Custom Pool Table Cover

This month I'm showing some of the custom work Li Sashay does, this is a custom decorating job we did for a pool table for a friend. They wanted something to protect their pool table felt from their cat without being so long that it hid everything under it. Also, the fabric used was stain resistant to help protect from spills or party mishaps. A sweet 9 ft. table. Tables are a great project to flex your sewing muscles on as they are straight forward and can be done on even a simple machine. I prefer lined versions as they look cleaner and hold up longer, but unlined are common because the cost of fabric adds up quickly. The results are definitely worth it regardless. It's a great Saturday project to add elegance and class to any rec room.

If you're interested in making your own, check out our how-to-sewing tutorial.

Bag Prototyping and Design

The sun is finally warming up and the rain and snow of last week are disappearing. It's been in the 60s several days this week, which feels like spring for a change. I've had a fair number of design prototype submissions work, and several clients agreed to let me show you their work. One of my favorite submissions was a set of 4 different bag designs for a company out of Durham for the light kindle.

I had a yard and a half of each of two color fabrics and 1 day to design it. The selection was a french toile and soft black lining. After looking up the dimensions, I created a block pattern and cut up my pieces. You can see the resulting pieces. Didn't look like much at that point. Thankfully, as one of my old instructors told me, fabric is about the magic of creating a 3D creation out of a 2D design. There's a lot of truth to that still although computers are changing the game. I often wonder if in another decade they will still have you create slopers and blockers to design stuff. Several hours later, you could see the final project.

Unfortunately, these did not make it out of the design cutting floor, we ended up going with another model as the handles were too long, but we landed the contract. Due to client confidentiality, I can't show you what we're working on now. I thought I would show these this week as an example of design submissions and how not everything is perfect, more a work in progress. And that's ok. I think too many designers expect drawing to be perfect right off the bat when instead, it takes several runs often to get things right. Problem shooting is important.

Well, let me run. I have more designs to do this week and hopefully the weather will hold to put up some of our own bag. Next, I am going to show you how to do a custom pool table cover I did with a friend over the weekend. I broke it down with how to instructions so you can do your own. You will need roughly 1 yard per foot of the pool table. For example an 8 ft table would take 8 yards, and a 9 ft. table would take 9 yards.

Valentines at Loco Lu's

Friday, we had fun updating our displays at Loco Lu's Coffeehouse for Valentine's Day. It's one of my favorite places to grab a cup of coffee or listen to some relaxing jazz music. There's also a variety of other events to go to: karaoke, knitting clubs, open mike. You name it. You can check them out here: http://locolu.com/home.html Click on the meetings section to see upcoming events.

For Valentines, we did several new additions. First, Nash did an awesome job hanging all the fixtures and Lu put in lighting so you can see everything more clearly. We also dropped in larger price signs and a biography. Overall it looked great. It's always fun to put in a little elbow grease and see the results blossom.

My favorite part was getting to add the gift of free gift wrap for anyone who purchased jewelry. I put up a little sign with directions on how to fold the furoshikis. It's a slimmed down version of the post on the blog last week, but keeps the important parts.

I had a lot of fun redesigning our furoshikis this past week, and it seemed only right to let you the customer benefit. Feel free to pick one up with your coffee or sandwich for Valentine's Day. And on that note, Happy Valentines Day!

Folding Furoshikis

This week I had fun redesigning one of our best sellers, the furoshiki. Last year these made the front page of etsy and after this past christmas season I wanted to give it a few upgrades and simplify the process to hopefully make this as easy as tying your shoes.
As a background furoshikis have been around since the 12th century, originally as a method of wrapping bridal gifts, they became common in the 18th century as an economical way of taking lunches to work and school. We have 4 basic sizes, x-small which is perfect for wrapping gift cards and small gifts such an earring card. Think credit card size and you have it. Small is jewelry sized for a standard ring/earring box; medium is for packed lunches (bentos) or a hard cover book; and large is big enough for an average shirt box. We have a variety of colors and each one is lined.
Alright to start wrapping your present, we have a small furoshiki for jewelry and earrings as a model.

