From Vellux Blanket to Reusable Produce Bags

What is a Vellux blanket?

Are you familiar with the Vellux brand of blankets?

Introduced almost sixty years ago, they continue to be a leader in the market today. Even if you're not aware of the name, it's unlikely that you've never seen one or used one, especially if you've ever stayed in a hotel.

These are characterized by their softness, warmth and lightness (in weight). As stated on the Vellux Australia site, "the name derives from 'vel' for velvet, and 'lux' from the Latin for light. The blanket material consists of two layers of a dual density foam melted onto a central membrane and covered with nylon ‘flock’."

That central membrane is the mesh that is the focus of today's sewing project.

This mesh is the underpinning of a Vellux blanket...

Last May, my mom's younger sister, hubby and extended family came up for a short visit. Aunt and uncle stayed over at Mom's place in her den, sleeping on a futon. To enhance the comfort level of the futon, Mom put down a Vellux blanket on top of the sheet. In the middle of the night, my aunt reported that she kicked at the blanket and her foot went right through it!

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When I saw the blanket, it appeared as though it was separating into its composite layers. Noting that the middle layer appeared to be a very usable mesh, I rescued the whole thing from the garbage bin and took it home. (Hey, as a crafter, it's all about identifying opportunities to do so sustainably, right?)

Days later – out on our back lawn – I finished peeling it apart. The top and bottom foamy sections were trashed and the resulting huge expanse of white mesh was tossed into the washing machine. At the time, I didn't have any plans for what to do with it.

Mesh turned into reusable produce bag...

Then in the late days of summer, a bag of bananas "disappeared" on the way home from the grocery store. Most mysterious. Mom insisted that she packed it into our shopping bags, but when we got back to her place, there was no bag of bananas to be found. Searched the vehicle and even called the store. Anyway, long story short, not only was she out her banana purchase (it was on the receipt), I was out a mesh bag.

Weeks later, I thought, what better purpose for this material than to make some reusable produce bags? Of course, I have enough to make many, but three will do for now.

Cutting material for three mesh bags...

I eyeballed the size needed, which turned out to be approximately 30" long by 13" wide. Nothing really difficult about the process; each piece is folded in half horizontally along its length and then the two sides are sewn up with a rolled hem. The top edge is left unfinished.

Three reusable mesh produce bags off the assembly line!

The mesh was surprisingly easy to sew, considering that trying to clip/pin the rolled hem was not without its challenges. (I actually found it easier just to roll the hem as I sewed.)

By the way, my idea of a rolled hem seems to differ somewhat from what I see online. The way I do it does not involve sewing along the edge first and then doing some sort of slicing away of the fabric before sewing again.

My "cheater" rolled hem on a chiffon scarf...

I simply fold the raw edge over and then fold the folded edge over again – i.e., the fabric is rolled to hide the unfinished edge – and then sew down just once to secure the seam.

I'm guessing that the more elaborate method is to ensure perfect results when one is sewing clothing, like around an armhole or neckline. A produce bag does not need perfection, so if you can manually "roll" the seam, I see no reason not to finish it in one pass. 

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Check out crafty classes at Creativebug! [affiliate link]

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If you're wondering why I didn't put any sort of closure on these bags – like a drawstring that's commonly on the ones that you buy – my answer is that the plastic bags that we typically use for this purpose don't have a closure on them either. (And no, I don't use any of the twisty-tie things either.)

The mesh is quite strong and stretchy and the raw edges don't fray, but I would imagine that a drawstring might put undue stress on the stitching around a casing. If you make the bag long enough, it's just as easy to tie a knot when needed.

Holds more than my store-bought mesh bags...

Back to the origins of this project. Apparently the care label on a Vellux blanket indicates that it should be washed a minimum of twice a year. Left untouched in permanent storage, it will invariably dry out, resulting in the self destruction that occurred in this case.

The good news is that if you do happen to have one of these that you've ignored in your linen closet for years, take it outside and peel it apart. Maybe you can use a bunch of reusable produce bags too!

In a worse case scenario, I see this as a total win for repurposing and upcycling. Now that I think back on it, the foamy parts can absolutely be retained for filling stuffies and such, too. Missed opportunity!

