Free Craft Tutorials

Earlier this month, K & C Supplies participated in Free Sewing Supplies for Tutorials Exchange. Kym from Totally Tutorials, thank you once again for playing the matchmaker! Initially, I offered Seven $15 gift certificates to my Zippers & Buttons Shop in exchange for Free Craft Tutorials. Since there was so much interest in the Exchange, I gave out a few extras. I want to thank everyone who is participating in the exchange. I can't wait to see what you make! I got all packages out last week and am hoping that the tutorials can be completed and posted on blogs within 2-3 weeks after the receipt of the packages. I will be posting photos of finished products with links to the Free Craft Tutorials as they are submitted. I am guessing that some of the tutorials will not be complete until early December since bloggers from Lithuania and India are also participating in the exchange (making this exchange international, yeah!), and it will probably be 2-4 weeks until they get their packages. My Etsy Shop customer Christine from England had also applied to participate in the exchange. In fact, she has completed her tutorial and has posted it online (Christine had a few spare zippers she purchased from me earlier, so she didn't have to wait for the arrival of the zippers she requested for the exchange). The PDF of the sewing tutorial is available here: Zippered wallet or purse. Please be sure to stop by Christine's Etsy Shop SewChristine and check out bags, purses, and handbags she has for sale. Thank you, Christine, for sharing your instructions for making the zippered wallet or purse. 

Zippered Wallet Tutorial

Update 10/30/13: Kim from Emerging Creatively Tutorials just Emailed me with a link to her Braided Zipper Tutorial and a simpler version of zipper coil bracelet, and I absolutely love the clear step-by-step instructions, excellent photos, and how the bracelet turned out. Be sure to stop by Kim's blog and stay a while. She has some great Free jewelry tutorials  on her blog.

Zipper Bracelet Tutorial

If you need zippers, buttons, or swivel lobster clasps for any of your sewing or knitting projects, please stop by K & C Supplies on Etsy :)

Free sewing supplies in exchange for tutorials

I am very excited to announce that K & C Supplies will be participating in Totally Tutorials Free Supplies for Tutorials Exchange. I am offering up to seven $15 gift certificates to those who are willing to write a unique tutorial using the supplies given and post the tutorial either on their blog, Instructables, CutoutandKeep, or Crafster. The tutorial must be free and posted on a non-commercial site. The exchange is a great opportunity to get free supplies and to get an extra link to your blog from my blog and Totally Tutorials blog. I will also be sharing the tutorials on social media, including my Pinterest and Twitter accounts. 

The $15 gift certificate can be applied towards anything you will find in my store: dress zippers, invisible zippers , metal zippers, handbag zippers, buttons, or purse hardware. $15 will include the cost of supplies  and the shipping cost (I can ship worldwide). 

If you would like to participate in the sewing supplies for tutorials exchange, please contact me via Etsy convo system or by Email at kcsupplies@gmail.com between October 4th and October 14th. Please include a link to your blog and/ or a tutorial you have written in the past. If you already have an idea of what you would like to make using the supplies, please do share. I am asking that you commit to writing a tutorial and sharing a few photos of the finished product and the process. If the number of applicants exceeds the number of gift certificates available, I reserve the right to choose who I think will do the best job of creating a tutorial and taking good photos. On October 15th, I will contact the selected participants for their mailing address and the supplies they would like to receive. I am asking that you share your tutorial within 2-3 weeks after receiving the package. Once your tutorial is complete, please Email or convo me with a link to your tutorial and submit your tutorial to Kym by using the "submit your tutorial" page. Please note that Kym has a few guidelines for the tutorial format, so please be sure to read them.  Also, please link to my Sewing Supplies store in your blog post. 

By participating in the exchange, you are granting Kym and I permission to use the photos of the finished product on our blogs with a link back to your blog. 

Here is the link to some of the tutorials that were created as part of the Exchange program: Previous Exchanges and Free supplies for Tutorials exchange. Need project ideas for inspiration? Please check out these Pinterest boards: Button crafts and Zipper projects. 

