Back to business!

Good news! Postal services should resume tomorrow,
Tuesday June 27. As a result, I've re-opened both
of my Etsy shops. I've also listed some new magnet
sets in my Zippster shop, and a new
"create your own magnet set" option,
which I think is a fun idea for gifts.

New sewing machine

Well, the time came: my old 20+ years-old Kenmore has retired. I've been fighting with it for a while now, and was spending more time unjamming and ripping out bad stitching than I was sewing. I tried out quite a few machines, including Singers, Bernina (nice but out of my price range), and Janomes (I have a Janome serger and really like it). I used this website to do some research and read reviews. This is the machine I bought, the Janome 2030QDC (computerized, how fancy!):


It's actually considered a quilter's machine but has all the features I needed without being overly complicated with bells and whistles. It has good power, is fast, and easy to use - I took it out of the box, plugged it in and started sewing right away (well, the most difficult thing was trying to figure out the auto-threader!). It also came with an extended sewing table, hard case and lots of accessories. So nice to have consistent, even stitching!

Canada Post in full strike mode

Fortunately, the recent Canada Post strike hadn't affected me until yesterday, when it was Toronto's turn as part of the rotating work stoppage. But Canada Post has now locked out its workers and suspended operations.
Most of the supplies I recently ordered, and a birthday gift, arrived before the work stoppage in Toronto, but I'm waiting for some vintage fabric to arrive, and I just ordered some coloured metal purse frames (!) which I'm very excited about. In the meanwhile, I've put both of my Etsy shops in vacation mode, and I'm working on some messenger bags for Wise Daughters.

Sneak Peek

Normally I usually make smaller coin purses, but I've decided to make some larger ones. I already had some larger purse frames in my supplies stash, but I also purchased some even larger frames (over 8"), which I'm going to use to make clutches, but I need to purchase a different frame pincher (the one I use for the smaller frames isn't strong enough for the larger frames). For now, here's a sample of some new coin purses - the three larger ones at the back use either silk or vintage fabric (love the curved antique brass frame in the bottom left, it's my new favourite frame):



Recently I came across some vintage silk kimono fabric, which I'm going to use for the larger clutches. The fabric is really beautiful:



But I'm having major problems with my domestic sewing machine, which is probably close to 20 years old. I've never had it serviced, so that's a start, but I may look into investing in a new one, something that's got a bit more power and features. The research begins...

Canada Post strike

Well, it happened: Canada Post is on strike, effective Friday, June 3. Their website is currently down so I can't get details, but apparently strike action will be rolled out to different cities in 24-hour increments. Not only does this mean I can't mail out orders from my Etsy stores, but I recently ordered a bunch of fabric and metal purse frames, supplies which I need to make more items for my retail customers. Not good. Let's hope it's resolved quickly, please!