'Til next...

The Price of Cheap and Free — Another One Bites the Dust

Makerist gone after less than twelve years...

Makerist is closing down.

We (designers with shops) received an email about their plans to close for "planned downtime to make technical adjustments" back on December 17. The downtime was to occur in two phases, January 29 for cessation of sales and February 11 for cessation of access to the website. No date was given for return to normal.

With the original notice, I found it odd that there was no date for when the work would be completed. Therefore, when I read the emails announcing Makerist's closure this past Tuesday morning, it was sad but ultimately not surprising. It was also irritatingly reminiscent of Crafty's marketplace closure, however, in the amount of notice given. (As in, virtually none.)

The reason? "We can no longer operate [them] sustainably and economically in the long term." Of course not, the economist part of my brain whispered.

Things are tough all over, and that's not just an overused cliché.

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But things may be uniquely tough for any entity – be it a large player like Makerist or an individual pattern designer – trying to sell digital patterns in 2025. The marketplace is simply oversaturated with "cheap and free". Add the fact that virtually every idea has been reimagined by everyone, and the result is that there are just only so many pennies that can be earned per pattern these days, especially when tutorials for so many similar designs can be had for nothing.

This happened regularly...

For Makerist, I suspect that their reliance on regular $2 sales events – which usually required designer shops to participate across the board with all of their patterns – did them no favours. After all, how many designers want to put such a huge reduction on pricing just to make more sales? From a business standpoint, I understand that there is a sweet spot at which total sales will increase sufficiently to cover any perceived losses due to a lower price point, but I doubt that the sweet spot is $2. And if it is, then small wonder certain market players are doomed.

My guess is that most of the big name designers tried the $2 event once or twice and then never again. (I myself never, ever, put my entire shop on at $2... and that's even though I don't have a lot of high priced patterns.) On the other side of the coin, however, such extreme discounts gradually encourage a customer base to wait for the next sale, likely making the in between periods unsettlingly quiet.

But the real problem of selling a pattern that normally sells for $10 at 80% off is that it devalues the entire thing. Not just that specific pattern, but all patterns. Consumers start expecting a high quality product to be available at a low price, which is problematic for sellers who want to maintain reasonable prices or who try to increase them in response to changing economic conditions.

For example, is inflation affecting designers? Of course it is. It's not just a brain wave exercise to come up with a pattern and write instructions. In all cases, a designer will have to make at least one, if not multiple versions, of whatever s/he is designing before the pattern gets to the point of being good enough to sell. Just the cost of the physical supplies to make those samples has gone up over the past five years. (That's not even considering software, technology and potential overhead expenses like website hosting, ecommerce plugins, etc.) But to increase pattern prices when the customer base thinks they're already too high? That's a battle.

A lot of designers sold on Makerist...

I have noted in the past that for me, a price above $10USD for a PDF is excessive. (Actually right now, when my home currency is trading at 68 cents to that US dollar, a ten dollar pattern would cost me $14.65... no way would I pay that!) But that's me; your mileage may vary. The thing is, each of us has an upper limit on how much we are willing to pay for the average sewing pattern. When the marketplace is flooded with offerings at the lower end of that scale, we start to think that patterns should be cheaper.

I have it on good authority that designers who develop and sell PDF sewing patterns for a living are finding it challenging. The creator market has changed dramatically in the past decade. The shutdowns around COVID encouraged new makers to come onto the scene – many of them flocking to YouTube for ad revenue – to snag their own piece of an ever-shrinking pie.

Those who have committed themselves judiciously to YouTube are likely reaping benefits. One of my favourite sewing channels, Estadistica Datos del Mundo, started uploading videos in February of 2020 and recently surpassed one million subscribers. Now, not everyone will have that sort of success, but I'm thinking that there are many channels offering DIY sewing videos every week (some even every few days) that make decent money on advertising. It's why they offer freebies. Free stuff attracts people and if you attract enough people, the advertising dollars will start churning.

Hence, it matters not to those bottom lines that their actual tutorials, patterns or instructions have a price of $0 to the end user.

