Boy was I excited to get up early on a Sunday, don my Etsy purchases and go out to Felt Club early in hopes of grabbing up a goody bag. Well, me and 500 other Los Angeles crafters had the same idea. By 11:00am - the set time for the doors to open to the pretty little Ukrainian Cultural Center - a line had wrapped around the block. Standing in the hot sun did not look fun.

We all knew it would be packed this year, but the extent of the crowd was intimidating, to say the least. By the time I showed up around 4pm food was sold out, but the crowds had diminished. There was still plenty of merchandise to be had. Charles Phoenix hugged mascot Gluey Gluerson and called the raffle. DJ Lance Rock, never one to disappoint, spinned my favorite poppy re-mixes and I learned that very day he's the new host of possibly the best cartoon show for infants ever, Yo Gabba Gabba.

I was happy to meet Robert from Mahar Drygoods and even happier to learn they had a Mr. Toast affiliation. Mahar Drygoods is a cute online shop that Robert works out of his house in Santa Monica. He aspires to have an actual, versus virtual, storefront one of these days.


I didn't make any major purchases, but was more excited to do a little craft-shopping with as many vendors as possible and sign up on everyone's mailing lists.



This lion t-shirt came home with me from Poketo thanks to their bargain bin. A tip to craft shoppers: always look below their booths for the bargain bin section. Sometimes the cast-offs are more interesting than the "perfect" ones on the tables. The cotton is so soft. I plan to cut off the sleeves and shape the tee into a cosy yet skimpy camisole perfect for layering this summer.



A Happy Bacon magnet by SappyMooseTree now smiles back at me from my fridge. It would have been a crime to leave Felt Club without a creation of felt.

A Lucha Libre stencil kit will encourage me to take up cross-stitching thanks to Handmade Nation who were selling a variety of items for charity.



Fuzzy Balls Apparel had free buttons. My friend and I proudly wore the "I'm Fracking Magical" buttons for the rest of the day. She supports the Battlestar Galactica reference while I post-modernly adore Veronica Mars re-referencing "Frack" in one of her better episodes. Their temporary tattoos were a nice give-away as well.



Fomato stole my heart first with their graphic ghost prints and then with their witty birthday cards. Who wouldn't want a birthday card that reads "I'm celebrating your birthday by going to a dive bar in hopes to go home with a stranger"? There are also informative birthday cards on drinking tea.

I'm still on the lookout for the perfect frilly apron. It's gotta have at least four ruffles and tons of brick-a-brack. I'm probably gonna get crafty and make one.

There were lots of options to solve the small wallet that only holds the vital credit cards, ID, cash & change problem, but not one that was absolutely perfect. The DEVO inspired plastic one from Poketo came close. You can buy it here.



The auditorium lacked good AC or ventilation and word is the Craft Fair will move outdoors in November for their Holiday Expo. They're trying for the LACC courtyard.

Here's the thank you email letter from Felt Club maven Jenny Ryan:

Hello All,

This is just a quick e-mail to thank you all for coming out in droves for today's Felt Club: XL Summer Event. We all had an absolute blast!! Believe me when I say that as great as the press we got was, we still had no idea the crowds were going to end up being so enormous. Clearly we have outgrown our venue! Please know that we are aware of the situation and are hard at work coming up with new and better ways to bring you Felt Club fun in the future.

For everyone who has been asking, we are indeed doing a holiday show on November 18, and rest assured that the venue we're using for that show is MUCH larger, very well ventilated, and just downright fabulous. We'll be able to share more specifics with you on that soon, so please stay tuned! We think you'll be very pleased.

Many, many thanks so all of you who braved the crowds and heat to come support the super-crafty L.A. scene. Heartfelt apologies to those of you who couldn't take it, and we thank you so much for supporting us as we sort out our growing pains in order to continue bringing you the very best handmade awesomeness California has to offer. We're extremely grateful for your interest in what we're doing, you're the best!!

Sincerely,
Jenny Ryan
Felt Club

Labels: design, DIY, fashion, shopping