectations, and I’m extremely thankful. You’ve made my family’s holidays much happier and comfortable. Also, as per the entry below, I bought myself an early 30th birthday present.

I should really be slowing down now with the fabric buying, but on my days off from my regular day job I go shopping. And I always find some gems. It took me THREE HOURS on Sunday morning to organize my fabrics, since I work on the floor at all times, and it tends to spread from one end of my house to the other, and here’s about HALF of what I have in stock:

And would you believe that I actually still sit on this chair and sew, perched on the edge? I hope to make all of these cut pieces of fabric into actual cowls over the holidays. Starting tomorrow at 2pm until January 2 at 10am I am on vacation! Horah! I have the best employer I could ask for (outside of myself, of course)!

Happy Holidays, all!

Organizing Fabric

admin — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:21:16 +0000

Sometimes I go through my fabric and it ends up in a complete mess… and it takes me weeks, but I eventually clean it up and organize it.

This is what two small cubbies look right now in my office… a fraction, SMALL fraction of my fabric hoarding:

Is this racist?

admin — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 17:06:19 +0000

I found this tablecloth at a used goods store the other day and got it for free because it was stained and I was buying overpriced craft books. I brought it home and was told that it was racist. Is it from the deep South? Does anyone know what kind of art this is called? Would it still be racist if I was black?

The Art of Fabric

admin — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 23:43:57 +0000

I think I’m addicted to fabric! All of my fabric is vintage, rescued, upcycled, second-hand, procycled, recycled, whatever you want to call it, I don’t buy new fabric for anything other than custom orders. I love finding interesting fabrics to buy and make into really unique pieces.

I literally have over a hundred pounds of fabric (easily!), yet I still want to shop for more! I am afraid I’m going to miss out on really great finds, and so I go to stores to browse through the fabric section and OH! There’s almost always something fantastic. I take it home, wash it, and it sits on my shelf, or in one of my three Rubbermaid containers stuffed FULL of material.

I love the fact that I can create brand new things without the environmental impact of needing to create brand new material. Choosing upcycled fabric means less crude oil, water and pesticides being used and less dye polluting our oceans, not to mention that a lot of the fabric used in G Slings products may have ended up in a nearby landfill had it not been rescued. It also means that everything I’ve ever created is unique- nothing I have put out there is a duplicate of anything else. This goes for zipper pouches, slings, Klean Kanteen kozies, purses, stuffed owls- nothing!

I found this patterned orange and ivory fabric the other day. Just a thick, vintage pillow case in perfect condition (looked like it’d never been used) and snapped it up for $.99. I’m going to pair it with a thick gray that I’ve been using here and there for bibs and pouches, and make a stunning, unique and bold purse (or two).

I love (LOVE!) what I do. A lot of it is the joy of the hunt!