Monday, July 23, 2012

A better "weigh" for my Jewelry Booth

About twice a week, I have a jewelry booth at the North Village Farmer's and Artisan's Market held every Sunday in downtown Columbia.

Two weeks ago, I had a booth disaster.  I mean a disaster. Wind gust + Tent without weights + tall displays = VERY bad results. Tent went flying, jewelry and stands went flying. That was the last straw in a windy day where I was literally standing over the necklace stands with my hands in the "ready" position trying to keep them from falling over.

My booth neighbor said that I should make little weights for my stands from cut off jean legs.

AHA...I knew there was a reason that I bought that box of denim jeans at a church yard sale 10 years ago, and kept it in a closet!

And so, the Upcycled Jewelry Stand Weights were born.


I immediately went home and cut off a 6" length (or so) of the straightest pant legs I could find in the box. I laid the cut edge of the pant leg up to the vertical piece in the necklace stand, and marked the position and the length with pins. I stitched about 1/4" from the edge around the markings, then trimmed a "U" shape after stitching. I filled it with plain popcorn (the cheapest was the 2 lb. bag from Wal-Mart) and stitched the hemmed edge.

If I were going to an upscale show, I would consider making them out of black and turning them so the raw edges didn't show, but you couldn't see them from the front anyway. They were perfect for an outdoor market! I made a total of four: 2 with notches, and 2 square for my tray stands.

If you can sew a straight stitch, you can make these. They don't have to be out of denim, you could use anything heavy enough you have laying around.

I didn't even bother changing the thread (I had turquoise in my sewing machine) or finishing the raw edges.

My booth neighbor Mary said they look like britches. I think she's right!



They saved the day, because there was some good wind yesterday as well.  

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