Moving On

Thanks for your interest in my blog! My husband and I are working hard on a new business plan.  VinAlly has run its course. I got some great feedback on my products, and learned lots in terms of what doesn't work for marketing.  I probably should have gone to trade shows and if I was still passionate about it, tried to list on Amazon and Etsy wholesale.  But! my heart's not in it.  Looking forward to what is ahead.

This blog is the summary of my observations and research in working with recycled vinyl tarps, and I hope it might prove useful to others who might also be interested in working with this material.

New listings

My Etsy shop

I had some inventory hanging around unphotographed so I finally got them processed. I was inspired by a recent podcast interview of a successful Etsy seller, and by a complimentary message from a recent customer. Next up is to finish up the ones that are cut out but not sewn.

Swing Arm Binder Attachment from Sailrite

Test sewing a strip of 1" vinyl binding

 My recently-acquired swing-arm binder from Sailrite! The challenge was to find the right size of machine bolts to fit my Yakumo TDU N62 sewing machine. After visiting all the major hardware chains and specialty bolt supply places, I finally found 3.5 mm bolts at PM Hobbycraft. Sailrite recommended a dry lubricant sprayed inside the binder if I was going to use vinyl instead of fabric.  Otherwise the vinyl tends to catch inside the binder and what a mess.

I purchased a swing-arm binder because I need to backstitch at the end of a seam.

Youtube video on my new binder is here.

Swing-arm binder, 3.5 mm bolts and Glidecote lubricant

24 Tote Bags

I finished sewing 24 tote bags from a client's recycled vinyl banners. Great to have a repetitive project to hone one's sewing skills. For a few of them I was able to preserve the grommeted edge. For the majority of the bags I used a seam binding made from another piece of vinyl. The client is going to give them away as prizes for a Stampede barbeque. 

Sugru/Oogoo Design possibilities

I was mending some iPad charging cables with homemade Sugru and didn't consider the further possibilities until just recently.  Shown is my first test piece, a glass jar.  I had been thinking of making baby food jars into lunchbox snack-food containers that were shatter resistant and dishwasher safe. Sugru fits the bill for that purpose.

When I was mending my charging cables, the excess sugru stuck to my vinyl tarp used as a dropcloth.  Then I realized I can make iPad cases with silicone corners. I don't have to have all those fiddly shapes to sew to make openings for the speakers, audio port, cameras and charging port -- which is why I haven't been making iPad sleeves to this point.  fixing the tablet with flexible corner mounts is much better.

The sugru would also make a great stylus holder.
My ideal iPad case has a stylus holder, macro lens holder, bottle of screen cleaner, and charging cable storage. And of course the ability to prop it up, plus being an artistic statement. These attributes I will ponder. 

Lower image is from instructables.

Yet more design iterations on the Soap Caddy Bag

I made the seams flat in the soap drying mesh so the seams don't dig into the soap, and added a loop for razor storage. I've also downsized the bag to fit a local store's soap bars.  I've now been reinforcing the handle attachment points by doubling the vinyl. They just keep improving, folks.

I created a mesh with beehive hexagons to go with the theme of the store and made a decal out of their logo. It was a very intricate logo but I got it to work.

Look how great this customization is! Hotels, campgrounds and RV parks could use this for ongoing advertising! Wish I had more time to market the heck out of these.

Panama Concrete wall blocks, the patterns therein

Recently I enjoyed visiting Panama. I noticed that their concrete divider walls and windows had more variety of patterns than I find in my part of the world. I sketched as many different ones as I could when I was there.  I used Paper 53 as my notepad. Then for this composite image I used Photoshop Touch on the iPad. These patterns might end up in future soap caddy bags. also here.

Hey I don't know if anyone actually reads this blog, but I moderate comments because it seems like most of the comments I have been getting are linkback spam.  That is, the comment doesn't seem to have anything to do with the blog post, just general flattery, or something to do with a key word in the most general way, and the purpose of the comment is to generate traffic for their own website. That's fine with me as long as it's a legit comment.