The learning curve

One thing I've learned at the Farmer's Market is that the audience is completely different from the buyers on Etsy and my website. I've mentioned before that I haven't sold any monkeys, the one thing I expected to sell there. After my 4th market, I've still sold zero monkeys, unless you count friends. Also, I've been selling bibs, which don't do well on Etsy. I assume that's based on availability though. There are millions of bibs on Etsy and I'm not giving mine away like a lot of people are. So be it. I'm finding the differences to be a good thing. I like that fact that I'm selling different things in different venues. It's great.
My first, second and third actual quilt sales have been at the market. I always knew quilts would be something people would want to buy in person. I find it very difficult to photograph quilts well too. I discovered recently that clipping them to the kitchen window in the morning works well. It's the best way to capture the quilt straight on and in good light. This one's my latest. I had a customer who wanted one for a boy, but couldn't decide on the ones I had made up. I sent her to my site to check out these fabrics and she loved them. I've had this quilt ready to go for a long time. I'm glad someone finally wanted it. I think it turned out really nice, and very soft.
Glad to know that it's worth my time to have bought all that fabric to make quilts & bibs. And just a little update on the credit card situation. So far, I'd have to say it's a good thing I signed up to take them. Since I put up the sign, all but two sales have been credit cards. The account has already paid for itself. Cool.
I'll be trying a new market location on Wednesday, Fairfax. This one is another new audience. Lots of mommies. It's in a park under a lot of really tall trees. One of my good friends is coming to town to join me, should be a great time even if I don't sell anything. Life is good.

Yet another

So I've just listed my 3rd Catie Diaper Bag today, both on Etsy and iSew.biz. I got a chance to use my long awaited Dick & Jane fabrics, and I still have enough left over to make a few bibs, hooray! I'm pretty happy with this bag, you can't say it's dull, it's really bright! A lot of mom's don't seem to want the baby pastel stuff these days. This one will appeal to them, it's downright loud. It'd be great for a baby shower gift for someone who doesn't know the sex of the baby yet too, it's pretty gender-neutral. I enjoy using lots of fabrics to make these bags, but it takes ages. The cutout time is way longer because of the multiple fabrics. It's a different look compared to most diaper bags so I think it's worth it.

In other news... I've been having a lot of trouble with my sewing machine lately. Well, let me rephrase that, it's been a real pain in the neck since I got it. I find this particularly disturbing because I've only had it a year, and it cost a fortune. It's a PFAFF 2144, a very nice machine. It does embroidery too, or it would if I could get the software to work for me. Don't get me started on that. Anyway, I'm a bit of a perfectionist and I can't seem to get this machine to do a simple straight stitch sometimes. This is rediculous! Every time I go to topstitch something, or stitch up anything on the small side, I get all worked up because I know the machine may not do it. Sad, no? My old $89 Brother that I got in like 1989 was better than this. Even more frustrating, is the fact that I was absolutely in love with my last PFAFF. What the heck is the deal with this thing? I'm looking forward to going back to California so I can get it serviced. It's not like I can just go without a sewing machine, it's kinda what I do.

What I'm trying to say is this... I would have had another bag done today if I hadn't had to pull the topstitching out 4 times. I ended up taking part of the machine off & cleaning it out as much as I could (this includes a good swipe with the vacuum). It seems to have helped, but I'm still not impressed. Even a less AR (anal retentive, as my boyfriend calls it) person would not accept the stitching my PFAFF is doing these days. It's criminal what I paid for this machine, it should work properly.