Zipper Purse

I have finally got round to trying to sew a zip in. After finding out that I did actually own a zipper sewing foot, I followed instructions from a tutorial I found on Liels Made blog. I fiddled with the pattern to make it a straight edged pouch.
This was my first attempt. I made it out of a little scrap of Japanese fabric and lined it with silver cotton. It is a little odd on one side as I didn't quite line up the fabrics. So I decided to have another go and came up with this.
I used pink martini fabric by Amy Butler on the outside and a jailbird stripe on the inside.

It's a nice little size for your card, lipstick and change. I think I might put a little bit of ribbon through the zip pull.

I have been looking for something like this to make for craft fairs. This little purse falls into the under £5 ($7.50) category, which is missing from my current range.

I have to admit I really enjoyed sewing this little purse and I didn't have to fight with a frame at the end of it all. I will do some market research tomorrow on what people think of these little purses.

Where Have I Been?

Seems like ages since I blogged and when I looked this morning I realised it had! Time passes quickly when you're doing very little, while watching it snow. Over the last week and a half I have cranked up bag production and have started sewing regularly again, yeh! It must have been the snow that inspired me. Here are some new additions to the shop.

I have also been doing a bit of shopping on Etsy so now I am looking at the mail box every day hoping for a parcel to arrive.

We have also decided to do a bit of household decorating so that has been keeping me busy picking paint colours, a phrase I can hardly believe I am saying out loud as so far we have lived in cream and white interiors and the only colours I have picked out are various shades of cream. We have started on the bedroom and when it's finished I will post a pic. Well hey ho need to get on, but I will be posting some snow pictures soon.

Calm has returned

Finally my workspace has returned to "normal", and not a minute too soon as I got an order for my lovely little Grey and Moss clutch, which my husband and I affectionately call alveoli ( we're science geeks what can I say).Well you can see where we are coming from. Anyway I sold it on Folksy, I have had a store there for a while but haven't really done any real work on it. I really just signed up so no-one else got my name. I have had a couple of sales from there with no promotion, so I have decided to do a little work and see how it goes. Just spreading the eggs around.

The up side of getting my desk cleared is that I can get to work on my new fabrics.

Busy Busy Busy

I have been flat out lately, between work, Christmas shopping and sewing. I finally found out that I definitely have a stall at St Georges Christmas Craft Fair in Belfast, 6th & 7th December. I have been working on the theory that I was getting it and have been working on getting a decent inventory ready. As a consequence, my house looks like a fabric shop and my second bedroom has become a storage facility. I haven't been counting as I go along, but bravely checked last night and there is 100+ bags and still 2 weeks to go. Woo Hoo.


There are so many lovely bags and some new ideas I have been working on, so I am quite excited and scared all at the same time.


I have also come to the conclusion that I really need to factor in more sleeping time. I reached this decision due to the fact that I have acquired a stinking cold. When you are running a business being sick really sucks, even just from the point of view that you need some down time to get better, and during this down time all I can think about is I have so much to do. However tomorrow is another day and I'm hoping that when I wake up I will be feeling much better, as at the mo I am very motivated.

A bag for a bag-lady

People often think because I make bags I must have a lot of my own bags. Now while I do have a lot of bags, very few of them have been made by me. I often get the rejects, that don't quite pass quality control.

On Friday evening I was attending a formal and I decided late (and I do mean late) on Thursday night, that I fancied a new bag. Normally I would just pop out and buy one, however time was going to be tight on Friday, so at about 10.30 I decided to make a bag. I was wearing a cream embroidered corset top and a black ballgown length formal skirt.

So I settled for a cream silk with black embroidery and I lined it with bright pink fabric. Here is what I ended up with.

It was just perfect and I was really pleased with it. It got plenty of admiring glances and a few people were hoping I might make one for them.

A Weekend of Sewing

This is what my work room looks like after a weekend of sewing. Little scraps and debris lying everywhere.

The floor under my sewing machine

A used tube of glue buried under some scraps

A discarded empty spool

When I am making my bags and I am doing the corners, I am left with these little squares. They remind me of little beaks, with a mixture of colours and textures. I usually keep a few sitting on the shelf above my sewing machine, for inspiration and because they make me smile.So after a major weekend of sewing what was the outcome?