1. First, put your jewelry in the box (see picture on right).

2. Next, place the furoshiki with the label facing you so you can read it. The bottom point should be facing your belly button (see picture on left).

3. Put the box squarely on top of the label.

4. Take the bottom corner and fold it towards the top. You can tuck the corner if it goes past the box (See picture on right).

5. Take the top corner and fold it down towards you. You tuck the corner under for smooth look.
At this point you should see your furoshiki looking like a burrito (See picture on left).

6. Alright, last part. Channel your five year old self, tying your shoes for the first time. Take the left and right sides, bring them to the top and tie a basic knot. If there's a lot of extra or you want to make super sure your little kid brother can't get in, make it a double-knot, but I normally find the friction involved will hold a single knot just fine (See picture on right).

7. Voila you're done.

Easy right? You can also reverse it if you prefer the other color side. Alright, well....that's our newly updated product for the week. Check back next week for new purse styles. You can check out our etsy shop for various looks and styles:


http://www.etsy.com/shop/lisashay

New Year, New Year's Resolutions!

2011 has started and I find myself enjoying the let up in the holiday rush. My new clothing labels from Hong Kong finally came in the mail this week after months of back and forth and I'm excited to add a new level of professionalism for Li Sashay. I have several sizes, but most of them fall under a small size for accessories and a larger size for clothing. You can look forward to seeing them on a variety looks for Spring 2011.

Nash's semi-precious jewelry has continued to do well and one of the goals this spring is to add it to the Etsy online shop so that our customers can purchase some. We're looking forward to doing a variety of shows this Spring which I plan to start posting on next week.

Have a great week. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Loco Lu's CoffeeHouse

This past month has been growing. We did our first coffee shop in one of my new favorite music hangouts called Loco Lu's Coffeehouse. The jewelry is doing well and I'm looking forward to seeing the place continue to expand. They have a great jazz band that plays every couple of weeks on Thurs nights and open mike night are Mondays after 7 pm. It's a great after work spot. We had our very own fashion designer Jolina venture forth from Li Sashay for a romantic surprise engagement. Here's to a little true love and best wishes on the journey ahead. I'm sure you two will do great.
In place Li Sashay added a new member to the team to create jewelry for the collections, local resident blacksmith and machinist at NC State. Nash Page is one very awesome boyfriend. He loves working in metal and semi-precious stones. You can start looking for his creations at our upcoming show at the NoDa All Arts Market in Charlotte December 15th and 16th. He's also done work for NC State Theater Arts doing set and tech work so we are very lucky to have him.
We also upgraded out Artfire account to Pro, there's not much to see, but we plan to put up studio pictures which is exciting for you the customer. That way, you can see where your creations come from. Hope that you are enjoying the holiday season as well.

Southern Comforts Antique & Fall Festival

Saturday, I had fun at the Southern Comforts Antique and Fall Festival in Salisbury. It was a chance to catch up with some of my Charlotte Crown Town Fellow Artisans and see what they are doing. It's been a wonderful, busy month or so and it was nice to take a break and see the creativity. I almost set up some tables, but given boutique and fall set ups these days, we're a little pressed for time. Hopefully, Southern Comforts Antiques will host it again, possibly in the spring when things slow down a little so we can do more than just window shop.
First, the set-up was great with several buildings and a number of tents and everything ranging from antiques to artists. My mom went along and she became fairly obsessed with the goat's milk soap. Me, I have to confess more than a little wow factor with my fellow jewelry artists. It always impresses me what people can make and design out of simple stones, metal, and dreams. Accessories are the wow factor in fashion, and it's always nice to see another's creativity. I spend most of my day's soaked in fabrics, thread, and folds, only occasionally venturing into the .
The whole event was fairly steady, that rare combination of buyers and shoppers where you can actually shop without being swamped or hear the crickets chirping. This is a great show for a person getting their feet wet as an artist or a person looking to support their local creative vibe. The prices were reasonable and very diverse. A wonderful event all around.