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Check out crafty classes at Creativebug! [affiliate link]

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My first sale on Makerist came on September 24, 2018. (Hadn't realized it had been over six years.) The platform was a saviour for some of us who were left loose and hanging by Craftsy's demise. Over time, however, it apparently inherited some of Craftsy's problems. I've seen complaints about the quality of patterns – and let's not fool ourselves, patterns these days are expected to include written instructions, my Crossbody Sling Bag notwithstanding – with Makerist being unable to do any quality control. Realistically, it's not as if their people could read and try out every pattern that was uploaded to their site. When you own the platform, however, your customers expect that you'll have their back. Sending them to the pattern designers to iron out issues is not always the best approach.

While I will obviously miss it, I was frequently irked by the setup of things at Makerist. Yes, they made the selling and payment process seamless – meaning that I sold and got paid without any intervention on my part – but the UI involved with doing almost anything was cumbersome. Some of their categories and filters were just odd. Participating in promotions could never be accomplished with a simple click of a button; every time I had to use one of their online forms, it made me want to tear my hair out. A small part of me thought that their impending technical overhaul would fix some of those vexations.

Of course, now I have to search for another place to open up a little shop. That may not come to fruition since there aren't a whole lot of options out there, and some are definitely not worth my while. (For example, it would make no sense for me to go to Etsy, given the fees it charges just to list.) We shall see; I'm not in any hurry as I still have the means to sell my patterns here on the blog.

That said, where do you go to buy PDF patterns these days? Is there a central place where you like to browse? If you're aware of any sites where small indie designers are welcome to open up shops, by all means, let me know in the comments.

Bye-bye, Makerist...

In the days following Makerist's goodbye announcement, a couple of unexpected things happened. One, there was a brief flurry of sales. Two, someone decided to "un-fan" me. Since mid last year, that number had held at 33, as shown in the graphic above. Some time on the 21st, someone thought that with Makerist going down, I no longer merited his/her appreciation! 😲

For the edification of any readers here who have made transactions via my or anyone else's Makerist shop, please note that February 11, 2025 is the last day on which you can download patterns that you have on your account, purchased or free. (You can still purchase patterns up to January 29.) They have indicated that they will be closed as of April 1, but since nothing will be accessible after February 11, I'm not sure the actual closing date has any useful significance. 

By the way, they made a point of stating that they are not insolvent, so I expect all designers will be paid as usual at the end.

In the meanwhile, life – and commerce – marches on.

'Til next...

Planners for Sewing & Everyday Life

An essential part of every new year...

Greetings!

Yes, I too am surprised to be here again so soon, but it's because the topic is sort of "time sensitive". 😉

Did you know that a 1997 calendar can be used for 2025?

I mean, I've always known that calendars can be reused in that sense, but 2024 was the first time that I ever actually did that.

A news story came to my attention last year that 2024=1996, so I dug through my collection of old calendars – I don't keep all of them, but the late 90s was a period during which I bought themed calendars according to my interests of the day – and came up with a pristine 1996 edition. It had never been written on, either, so it got hung up last year behind the door of our kitchen pantry and served its purpose for another year.

We are now far beyond the days when charities used to send out freebie calendars, so I was glad to have discovered that I have reusable calendars for the next five years.

Some time ago, I asked if any of my readers here were "old school" in the sense of using calendars and physical day planners. For a person who has owned a computer since 1986, it might surprise you that I prefer the paper method when it comes to keeping track of important events, dates and tasks. I find it hard to turn my trust over to an electronic device to manage my life in that sense.

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Every fall, I browse my local dollar store to pick up a new day planner, like the one shown at the top of this post. This particular style is one that I've used several times and apart from one niggling thing, it serves my needs. (What's that niggling thing? It doesn't have tabbed monthly calendar pages.)

It lays out a week in a two page spread, and the large coil ensures that it stays open flat. Each day has sufficient lines to record the basics of what I need to track. For day to day to-dos and appointments, it's totally functional. As a sewing or crafting/hobby planner, however, it's probably far from ideal.

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It is a token of healthy and gentle characteristics, when women of high thoughts and accomplishments love to sew; especially as they are never more at home with their hearts than while so occupied.

– Nathaniel Hawthorne

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Do any of you use a planner to track and document your sewing projects?