16 pretty new bags, all waiting to be framed, some made with new fabrics, which have not yet hit my shop, including some lovely new Japanese fabrics. These bags are destined for a different venue, but more of that later.

A New Design

My new 8 inch frames arrived a few days ago and I was happily waiting until the weekend for a chance to design a new bag for the frame, when I got a request for something a bit different. After a bit of thinking I came up this

It's perfect for notes and cards instead of a wallet, a stylish make-up bag or just as an ultra slim clutch for your mobile, lippy and cash. I haven't definitely decided on name for it yet but I'm thinking ......"Baguette Bag" - chic and tasty but not crunchy.

It wasn't what I had bought the frames for but when it was finished I just loved it and really wanted to keep it all for myself, but it's not to be and it has to go to it's new home, but I think more will follow soon and I might just have to keep one for myself :0)

Rainy Days

I ordered this fabric, among others, from karaku on etsy.

I just love it, it's so cute and arrived in record fast time, I have already created this

Rainy day clutch

It's fab and very appropriate for the current weather we are having over here. It is a slight redesign of my medium clutch and it worked out really well. Unfortunately, or fortunately from my point of view, it has got snapped up. Look out for more Japanese fabric clutches in my shop.

Bye Bye Order

I got a massive order the last week ish, 8 clutches all going to new homes. A bride-to-be had purchased them for her bridesmaids. It took ages to get them all ready and packed.

Here they are ready to be labelled and posted

It's always a bit sad but exciting when they go off to the post office.


It did make me think about how nice it is to get pretty things in the post and how much I really like it when parcels are nicely wrapped instead of being bunged into a tiny plastic mailer. Plastic mailers are fine for supplies but for handmade things????


Of course my big problem at present is my pup's intense dislike for anything that comes through the letterbox. My normally sleepy, sweet cocker turns into an "urban terrorist", growling and barking (!) at the letterbox. He snatches the post and gives it a good shake just to make sure it will not attack us.


We are now at the stage when we will have to think about an external mailbox and "safeplace" for parcels. Grrrhh dogs are a pain in the ear but you gotta love them.

Mini Clutches

I have been working on new mini clutches for a while now, they look great especially in some great new fabric.

Red polka pvc

Black and white spots

Heart to Heart

Multi circles

Now that I look at them I notice they all have red interiors and there is a strong spot theme going on.

Parcel Packaging

Imagine my joy when I checked into my ETSY store and discovered 3 sales tonight. I had just turned out and packed 3 custom bags, so I had to start to do more parcels. Here is what they look like when packed.

First each bag needs to get its little hanging tag.

These are from moo a great place for fun cards.

Then they get wrapped in tissue paper and get a little MOO sticker

Then they get put in a plastic baggy (to keep them dry in case the box is damaged)

with a handwritten note and some business cards.

All nicely boxed and taped ready to go to a new home.

New Things

I am always up for trying new things, so this week I decided to give PVC a go. I came across a lovely bit of red polka dot PVC in Laura Ashley which I just couldn't resist. I thought it would be really odd to sew, but it wasn't and it made a lovely little number.

I think it's just fab, great for a day at the beach as one needs to look stylish at all times, or for makeup at the gym. The possibilities are endless but we will have wait and see if the world shares my love.

weekends

What did you do last weekend?

I did.....






I cut all weekend and will have to do more this weekend :0(

What will you be up to?

My favorite bags

Every so often I make a bag that makes me go oohh! Sometimes it's something I have come up with, sometimes it's a request that gives me ideas.

This is a fab clutch made from Black Monkwell, everytime it hits Etsy it sells and it also goes through non-etsy sales, only a few more limited bags are left in this material, it will be a sad day when the last one is cut.

This was a custom order that I made during the week. I would never have put these two colours together, I always line this material with orange, but I think this will make an appearance in my shop.

everyday things

I couldn't live without...

I keep it handy at all times

It's important but I hate having to use it.