Fifi's Christmas Market, Brick Lane

On Saturday 10th December 2011 I'm going to be at my second craft market. This is the Christmas market organised by Fifi's Markets just off Brick Lane in East London. See the flyer for details. I'll be taking all my Christmas items plus some new decorations and gifts that I'm still working on! Also a first outing for my new hemp bags. I'm really looking forward to it.

I really need to work on uploading flyers if I make the ones above any bigger they go blurry. Click on the link if you can't read it properly.

I'm going along to Brick Lane tomorrow to look around the other markets that are there every weekend. They are meant to be really good for craft, fashion and food so I'll post a review for any of you that haven't been before.

Hemp

Well I've finally got around to photographing the bags I've made with the hemp which I blogged about in my last post. I've been waiting for some sunshine so I can take the photos. I've been looking to work with hemp for a long time, as it is such an enviromentally sound fabric. Hemp grows really fast, needs no pesticides and very little water. Once harvested all the plant can be used and the fabric properties are very similar to linen in that it draws moisture away from the skin etc. So an all round great fabric. The fabric used for the bags I've made are 100% hemp canvas (blue) and a hemp cotton mix denim (plum).

These bags should be in my shops soon. I've just bought some more hemp one of which is 100% hemp twill. The colours I've bought to dye them are grey and olive green. I can't wait to get started on the dyeing but I have another craft market coming up so I'll have to wait!

I'll post details of the craft market in the next couple of days.

Dyeing Fabric

After getting quite frustrated at not being able to get the fabrics in the colours and weights that I wanted I decided to take matters into my own hands (literally) and try dyeing fabric myself. I have been experimenting with hemp recently as it's a great eco and versatile fabric and I love it. Here are some photos of before and after. It was great and I've made a couple of bags so far with the results, they should be in my shop soon.

Remember Movember

November is the month for the charity Movember when men all over the world grow their moustaches to raise funds and awareness for men's cancer. I was contacted last month by a fund raiser in the Netherlands, Lilly Lam. She is supporting the charity by opening a shop to raise funds. The moutache market bag I printed caught her eye as the perfect purchase for women to support the charity. I printed up some more bags and sent them to Amsterdam (I do hope they have arrived safely!). So encourage the men in your life to hone their hairy upper lip! I'm told it's very fashionable.

Stour Space Designer's Market

We finally made it to the craft market! First one ever and the weather was lovely. Stour Space is in a back street in Hackney Wick, although it looks like a an industrial estate, I was told that lots of the warehouses are flats. This was bourne out by the number of people who walk to the cafe for breakfast. It has a great atmosphere, buzzy and yet very relaxed.

The market was smallish about 15 stalls with a good variety of makers. For a few it was also their first market.

 

Craft Market update

The August craft market at Stour Space did not go ahead so will now be at the September one on 24th. This has given me time to get some Autumn bags made as well as the market bags. I'm pleased with the market bags as these are some of my first screen prints. The camera one was so difficult to cut out and my finger was numb for 3 weeks from the crafts knife! I must get an exposure unit set up.

This flyer is bit fuzzy but here's the link to Stour Space.

My first craft market.

I'm very excited, today I booked a table at my first craft market. It's not far from home in East London. It's taking place at http://portal.stourspace.co.uk/designers-market/  on the 27th August, so if any of you feel like coming along and blacking your nose it would be great to see you.
I also had to sort out public liability insurance, which was a bit daunting, but after some research I became a member of The Federation of Market Traders which comes with insurance and other benifits.
If anyone out there has already been to the maket at Stourspace please let me know, I'd love to hear your comments.

New shop open on Folksy

We have recently opened a Ruffle Shop on Folksy too. Although we have more items on Etsy at the moment but we will be working to catch up!

We have been working on some new designs for wristlets. The Taffeta Evening bags we have for sale already on Etsy are worn on the wrist but we want some everyday ones also.

The weather today felt quite autumnal (is that spelt right?) and having bought some lovely new velvet and tweed fabrics recently we can't wait to get started on new designs for next season.

Welcome To Ruffle Shop Blog

Hello! Welcome to the online blog of Ruffle Shop
We create hand crafted accessories for fashion and the home. If you see anything you like, they are available on our etsy shop. But don't hang around if you like something, many of our items are one of a kind! However, we are making new items all the time so visit us regularly to see out latest designs

We offer a range of hand crafted :

• Accessories
• Buttons
• Toys
• Bags
• Makeup bags
• Hair accessories
• Earrings

We hope you enjoy our blog,
Ruffle Shop.