I can't wait to see what you guys are going to make using the sewing supplies from my Etsy store. If you have any questions, please comment on this blog post. Have a great weekend! 

Ykk zippers at wholesale prices

I am sorry it's taken a little while, but, as I promised in the blog post on May 8th, 7 inch dress zippers and 12 inch handbag zippers are back in stock. It's going to be a few days until I list all the zippers, but I will once again be offering YKK zippers at wholesale prices. For now, I am planning to offer 12 inch Handbag zippers and 7 inch assorted zippers only.  In 12 inch size, you will be able to pick your own colors or go with assorted  handbag zipper lots. As for 7 inch dress zippers, there will be 4 options - a 12 zipper assortment of neutral colored zippers, a 14 zipper assortment of bright colored zippers, a 14 zipper assortment of dull and light colored zippers, as well as a 40 zipper assortment that combines the 3 zipper assortments I just mentioned.

As always, you will be getting low prices, good customer service, and timely shipment of the items you purchase. I will be shipping at least 3 times a week, most likely, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Thanks again for your business. I appreciate all your Emails and hope to do business with you again in the future. Have a great weekend and talk to you soon!
Irina @ K & C Supplies on Etsy, offering YKK Zippers at wholesale prices

Update 06/14/2013: I have listed 7 inch dress zippers, and 12, 14, and 40 zipper lots are now available:

Forty 7 inch zipper assortment @ $13.50 plus shipping

Fourteen 7 inch zippers in dimmed colors @ $5.75 plus shipping

Twelve neutral colored 7 inch zippers @ $5.00 plus shipping

Fourteen bright colored 7 inch zippers @ $5.75 plus shipping

Please note that I ship worldwide but can't take any requests to mark packages as "gift." All packages are marked as "merchandise." 

For more information about YKK zippers, please check out All about zippers page of my blog. Some of the topics covered include:

What does "YKK" on a zipper mean? 

Handbag vs Dress zippers

How to measure zipper length

How do you shorten a zipper

Are YKK zippers food safe and safe to use on kids products?

7 inch dress zipper assortments and 12 inch handbag zippers will soon be back in stock

7 inch Ykk zippers

Hope you all are doing well. As my zipper inventory is slowly depleting, I am starting to miss the daily routine of working on Etsy - something I got so used to over the 4 years of running my Zipper store. I appreciate everyone's understanding and best wishes as I am searching for a more fulfilling career. The decision to cut down on my inventory was not an easy one, but, at this time, it seems to be the only way to continue towards my career goals. Although I am unable to keep up with a big zipper inventory, I would like to continue to offer 7 inch YKK dress zipper assortments and 12 inch handbag zippers - my most popular zippers. This summer, I will have a little more time to dedicate to my zipper store, and I would like to continue doing business with a limited zipper selection. In a few weeks, I will be offering 7 inch zipper assortments and "pick your own" 12 inch handbag zipper lots. Unfortunately, I will not be able to fill custom orders as they do require more time and a bigger inventory.

Once again, I want to thank my loyal customers for support throughout the years and making K & C Supplies on Etsy a successful small business. I hope you are staying busy and getting lots of orders for Spring and Summer purses, clutches, and zippered pouches. Happy Spring!

❤ IRINA

Installing Zippers

Installing zippers is not a very difficult task, even with the most basic sewing skills - it just requires a little patience and practice. Here you will find a photo tutorial for the most simple and quickest way to install a zipper when sewing a zipper pouch. Basically, all you need is 4 fabric squares or rectangles of the same size (2 exterior and 2 lining), a zipper (I used Ykk dress zipper), scissors, thread, pins (or needle and thread if you prefer to sew basting stitches), and a sewing machine. Once you have all the materials ready, simply follow the steps outlined in the photo tutorial below. 

