Organize Your Fabric

Whewwww, what a hectic holiday season! All orders were completed and delivered by Christmas. Thank you to all the wonderful customers that made The Crafty Panda a part of their holidays!

Now that the New Year is rapidly approaching, I'm determined to reorganize my studio to make working on new bag designs a little easier.

I purchase most of my fabric by the bolt and it arrives neatly wrapped on cardboard forms. However, there are times when I come across a beautiful piece of fabric in a yard or two or have small amounts remaining from projects or upcycling. I need a handy way to store these fabric pieces on my shelves.

If you're like me and inspired by seeing your beautiful fabric neatly displayed, check out these fabric organizers.

These organizers are made from durable corrugated plastic. The large size can hold from 1/2 to several yards; the small size is perfect for smaller yardages, strips and fat quarters. Each organizer is made of a lightweight, acid-free plastic and includes tabs to hold the fabric. They easily fit on a standard book shelf, plastic bin or in a file-cabinet drawer.

Purchase them direct from  http://www.thefabricorganizer.com/ and start the New Year admiring your beautiful and organized rows of fabric. It's almost like having your own mini-fabric store and no more searching for scraps, trims and more!

Do you have a great idea for organizing fabric? Please share. I'd love to hear your ideas!

Crunch Time

Happy holidays to all! I'm sewing day and night to complete all orders by Friday, Dec. 18. It's a wonderful, crazy and hectic life.

Next week should be slightly saner. Of course, the kids will be out of school for Christmas break so the fun and craziness will continue :)

I'm sketching new designs and will share these in the next couple of weeks. Next week, I will have new posts on tips for storing fabric and marketing your craft or art business.

Hope you are enjoying the magic of the season!

White sand is as close as we get to a "White Christmas" in southern Florida!

Do you have a craft business?

If you have a craft business, this can be your busiest time of the year. Clients are purchasing items for holiday gifts, craft shows are every weekend and you may have a long list of items to handcraft for your personal gift list.

Juggling your business and your personal life will keep you up late into the night - especially this time of the year. It's also a great time of the year to look at your accomplishments for the past year and create goals for the New Year.

There's a great blog from a fellow Etsian, Justine, which includes wonderful ideas for managing and growing your craft business. Take a look at http://etsyselling.com/. Justine is also offering a "Massive Craft Biz Giveaway". Get in on the fun!

Beginning to Look Like Christmas?

My studio sure looks like Santa's Workshop. The rush of finishing bags for customers and the special projects I'm making for friends and family have fabrics, trims and paints spread out on every surface!

Outside, southern Florida doesn't look like the typical Christmas card scene. These are plants on my porch, still in full bloom and showing no signs of slowing down.

Look at the interesting blue bug that landed on this plant. Only stuck around long enough for me to take a quick photo.

A friend emailed me that snow flakes were falling in Minnesota! My little ones are eager to build a snowman. One of these years we'll need to venture north of Florida for a winter vacation. Brrrrrr!!

This week my design projects are to finish a wristlet bag with a teacher theme in a gorgeous shade of red; work on a new handle design that will work as a wristlet and purse handle; and complete a tote with an adorable owl. Look for pictures later this week!

How are your handmade holiday projects coming along?