More Drawstring Bags

Having figured out how we want to make drawstring bags Wednesday night, last night I started actual work.

I ended up laying out 20 drawstring bags on various bits of upholstery/heavy garment leather that I found in the stash - green, navy blue, smooth black, suede pigskin in black, and one on some nice light tan. I managed to get a six-foot long table put up in the dining room (yes, you can still get in and out), and used my new safety ruler. I like my safety ruler, you put it down and it stays with no slipping. And I'm sure I'll appreciate the safety aspects even more when I start doing lots of cutting with it.

It still surprises me how fast I can work assembly-line fashion: all I did last night was lay the bags out/trace them onto the leather - no cutting, no marking for drawstring holes or for the flat-bottomed large bags, etc. I'll probably work on cutting, marking, and possibly punching holes tonight, so Ron can start sewing. And there's still more leather I can make into bags, so I'll probably go back and lay out another batch.

I have a vague fear that a variant of Murphy's Law will kick in and we won't sell any drawstring bags at CodCon, but we also needed something along the cheap-and-simple lines for a while, since we ran low/out of a bunch of little "envelope" pouches I made at one point. So even if the bags don't sell at CodCon, I expect they'll be a good addition to inventory. I haven't figured out the theoretical costs for the bags, so I haven't decided on prices yet, so that's another thing I need to do.

Other plans for this weekend include getting the shoulder straps onto the two black purses I have otherwise done, and getting the big pile of finished pouches (pushing two dozen if you count the purses) tagged and into the inventory list. The slow part there is doing the cost computations for things - most pouches I try to figure out the actual cost of each. There's also a couple-three pockets I need to cut gussets for, and get Ron to finish sewing together.

I think my plan for tomorrow is to start out the morning by finishing the purses, then move on to cutting (and gluing) pocket gussets. After that I'll cost/tag pouches and update inventory, then move back to the drawstring bag binge. With interruptions for the usual schlepping of Robin to and from karate, the new addition of getting him to Games Plus or the train station after a quick shower, change of clothes, and lunch, and later in the day picking him up from the train station. And this week, a PeaPod delivery.

Which reminds me, I need to finish my PeaPod order before 8 tonight so we actually have food next week...