A few years ago, I came across this Simplicity Vintage notebook in a local discount shop. Of course it would catch my eye, and at $3 it was something that I just tossed into my basket without too much thought. To this day, though, it still hasn't been put to use.

My sewing project book (bottom) and Simplicity Vintage notebook...

That being said, it's just a lined notebook, so it can serve any number of functions. In the spirit of my junk journal project, the first thing it can be is a place to collect thoughts and quotes about our favourite craft. (I've sprinkled various examples of those throughout this post for your enjoyment.)

My project planner book – which you've seen here often in the past, replete with my scribbled notes and diagrams – is a large 8.5" x 11" coil bound volume. It's only a lined notebook, nothing special. For me, I just need blank space to draw and write on a freeform basis; I don't need prompts or category boxes to fill in like someone else might.

Image courtesy of faberwood.com...

That's why I'm thinking perhaps the saying of "different strokes for different folks" applies in this situation. Two people might use something called a sewing planner, but how it's used and what its purpose might be can be totally different. For those in need of consistent structure, here are some pre-printed planners that might fit the bill.

I'll start with the pricier side of things. (Although you may have a hard time finding this first one; it was released a few years back; at the time of this writing, one was available via Amazon Canada at $48.87.) The Simplicity Vintage Sewing Planner is designed to be a daily planner as well as a sewing planner.

Simplicity Vintage Sewing Planner Kit...

As you can see, it's a binder system and comes with various stickers to personalize the calendar pages, with clear pockets and divider tabs to keep you and your sewing projects organized. The appeal, of course, are the beautiful drawings of vintage fashions from Simplicity's heyday. (The whole setup makes me think that if I still had the physical sewing patterns from my youth, I would use the envelopes to create a sewing-themed junk journal.)

If this is the type of solution that floats your boat, designer Lori Holt has a Sew and Stitch Binder Calendar for 2025 that sells for $45 CDN (under $30 USD). It's similarly appointed with pages that pay tribute to her Riley Blake fabrics.

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Take your needle, my child, and work at your pattern; it will come out a rose by and by. Life is like that – one stitch at a time taken patiently and the pattern will come out all right like the embroidery.

– Oliver Wendell Holmes

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If an elaborate pre-made binder system is not in your budget, but you'd still like to track specifics of your sewing projects, there are basic bound paperback planners that can be had for much less. These sell for in and around the $10 mark, and are strictly designed to be project trackers, not day planners. (That is, they don't provide space for you to write something on a daily basis over the course of a year.)

I've just chosen three at random (from Amazon); they are fairly similar in style, with the differences being in the headings and areas for detail. Those who appreciate having a documented log of what they've sewn and how they've sewn it may find these types of planners useful or even essential. (I've superimposed the cover of the planner on top of a sample page in the images that follow.)

Here is one that is aimed at clothing design. It's called the Sewing Project Planner and Fashion Sketchbook. Alongside the planning page is a front and back mannequin figure upon which to sketch your creation. Book is 83 pages in length.

Sample page from Sewing Project Planner and Fashion Sketchbookby Anne-Sophie Weber...

Another one that's for more general sewing projects is the Sewing Project Planner put out by Craftland River Press.

 

Sample page from Sewing Project Planner by Craftland River Press...

Each project is given a two page spread; book is 110 pages in total. Categories that you can't see in the above include Sketch, Color Scheme, Fabric Swatch and Use For, and (from the second page) Ideas & Notes, and Results & Future Makes.

Image courtesy of faberwood.com...

Lastly, this one is called Sewing Journal, by Jordana Terry. Like the previous two, each project is given a two page spread as well.

Sample page from Sewing Journal by Jordana Terry...

Categories that you can't see from the image above include Main Fabric Sample, Lining Fabric Sample, Interfacing Sample, and (from the second page) Measurement, Materials, and Photo of Completed Work.

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Check out crafty classes at Creativebug! [affiliate link]

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For those who are interested in monetizing their sewing passion, bag designer Christine Welsh of ChrisW Designs offers a set of business oriented planners meant to help guide and organize your selling efforts on Etsy, Shopify or just in your local market. They are in PDF format, meaning that you are purchasing a digital file and must print out the pages yourself. Once printed, you can organize them as you wish in a normal binder.

image courtesy of ChrisWDesigns.com...