Materials

Pin zipper in place between interior and exterior fabrics (or use basting stitches to secure the zipper in place)

Pinned fabrics with zipper in between

Sew the zipper in with your sewing machine, gradually taking out the pins
(or remove basting stitches when finished)

TADA!

Pouch Lining

Repeat the steps for the other side of the zipper.

For an alternative way to sew in a zipper, be sure to check out the Free Zippered Pouch Tutorial . If you would like to learn more about Ykk zippers, check out the All About Zippers page.

To buy zippers in bulk, visit our online Zipper store.

Great tutorial on Installing Zippers: 

Girls Raincoat Sewing Tutorial - Simple and Easy

Today I came accross this awesome Girls RainCoat Sewing Tutorial, and since so many of you sew, I just had to share it. Love the instructions for the DIY pattern! To make your own pattern, you will  need a T-shirt that fits well and a sweatshirt with a hood. The Sewing instructions are very simple and easy to follow. Materials needed: 1.5 yards of laminate cotton for Exterior and 1.5 yards of regular cotton for Rain coat lining. Jessica @ Me Sew Crazy (the designer of the pattern) uses buttons for closure, but if your prefer to use Zippers, I am sure you will be able to incorporate a zipper into the design. Hope you are up for trying out the pattern. If you do, I would love to see some pictures. Will be happy to link to your blog :)

Handmade Bridal Clutches and Handmade bags




Handmade Bridal Clutches

 Every once in a while, I enjoy browsing through our customers' Etsy Shops to see what they create using our YKK zippers. I feel lucky when these talented Etsy Shop owners find some time in their busy schedule and agree to share their shop stories on our blog. Lisa, the owner of LMcreation, who is also a busy working Mom of two, is one of those special people who manage to find time to do it all. "LMcreation specialises in handmade bags, purses, wristlets, gadget cases, pillow covers and business card holders." Whether you are looking for handmade bridal clutches or an exquisite one-of-a-kind purse or wristlet, be sure to visit Lisa's Etsy shop. The bridesmaid  and bridal clutches featured  in this blog post are my personal favorites - with the many color options available, Brides and Bridesmaids will be able to find the perfect match for their dresses or pick out a clutch to complement the wedding color palette.

Cream Bridal Clutch

Pleated Bridal Clutch

Here's a little about LMcreation shop owner, Lisa Murdin:

"LMcreation (Lisa Murdin) is a mom of two who loves the creative side of life. I love to work with a variety of materials, including designer fabrics, leather and vinyl – essentially anything that I can sew. I don’t like waste so I like to repurpose or recycle any fabric remnants into something usable so it doesn’t just end up in a landfill.
I’ve had my sewing machine for over 30 years (it was a present from my Dad). It’s my pride and joy and it’s still a work horse, even if it needs encouragement sometimes (like the rest of us when we get a bit older!). I started with sewing doll clothes when my mom taught me to sew. Since then I’ve been self-taught and I graduated to making clothes for myself in high school because I wasn’t into mainstream clothing. I just kept trying until things came out the way I wanted them. When I moved into my first house, I made all the drapery and bedding for the kids’ rooms. My husband was happy since it saved a ton of money compared to store-bought.

Strangely, I never sewed bags until very recently, when one of my friends at work convinced me to sew something and try to sell it on Etsy. Now I can’t seem to stop…. My philosophy is to make quality handmade pieces that are the best that I can make, all handcrafted with lots of love & care. I want my bags to be used for gifts, weddings or just for customers to treat themselves. I recognise that there’s more to business than just making bags so I also aim to provide excellent customer service, the kind of service that I want when I am a customer."

Kawaii Zippered Pouches



Kawaii Zippered Pouch

If you like Kawaii, you will love Etsy Shop "Made of Aloha". "Kawaii" means "cute" in Japanese, and kawaii fabrics are absolutely adorable. At "Made of Aloha" you will find cute zippered pouches and card holders made out of popular kawaii fabrics, such as Alice in Wonderland, as well as more unique kawaii fabrics with cute animals, rainbows, fruit, and in other fun designs. The Etsy Shop owner Amber is a busy work-at-home Mom of 3 boys who manages to run 2 Etsy Shops (her second Etsy Shop sells Kawaii Fabrics) and 2 Blogs: Life in My Little Hut and Mother Mana'o.

