Selvage Baskets

A few weeks go I taught a class in how to sew selvages my way at my quilt group. I had no idea how many people would sign up for the class. I was thinking it would be less than 10, so when 28 people signed up I was blown away! The day of the class 27 actually showed up too!

I made kits up that included the materials needed to make a mug rug to get the concept of the sewing and then we moved on to making a selvage basket. I showed a lot of my tips and tricks for making the basket and later several women told me it was new to them the way I did several things and they learned a lot and had fun. That was nice to hear.

I wrote a pdf on how to make the mug rugs and baskets, showing 4 ways to lay out the selvages. It is a step-by-step tutorial that I am now selling the pdf on Makerist here. There are a lot of tips in the basket making construction I share with you and also my way of sewing the selvages is different from anything I have seen online before. This all came about from trying new things until I found a way that worked and worked so well and was easy and fun to do too. It's not what you see, but in the construction method. The pdf was very time consuming to create as I do step-by-step photos and written instructions and it's very long (55 pages), so I do suggest you read it on your tablet or computer and not print it out.

I have decided this will be the last pdf I ever create because it takes way too much time to do and I just don't sell many pdf's at all, even though I have several at Makerist (since Craftsy deleted most of mine). I also have a lot of free tutorials there as well. My last pdf I wrote for the fabric folder hardly made it worth writing since I sold less than 5 since I created it. There are just too many pdf's to choose from out there and prices are all over the place and I get that we are all so busy to make it all and we want free things and even then we don't make them all even if they are free. I don't have the knowledge or graphic programs to create my pdf's using graphics (I use photos) and I tend to write probably more than I need to.

I so much prefer to do the actual making of something, whether it is using a tutorial or pattern of my own or someone else or just creating as I go, which is what I do most of the time. I would rather sell my bags and quilted things on Etsy and craft shows than to write patterns for others. I know a lot of people are pretty successful writing patterns, but I am not one of them and I gave it a pretty good effort. My first paper pattern and then made pdf was my Alphabet Quilt pattern that I made and designed in the year 2000 and then updated it a couple of years ago. Since updating it, I sold a whopping 2 patterns and even then it took over a year for a sale. So after 19 years and so few sales of any pdf, I am no longer creating patterns. I will still sell what I have on Makerist, or should I say "try" to sell them? They do have sales and I will participate in some of their sales, but not all of them and not all of my pdf's will be on sale.

I say this not as sour grapes or anything, but as reality and a learning experience. I gave it a good effort for a number of years and so that's all I could do was my best and I did and I feel good about that. But as the saying goes, "Do what you love" and what I love is to create bags and quilts and knitting. Whether I sell some, keep some and give some away, it is what I love to do and that I hope will continue for the time I have left.

As I enter into my 12 year of blogging here, I also will continue to blog as long as I continue to love it. I hope I can encourage and inspire my readers with my creations. I know a lot of you have been followers for a long time and I know a lot of followers have come and gone too for whatever reasons, so I guess I don't have the kind of blog that everyone wants to follow, and that's okay I get it, we all have certain things we like or not. Blogging has become such a dinosaur anyhow, so I suspect that blogging could end up being a thing of the past at any time. I will continue blogging for as long as there are blogs or until I get tired of it, whichever comes first. I may just slow down on the blogging, but again, depends on how I feel at the moment.

I really don't care for Facebook or Instagram all that much either. I gave them both a try too, but I spend so much time online and for what? A like? Who really cares? I guess if I had a business I would have to be in your face all the time, but I have a hobby that I love, not a business, so I will probably abandon those 2 social medias too. Wasn't life easier and simpler and more enjoyable before all these gadgets to make our lives (so-called) easier? I found this quote on Pinterest and love it! (I do like Pinterest for great ideas).

I love this quote! So true! I feel like my parents talking about the good ol days, but I long for a simpler life.

Okay, I sure got off track!!! LOL!!! Now back to selvage baskets.

I made 3 baskets for the examples of my class (and pdf).

I didn't show how to make the taller one in the middle, but the other 2. I did however give choices of how to set the direction of the selvages: vertical, horizontal, diagonal and double diagonal. Shown here are 2 horizontal and one double diagonal.

I guess I wasn't thinking correctly when I did this as the one diagonal direction I accidentally set upside down! This is the back side of the basket.

Side view of one side.

Side view of the other side.

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