Two subjects for the price of one

I decided to cover two subjects today, because I seem to be getting a backlog of sewing stuff that I haven't blogged about yet. Can you imagine that? Ha!

Without further ado, here's subject #1:

Yeah, I've made several of these Pixie Baskets before, which you can see here and here. I made them using the tutorial you can find here. This one also is trimmed with ribbon designed by Jess for Renaissance Ribbons. I had decided after sewing my Honeycomb Basket (read about it here), that I needed something to hold the spools of thread and bobbins I'm using while working on a project that involves several colors of thread. So here it is, and I've been finding it to be one of the most useful things I've sewn. I love it!

Subject #2 isn't actually a sewing project, but it will be useful for some of them. I bought a KAMsnaps pliers and 300 snaps in many colors. I kept hearing good things about the snap setters, so I decided to try out the pliers. (They also make a table press, but I don't use enough snaps to make it worth the cost.) I've had a different type of snap setter for many years, but it's only good for metal snaps, and I like all the color options with the plastic ones. So now I can do whichever type I want.

Here's a closer look at the pliers.

I love it! It's so easy to use, and the snaps go in nice and tight.

Although you can buy them directly from the KAMsnaps site, I bought mine from Amazon. There are a number of options available, with different quantities of snaps. I also bought this case to store them in. It doesn't have quite enough sections, but if I mix two very different colors in a section, I should be able to easily find the parts I need. So far I've left them in their little bags, though.

If you've followed my blog for years, you may recognize the fabric below. It's from Jess's first line of fabrics. I'd made a bunch of these business card envelopes to sell in her Etsy shop, and when she closed the shop, I had a few unfinished ones that I never got around to adding the snaps to. I thought they'd be good to practice on with the new snap setter.

It worked like a charm!

Soon I'll show you a new project that I put snaps on!

Also, I just finished up a pattern test, and when the pattern gets released, I'll show you that.

Last but definitely not least, Courtney also finished up her fabulous sewing projects for the fair. It's less than 3 weeks away, so I'll be able to show you then! I can't wait - you'll love them! (And one of them has snaps on it, too!)