Alice in Wonderland pouch

Cute Kawaii Pouch

Here's a little about Amber and how she got started on Etsy:

"I am born and raised in Kailua Hawaii, have 3 boys, 4 months, 18 months and 4 years old. I used to be a sales rep but when I had my second decided to be a stay-at-home-mom. I got the itch for some type of entrepreneur and had been sewing for a long time. I first opened my fabric site, sweetkapua on etsy, to see if it would get any traffic. I didn't see many prints like the ones I had. I had my first sale after 2 weeks and I was hooked. I opened my bag site: madeofaloha. I update it regularly but I have found that my fabric supply site is more lucritive than the pouch site. Once sweetkapua started to take off, I decided I wanted an independent website that didn't have any site name attached so I started KawaiiFabricShop.com and I recently started on ebay. I also have two blogs: sweetkapua, which is where I feature new fabrics and talk about my daily finds in design and crafts and mothermana'o where I tell the tales of mothering 3 boys all under the age of 5 and surviving.
Being a stay-home-mom I am doing all of this business in between naps, feedings and preschool drop off and pick ups and 99% of it is through my iphone. Running these website keeps the business woman in me fullfilled while allowing me to stay home with my sweet boys. I enjoy every minute of it!"

You may also be interested in:
Top Christmas 2011 Gifts for Girls
Best Learning Toys for 3 year olds
Tablet for Kids
Handmade Wallets
Personalized Tshirts for kids
18 inch doll clothes and accessories
Kawaii Stickers

Handmade Wallets

Looking for a few last minute Handmade Christmas gifts for women? Be sure to stop by Komono Art Shop on Etsy for a great selection of Handmade Wallets made out of designer fabrics. All items are ready to ship, so if you place your order within the next week or so, you are sure to get it in time for Christmas. Yuko, the owner of Komono Art, and I have had a great business relationship since 2009, and she is a wonderful person to work with.
I asked Yuko to tell me a little about herself and her shop:
"My name is Yuko Stano. I'm originally from Japan but now am married to my wonderful husband and live in Albany NY. We have 2 small children, 5 year old daughter and 2 year old son. I'm always so busy chasing these two but still find some time to sew, which I love doing. It is just like meditating for me. Also, I just love love love all the beautiful fabrics. I own a fabric shop and I have to sell all those fabrics but sometimes I feel like I want to keep them all for myself."
I love the name of Yuko's Shop - "Komono Art". "Komono" means "Little things" in Japanese. Here are few more pictures of the Unique Handmade Wallets you will find at Komono Art:

Handmade Wallets

Handmade Wallet - Birdcage quite in Lilac

Handmade Wallet - Flowershock in Apricot

Yuko's Handmade Wallets have a zippered big pocket for coins, six pockets for cards, two pockets for cash, check book, and receipts, & a magnetic snap for closure.
Be sure to check out the Sale Section at Komono Art to find some great Handmade wallets on Sale. The wallet below is now only $20 plus shipping!

Yuko does a great job of selecting beautiful designer fabrics for her wallets. And as Yuko has mentioned, the fabrics are available at her other shop: Fabric Art Shop on Etsy.


You May also be interested in:

Personalized T-shirts for kids
Handmade Christmas Gift Ideas
Top Christmas Gifts for Girls
Zippered Pouch Tutorial

Pencil Pouches and fabric Wall Organizers

 

Robots Pencil Pouch



 Today we are featuring Robots Pencil Pouches made by Laure, our Zipper store customer. Laure lives in Montpellier, France and operates Wantit Shop on Dawanda. She is a French graphic designer who expresses her creativity by sewing pouches, phone cases & organizers, and designing fabrics. Laure has robots pencil pouches available in 2 different designs.