Christine also has a two in one solution for those of you who like to combine your daily planning with bag making. Her new 2025 PDF day planner/calendar gives you ultimate control of how you want to organize your days and your projects by printing as many or as few pages as you want or need. You don't even need to worry about what size to select; the planner can be printed in any of three popular paper sizes.

image courtesy of ChrisWDesigns.com...

You can find this at the same link given above for the business planners.

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I am certain that a sewing machine would relieve as much human suffering as a hundred lunatic asylums, and possibly a good deal more.

– Margaret Atwood

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As far as tracking my own sewing goes, a simple lined notebook has worked well for me over the years, but that's me. If you can benefit from writing down details about your sewing projects – a practice that's immensely helpful if you're still learning the craft or if you make multiples of whatever – a planner may be just the thing to keep you focused and organized.

While bound volumes are easy to carry around, the versatility and flexibility of a self-made binder system can't be beat if you crave extra organization and/or have different types of projects to track; i.e., clothing, quilts, bags, etc.

Whatever your needs, you can find all sorts of custom planner pages on Etsy and elsewhere; the choices are as wide and varied as individual needs are.

'Til next...

A Look Back at a Year of Blogging/Not Blogging

Find what fuels you in life...

Is everyone happy to be done with this past week? (I know I am!)

As I look back on and bid adieu to 2024, one thing that I can definitely say is that it's been a different sort of year than the previous ten.

Twelve months ago, I signed off here without knowing when I'd be back. After a decade of uploading a new blog post every Saturday, I was about to embark on a new phase of not doing so.

What the phase would involve in terms of what I'd be doing was a mystery, but I gave myself permission to do nothing, if that had been my desire.

What ended up here was six months' worth of focus on a junk journal project, which involved a little bit of sewing, so it wasn't totally off topic.

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The Journal

The journal itself has become part of my daily routine throughout this past year, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. It's also grown in girth, moving even beyond its original jumbo size; the cover closure no longer overlaps.

Getting even bigger...

In September, I filled up my first notebook and progressed into a second, which was easily threaded into place inside the back cover. (Our motor association travel magazine provides a vast array of images to tear out and paste onto the covers of these basic dollar store notebooks.)

Old notebook filled up (insets); new notebook in place...

On a regular basis, I flip through the notebook portion and transcribe the most memorable quotations into the main body of the journal. (Some are scattered throughout this post; I hope you find meaning in them as I have.) The more time goes by, the truer it is that we are only here for a (relatively) short while. It's a blessing to be able to find what your passion is and to able to give your time to its fulfillment.

Fulfillment can be achieved a little bit at a time...

Oh, and although I am of a mind that this journal should be mostly reserved for uplifting content, I did think it worthwhile to include this little gem from one of my favourite literary characters.

Jane Austen was remarkably worldly for her age...

While this quote has been applicable throughout the decades since it was originally written, I find it especially true now with the prevalence and general acceptance of fake personas cultivated by people with ulterior motives. (Be smart about who – and what – you choose to trust... especially in the age of AI.)

The Bags

A coat tree that exists just for my bags...

A little over a year ago, I also wrote about giving away what we make.

It was an accounting of the problem that we sewers commonly have, of making things that are difficult to sell and in many cases, just as hard to give away.

Yes, we can gift things, but unless we are very knowledgeable about the recipient, it may not end up being a welcome or usable gift. (And as I've said, before, it's not always the thought that counts!)

In this post, I listed nine of the bags that I've made through the years and made them available to any takers, provided that shipping costs were covered by the recipient.

You may be curious as to how it turned out, so here's a little update.

Right after the posting, I received two requests from a couple of regular readers. Those orders were fulfilled in the early part of 2024 without any major issue. (I did learn, however, that there always seems to be a lineup at the post office outlets near where I live, despite Canada Post's ongoing troubles.)

Messenger bag has a new owner...

It wasn't until August that I had the opportunity to winnow this collection down further. Hubby and I reconnected with some extended family members, one of whom is a young lady I haven't seen since she was twelve.

Once we established that there was an interest, she selected matching bags for herself and her sister: the Betz White Flight Bag and the modified Dubstepper messenger. I've always considered them both highly functional and the customized messenger is a great choice for a student.

