Handmade goods and gifts abound at Talbot’s Treasures
By Julia Wolf | COURIER SENTINEL
“People are understanding the quality and crafts-manship that goes into making homemade things.”
Those are the words of Judy Talbot, who sells a variety of sewn and crocheted items under the name, Talbot’s Treasures. Talbot’s Treasure’s has been in business for about 30 years, but she also created items under other names, prior to that.
Talbot says word of mouth helped her business grow, beyond the reaches of Cornell.
“I’ve been doing craft sales themselves, for over 40 years,” said Talbot.
Talbot did craft shows in the fall and spring, over the weekends, and would pass her card out. From there, people could call in orders. Lately, Talbot has also listed available items on the Talbot’s Treasures Facebook page, which serves as an online store.
“That’s really taken off in the last year,” said Talbot.
By adding an online option, customers have more flexibility to browse when they want, and can place orders through message, email or by phone.
“Then, either I ship it or they pick it up,” said Talbot.
She says the items she offers have evolved over time. Talbot currently offers crocheted items, as well as some sewn items, such as stuffed animals and doll clothes.
Talbot started out, by making crocheted kitchen towels.
“I enjoy doing it, and it’s fun to see what kind of towels you can find that are thick and heavy,” said Talbot.
She has a wide variety of patterns available, and often has seasonal and holiday options. Talbot says the towels have remained a popular item.
“I don’t know if they remember them from when they were younger, or what,” said Talbot.
Talbot also created doll clothes for about 15 years. She says she used to put together 22-inch, lifelike dolls. Since they wore 0-3 month clothes, she would make clothes for them.
“I used to make those and then it got too expensive to get the parts,” said Talbot.
For a time, Talbot also made 18-inch doll clothes for a store in Illinois, and still makes the outfits to sell at craft shows.
“All kinds of 18-inch doll clothes,” said Talbot. “Coats and housecoats, and fancy dresses, jumpsuits. I mean, whatever you would wear, the dolls can wear.”
Talbot says she started doing more work with yarn, beyond the towels, once she had a stock of doll clothing made.
“I enjoy finding retro patterns and then revamping them to make something now with it,” said Talbot, adding many retro items are starting to come back into style.
Talbot says she has found some really neat stitches, such as a 3-D stitch from the 1920s, which makes beautiful blankets. She has also pulled a scarflet pattern from 1934. Other items she makes includes braided cowls, lacy cowls, 3-D stitch scarves, hand warmers, boot cuffs and winter headbands. Over the Christmas season, she also made grinch scarves.
“Anything that’s in fashion,” said Talbot.
She says she enjoys seeing people wear the things she makes around town.
Talbot also enjoys experimenting and finding different things to make, whether that is with stitches, patterns or colors.
“If it doesn’t turn out well, I change it and do it again,” said Talbot. “You can’t give up.”
One of the recent projects Talbot tried, is a cow blanket, complete with a head, legs and tail.
“You do each stitch...one by one and you go on a graph and you check them off as you do them,” said Talbot. “So, it takes a long time to do.”
The cow folds out to a full-sized baby blanket, or can be draped over the edge of a crib or a chair. When Talbot makes the blanket, she crochets two pieces of yarn at the same time, which makes for a heavy blanket. She also makes horse blankets with a similar design.
Depending on the request and supply availability, Talbot says she is willing to try making custom pieces.
“A lot of things on my website, if they see something they like, but they don’t like that color, I usually have another one in another color, or I could find a color,” said Talbot.
For most things Talbot makes, no two are exactly alike.
“Most of the time, if I follow a pattern once, I don’t follow it the next time,” said Talbot, as she always tries to improve the outcome.
She says tweaking and making up patterns also keeps her from getting bored. Talbot also participates in an online challenge series to keep things interesting, where participants don’t know what they are making until they are done with the project. Each week, they are given a part of the pattern to work on.
Talbot says she doesn’t shy away from a challenge – or a dare. Once, when she was in the store and bright orange yarn caught her eye, her husband, Pat, immediately dared her to make something with it.
“So, I made the first orange bunny and he turned out so cute, that I got the other colors,” said Talbot.
From there, she found more yarns that are even softer, to make more crocheted bunnies with. She says they were popular over the Easter season and make good gifts.
Talbot also says she has some thoughts in mind for a crocheted bear pattern.
Crocheted bears aren’t the only teddy Talbot makes. She began making comfort bears out of loved ones clothing, starting about five years ago, after her father passed away. She says the bears make for a nice keepsake and have been appreciated by all ages, children through adult.
“I’ve sent bears all across the United States,” said Talbot.
Then, someone requested a pillow, instead of a bear, so Talbot started making comfort pillows, too. She says she even includes a note inside the pocket on the pillows.
Talbot also dabbles in alterations, tailoring items such as wedding and prom dresses.
“I like to make people look good,” said Talbot.
She says she will often make suggestions for alterations she thinks would improve the look or fit, then pin it to show what it will look like.
“I have four sewing machines, so I guess I better use them,” said Talbot, with a laugh.
She says she has actually melted the plastic insides of some newer sewing machines, because they got too warm after hours of sewing.
The only clothing items Talbot doesn’t make, are mittens, because she can’t seem to get two that look the same. Talbot says she suspects that has something to do with her habit of tweaking patterns to make things look better or lay flatter.
While she does have a sock machine, Talbot says socks are not her favorite to make, either.
“It’s not hand-work, when you’re using a machine to crank it,” said Talbot. “But when you’ve got the yarn going through your fingers, you know you put something into it.”
Outside of fashion, Talbot also makes hornets nests, to help deter the real deal from making a nest nearby, which have been well-received by customers.
“They’re stuffed with plastic bags and then they’re scotch-guarded, so they can be out in the elements,” said Talbot.
Talbot says the secret to her longevity is not charging a lot for her products, made possible by shopping for supplies when they are on sale. She says she makes things because she enjoys doing it and hopes her craft brings happiness to others, too.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="241"]
Judy Talbot likes to make fashion items, such as braided cowls. She also makes scarfs, hand warmers, boot cuffs and hats. Talbot often has multiple colors of the items she makes. Photo by Julia Wolf[/caption]
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Comfort bears and pillows are created with a loved one’s clothing. Judy Talbot says she has shipped the keepsake items all across the United States. Photo by Julia Wolf[/caption]
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Crocheted kitchen towels are one of Talbot’s Treasures most popular items, especially on the business’s online store. Seasonal and holiday patterns are often available. Photo by Julia Wolf[/caption]
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Judy Talbot recently took on the challenge of creating animal-themed baby blankets. She uses a graph, marking off each stitch, to create the pattern, a time-consuming process. When not in use, the blankets can be draped over a crib railing or chair armrest. Photo by Julia Wolf[/caption]