We love how our bright YKK zippers complement these cool robots fabrics!

Please be sure to check out Laure's store to find some great handmade items, like this Fabric Wall Organizer:

Vintage Buttons Wholesale

Top Christmas Gifts for Girls 2011

Hat Sewing Pattern

YKK zippers Color Chart

How to measure a zipper length. How to measure a zipper for size.

How do you measure a zipper? A zipper is basically measured by the length of the zipper coil or from top metal stoppers (that prevent zipper slider from coming off the zipper) to bottom metal stopper (or retainer box for separating zippers). The overall zipper length is usually about 1-1.5 inches more for seam allowance.

The zipper in the photo is a 7 inch zipper with overall length of 8.5 inches.

                                                                          

Zipper parts of nylon zipper with closed bottom:




Top metal stoppers

Zipper pull and slider

   

Bottom zipper stop





Zipper coil (center) and tape












To Buy Handbag and Dress YKK Zippers please visit our ZIPPER STORE

What Does YKK on Zipper Mean?
Lined Pouch Tutorial
Sell Handmade on Etsy
Do YKK Zippers meet CPSIA lead standards?

Useful links - free patterns, ykk zipper color card, craft suppliers, etc.

Today, I am sharing some of the links you may find useful. First of all, some of you may already know that I am working on this YKK ZIPPER Color Chart. At this point, it is very much Work-in-Progress, but I am planning to add content on a regular basis. This article includes the colors that may be included in the Zipper Assortments at my Zipper Store.

If you are looking for Tips on increasing your Etsy Shop traffic and Sales - this Make Money on Etsy article should be helpful.

I stopped carrying Kunin Eco Felt and vintage buttons because of my space storage limitations, but here's a great place to buy Eco-Friendly Recycled felt and Best place to buy vintage buttons.


For Wholesale Jewelry supplies, please check out this Wholesale Jewelry Supplies article with some of the items from my friend's store.

Also, if you are up for trying to make a Hat (summer hat, metropolitan hat, chef hat, baby hat, Halloween hat), check out these Hat Sewing pattern article for links to free and inexpensive hat patterns.

Finally, please check out Whitney's video about how to sew a zipper into a seam. This girl has some great sewing tutorials!

What is the Difference between dress and handbag zippers?

In my shop, Zipper Island, I carry both, Handbag and dress zippers (garment zippers). Although the two types of zippers seem very similar in the photos, there is a substantial difference between dress (all-purpose) and handbag zippers. Dress zippers can be used for clothing (dresses, skirts, etc.) as well as for small pouches, writslets, and gadget cases. If you are looking for zippers to use for inner pockets in purses, dress zippers are also a great choice. All-purpose/ dress zippers can also be used for pillow covers (they may need to be covered with a flap) as an alternative to invisible zippers. For handbags, Kindle, netbook and laptop covers, I recommend using Handbag zippers. Here are some photos of two 10 inch zippers - the red zipper is a handbag zipper, and the turquoise zipper is a dress zipper. As you can tell from the pictures, the Handbag zipper has a longer pull - around 1 1/4 inches compared to 3/4 inches for dress zipper:

Also, the coil in Handbag zippers is slightly wider than the coil in dress zippers - Handbag zippers coil is around 3/16" (4.5 mm) wide vs. 1/8" (3 mm) coil in dress zippers

In General, I would say that Handbag zippers are more suited for heavier use, and the longer pull looks better and is more practical for purses. Dress zippers are more concealed and are more suitable for garments and small pouches.

Here are a couple more photos of dress and Handbag zippers that are available for purchase: 

4 inch dress/ garment zippers

12 inch Handbag zippers

If you are new to my blog and are an Etsy seller or interested in selling crafts online, please check out my Etsy shop tips article.

Zippered pouch tutorial

Click Here for my Zippered Pouch tutorial

Here's a 6" by 6" pouch that I made today. I am now working on the tutorial for this project.