Life is short... fill it with things you love doing!

Oftentimes, there is just no better feeling than knowing that something you made is being appreciated and used by someone! (Oh, and if anyone is interested in the others, this offer still remains in effect, although my ability to mail anything might be questionable for some time yet, what with our postal service still being backlogged after their recent work stoppage.)

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Check out crafty classes at Creativebug! [affiliate link]

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The Internet

So how did I feel about blogging and being online this past year?

Well, there was a definite lack of pressure, which is a good thing. (I think that posting once every three weeks or so is manageable for the immediate future.) I appreciate the opportunity to continue writing, period, as it's a pastime that rejuvenates me and keeps me sharp.

The world needs more hard workers and fewer blowhards...

As for the other part of that question, I purposely avoided consuming a lot of social media interactions in 2024, having seen how even the comment section on seemingly innocuous news stories can explode into vile arguments for no apparent reason.

Image courtesy of Oxford University...

No, the world is not getting better, regardless of any desire of mine for it to be so. I've said what I can and continue to do what I can, but no more extended soapboxing or grandstanding for me here either.

On the brighter side of things, Australia gets a fist pump from me for having the gumption to set a world-first law by preventing kids under 16 from accessing social media. Getting to the "how" of this decision will be challenging, I'm sure, but more countries need to take a stand and get on board. Perhaps then, Oxford University won't have to choose such depressing words of the year in future.

I ended up writing nineteen blog posts this year. I can't tell you whether that was more or less what I expected, since I had no goals or expectations on that front. (I just knew the number wouldn't be anything close to fifty-two.) If the junk journal hadn't happened, I may not have posted until the summer. When I said last December that I might use the extra time on my hands to sew more, I couldn't have been more wrong!

The Sewing

The concept of "extra time" is relative when you don't actually have a fixed work schedule. As a retired person, whatever you need to do will always magically take up the amount of hours that you have.

Shedding life's complexities can be freeing...

The extent of my sewing for this past year was probably less than I had ever done in any of the dozen years leading up to 2024.

To summarize what I accomplished on that front, there were the small amounts of sewing relating to the junk journal (vinyl storage pocket, various ephemera — the cover was actually a late December 2023 project), modifying some tea towels for Mom, the new laptop case for hubby, two Passport & Travel Document Keepers for an SIL, "darning" some socks (and this was only hand sewing), the fabric "gingerbread" house, and three projects that will be the topics of posts for the first part of 2025.

The Surprises

As promised when I announced my break from blogging, I still "hung around" in 2024 to ensure that comments were responded to, that spam was fried, and that pattern sales were fulfilled. It's always a pleasant surprise to receive comments about posts from long ago. (The persistence of spam is not so much appreciated, but I wasn't inundated by them.)

Always one to dig into stats – I once pondered a career as a statistician, would you believe?? – I kept a close eye on popular posts and trending posts. Not that knowing what they are would drive me to change my blogging habits (although I might just summarize them next year in a blog post); it was just out of simple curiosity.

This was my most significant breakthrough of the year...

 

It surprised me when – essentially all year long – a post about how to fold a blanket into a cape has held its position at number one. (Since I'm writing this part one day before this post goes live, I'm sure that if you check out the left sidebar, that post will still be at the top of the "Most Popular" list.)

Really odd why that topic has been of such interest. Also surprising – given that it is a popular topic – is the fact that the post currently holds the number one position for the search term "how to fold a blanket into a poncho". (Apart from employing best practices from the get-go, I don't do a lot of tweaking with SEO.) Because I'm not actively looking to grow my blog's following, newbie visitors referred from online searches are always a welcome surprise.

My 2025 wish for you...

Further on the topic of new readers, I was surprised to gain a few more subscribers this year than I had any expectation to gain, given my reduced involvement. (It was probably enough to equal the number who bailed on me right after my announcement of "quitting" last December — LOL!)

As we close off the current year, let me leave you with three important questions. Are you keeping well? Are you staying smart? And are you still being kind?

Aldous Huxley and Paddington Bear have good ideas...

I sincerely hope so. 🤗

On that note, 'til 2025...