Experimenting With Automotive Lining and Photography

Eek, that was a long subject title. But honestly that’s what I’m doing!  Yesterday I finished my entry for A Lemon Squeezy Home Purse Week 2012 (See contest rules HERE.) and will post completed pictures and simple directions tomorrow. I am so pleased with how it turned out and I can honestly say that while I love the look of hand stitching on fabric it sure does take a lot of time! I am not sure if I will keep the bag or list it in the shop, so we’ll see.

This morning after I sent all the boys to school I headed over to Hancock Fabrics to pick up a few things. I purchased a few yards of clear thick vinyl, a remnant pack of a buttery soft cream vinyl, and some automotive headliner (shown above).  I have been trying to think of alternative lining for larger totes and bags. I often use Fusible Fleece or felt, but I wanted something that had a bit more substance and structure to it yet wouldn’t bulk up the seams.  So when I saw a row of automotive lining-foam at Hancocks today I picked up a few yards. On the tag it says: Headliner-Doeskin/100%Nylon/60″.  Have you ever worked with this before (besides on cars!!). I’ll play around with it in the next couple of weeks and report back.

I also have been working with my Digital SLR and trying out various colors and locations to take shots of my products for the shop. I am not a very good photographer, so this has been a challenge. I will probably end up using white foam board as it looks the cleanest, but I found this cute mini iron bench and a large plate stand at Ross today that I’m going to try out as well. Isn’t it the cutest thing?!?!  What’s great about the little bench is that there are 2 hooks on the side where you can bring the seat and sides down to store flat. YAY! I may use this bench for my clutches and other small accessories, but we’ll see how it turn out in the photos.

The fabric in the first picture is part of a 4-pack of table mats. The front is the red pattern, the back is black polka dot. They measure 12″x18″ and are made of 100%cotton -very thick stuff.  I am going to get my seam ripper out tonight and pry those babies apart and think of all the wonderful things I could make with it. I just love finding cute table linens to re-use as bags and clutches!  Have a happy Monday.