Indie Business: Textile Fetish

This week I want to tell you about my very good and extremely talented friend Jennifer Ramos of Textile Fetish. If you were to follow me around for a day you would see me using various Textile Fetish items from all of my knitting and crochet needle cases, to my potholders, my coffee cup sleeve to keep my coffee cup cool, various aprons, pouches, and even my business card case and messenger bag. I'm a regular walking Textile Fetish Advertisement I believe. How could I not be? Jennifer's work is thoughful and the fact that she really works hard to use repurposed fabrics into her products is a big kudo for me. So this week, I received a special circular knitting needle case made just for me. I'm totally spoiled! It's very roomy and folds up for easy storage. Great colored fabric that will last and last too! I just love it! Thanks girl. I also got a couple of zippered pouches which are useful for supplies. The oilcloth one would be great for the beach to carry my money, phone, and lipbalm. Oh, and the shrinky dink pendant she made me. So fun. And pretty unique too.
There are 2 sets of 4 pockets on each side and it folds in half down the black material and then folds into a smaller case as seen above in the top pic with a tie.
Please visit Jennifer's shop and see all of the colorful products she carries. She also has kid's clothes that are the cutest!

Felt Club Fun

Shari's new boyfriends, originally uploaded by textile fetish.

You didn't know, I had backup dancers, did you? This was me yesterday with the 'security force' at Felt Club. I saw these guys just gathered there, waiting for the event to get started so I asked them for a picture (which turned into a few pictures with some odd gestures by these Goodfellas). They were good sports about it, but seemed to want to keep finding us during the event. Ha. This is Jennifer Ramos of Textile Fetish. I helped at her booth. We had a blast. This is what I look forward to once a year!

These are my friends, jean of jrotem gear , me, Jennifer, and Lisa Braithwaite. The only one missing is Carrie of Sommer Designs. I wasn't able to get a picture of her that wasn't dark but she has a bunch of pictures on her blog.

Jek of Jek in the Box, me and Jennifer

Anyways, It was so fun to see all of my peeps doing their thing. What a fun day. Jenny Ryan did an amazing job organizing this event with 150 vendors, food, drink, entertainment and local flavor. It was so much fun.

Adding Zing to T-shirts with Crochet

I acquired this adorable handmade cowgirl and polka dot skirt from my pal Jennifer Ramos of Textile Fetish and realized I needed a top to go with it to give as a very special gift for an adopted baby in our extended family. So I purchased 2 plain tops, a black and a white long sleeved cotton t-shirt with the idea of using crochet to embellish them. I crocheted 5 stars in a white cotton yarn, which reminded me of sheriff stars and sewed them randomly on the black shirt. I got the very easy pattern here . I sewed each point on by hand from the back.

Then I made a simple crocheted edging to the length of the front of the neck and sewed it on. I figured that if I sewed it all the way around, it may not stretch enough to get the toddler’s head through. I found the pattern in a vintage crochet book called “A Treasury of Crochet Patterns” by Liz Blackwell that I picked up for a couple of bucks at a used bookstore. I’m sure if you look up crocheted edging on the web, you’ll find free easy patterns. And that’s it. I hope she likes it.

I Have a Fetish...for Textiles

My dear friend Jennifer Ramos of Textile Fetish has truly spoiled me. We did a little product trading and look what I ended up with! The Mother Lode! A very cool apron with a skull pocket and a patchwork intense heart that's a full apron but short enough for me, which is rare, several patchwork potholders which I love. I have a pair and plan on gifting these for the holidays. Also, a baby skirt, (a special gift for someone), a couple of box zip pouches made especially for me, a bookcover and a sock monkey checkbook cover. I'm such a huge Textile Fetish fan. I own so many of her amazing items which are all one of a kind and truly unique. Jennifer will be selling her wares at Felt Club on Nov. 16 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. I will be helping her in her booth. Can't wait.

Speaking of gifting and Felt Club, I did another little trade with my pal Carrie Sommer of Sommer Designs and got a very cool and very useful key fobs and a zip pouch. People are always asking me where I got my key fob. She just added some really cute key fobs on her site. You have to check out the one with cupcakes and the one with trailers. So fun. She will also be selling at Felt Club and now it truly will be a big party!

Hope your Valentine's is Special

The red knitted heart is my latest mini-project. I beaded it as well and gave it to my friend Jennifer of Textile Fetish .

Valentine's is pretty special around here because (hold on to your laughter at this cliche') my husband proposed to me on Valentine's Day 17 years ago.....in our car.....in the garage. All of it, so predictable. But really he is a pretty good guy. My plans for tonight's dinner include cornish hens and I don't know what else. For dessert though, I've been meaning to make this particular chocolate cake for many years. I hate chocolate cake. I hate chocolate ice cream. I only like chocolate in the pure form of candy, however, this chocolate cake is like none other. I'll explain why in the next blog post. Stay tuned. And Happy Valentine's Day.

Bumping up the Discounts to 60%

With new items on the table ready to be added to my site, I'm marking down everything currently on the website to 60% off. Please help me clear it out! By mid-Aug I hope to have the new items posted.
The New World Flamenco Festival starts next week and I am readyto be a vendor. Jewelry is made and boxes are packed! I even got my Flamenco apron by way of the very talented Jennifer Ramos of Textile Fetish for keeping such things as receipt books, pens and more. Isn't it amazing?
I will definitely post pictures from the events.

A Whole Lotta Fun, A Whole Lotta New

When you work really hard, or not, relaxation is very important. I ordered this daybed from West Elm back in April. It was backordered and after a lost truck and a lot of hassle, it has finally arrived. It fits just perfect in the corner of my family room and is a welcome addition for reading and rest.


I had a wonderful opportunity yesterday to help my friend Jennifer of Textile Fetish at her table at Felt Club XL in LA. It was sooo crowded and just hopping with excitement. There were so many talented people and great music playing. I met a lot of people I've recently 'met' or 'known' for a long time on line like Nicole of Queen Puff Puff , Jenifer of Sprout Studio , Jenny of Sew Darn Cute , and many more. My camera didn't like the dim lighting but Jennifer got a lot more pictures and as soon as she gets back home to Texas I'm sure we'll see more.

I've been jamming getting my jewelry ready for the New World Flamenco Festival in August. I've got so many new designs that I've made just for the festival. I can't wait to show them off.

It's All About Patterns Baby

Since deciding to blog about the products that I own now from fellow indie designers, I must continue with Textile Fetish by designer Jennifer Ramos. Since learning to crochet, I had to have one of the the crochet hook cases in my one attempt at organization. I just love it. It's a place I can put not only my hooks, but I store my scissors and even found a place for my needles. Yay. No stepping on needles. These cases are wonderful and the basic ones are only $15 each. I continue with the craft aprons because it's my second attempt at organization when I'm being crafty. Mine has sushi on it and little pom poms on the bottom. Oh so chic! And thirdly, the item I adorn almost as often as I step into my kitchen is a full apron which I call my full body armor because I tend to be pretty messy when cooking. Mine is made of soft flannel with flowers with a hint of tattoo fabric on the straps and front pocket. Isn't that fun? Textile Fetish is all about combining colors and patterns as well as texture resulting in the most joyous of items from hip baby clothes to handbags and everything in between.