Making a Flap

Loakal, which has been selling my upcycled clutches and coin purses for a few months now, requested some shoulder bags in January and this week I was finally able to deliver (literally; I dropped them off). I made three of them with this graphic upholstery fabric I picked up at the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse, and I love the way they turned out. I think the upcycled fabric sample pocket and magnetic snap are pretty dang good. Confession time: I really made four, and kept one for myself. Sewist's prerogative?

What Color is Your Tote Bag?

Oh Deer

 

Some neon and deer print bags for your viewing pleasure. (I found this fabric at Ikea on a recent trip to help a friend pick out curtains.) I have been postering and passing out cards for the upcoming Patchwork Modern Handmade Festival and was inspired to make something extra springy and eye-catching. Just two more weeks to go!

Fold-over Clutches

I have been experimenting with some larger pieces of upholstery fabric to make some fold-over clutches. I've seen them with buttons and magnets, but I chose zippers natch. I'm not so much a clutch girl -- I never quite know what to do with them when I need my hands for something else. But these might just win me over.

Replenishment

A first: One of the stores I consign with, Multiple Threads in Berkeley, called me last week! Turns out my upcycled upholstery tote bags have been a big hit and they asked me to bring in some more.

Of all the bags I've made over the past 16 months, I think they garner the most excitement. That combined with the fact that I love recycling makes them my favorite bags to make.

Anyway, I packed up what I had left, a grand total of eight tote bags, leaving me upcycled upholstery bag deficient. So I set my mind this weekend to making some more and came up with these three. I am pretty happy with how they turned out!

In other news, this weekend I visited the Alameda Point Flea Market. It was super crazy, way too much stuff to see in one day if you ask me, and my feet are killing me. BUT I scored two great things that made it all worth it. (I had a good time, too. There really was so much amazing stuff to gawk at.)

The first is a lovely vintage wooden sewing box with some treasures inside (a few fabric scraps, some threads, buttons and rick rak, and a bunch of great patterns). But I did make an important tactical error by choosing to carry this around instead of going back to get it when I was done shopping. Oh well. The second is some vintage flour sacks, which I am going to use to try to make some bags. Stay tuned!

Random Totes

Totes fancy

Sew Little Time, Part 2

These pictures will just have to be worth 1,000 words :)

Sew Little Time

Hey, long time no blog! I have been so busy lately that I haven't had time to post here so I thought I'd better remedy that. I've still been sewing, as evidenced by the photos above. I'm madly in love with all of these items and am probably going to keep them for myself. I made the blue and green tote from some complementary fabrics that I used for my friend Jasmine's iPad case way, way back. And speaking of which, the denim with red and green flower print is an iPad case. I've been experimenting and I think I finally got it the right size. The two smaller zip bags are from a metallic Marimekko fabric scrap I found at the Crate and Barrell outlet in Berkeley. I suppose I could part with one of those ... maybe.

In other news, I've been busy trying to move some of my inventory to make room for more (and earn a little cash for supplies). I went last weekend to a little consignment shop in Sonoma called Sandbox. I'd met the owner at the Sonoma Charter School fund-raiser and she turned out to be the friend of my friend Paula, who lives there. I brought a giant box of tote bags and zippered pouches to choose from and she took it all! Oh no, guess I'll have to make more. How sad. Not.

Next up is a house event in July that a woman from my book club, who sells jewelry, volunteered to host. If nothing else it'll be a fun afternoon of showing off my stuff, which is basically the only thing I love more than actually sewing it. More details to come.

I'm also working on an Etsy store but that's not coming along very quickly. It's fairly laborious, because you need three or four photos of each item, and a very detailed description with measurements and everything. I need more hours in the day!

Little Treasures

With the Treasure Island Flea almost here, I've been working on putting tags on all of my purses and tying zipper bags that go together with cute ribbons. I also sewed some more small bags with Jim's artwork on them and made some scrappy keychains, as shown above. Just three more days!!!

More Bags Galore

Can you believe I made all these bags this weekend? (It's only nine, not 10. The one in the middle is the same bag, just reversible.) And yes, I did leave the house a couple of times! My neighbors must be tired of hearing the hum of my sewing machine. These are all made with the upholstery samples, with the occasional thrift store lining thrown in, and I still have a ton left. I'm calling it my bottomless bag of fabric!

Upcycling With People

I hope you're sitting down. This may come as a shock. In honor of Earth Day this year, I decided to ... wait for it ... SEW SOME PURSES. Boy, that came out of nowhere didn't it? Ha ha.

Anyway, a longtime fan of reuse (in theory), I now have the sewing skills to (actually) repurpose tons of stuff. Since I started sewing I've been a regular at Thrift Town, where I am always sure to find bags of fabric for around $2 that hold untold treasures. And the East Bay Center for Creative Reuse is my other mecca, and thankfully closer to my home. There I get fabric and tons of notions, and the last time I was there I got a boatload of zippers for 20 cents each. You know how excited I get about zippers!

Then last week at the Martinez SWAN Day I met a woman who calls herself the Dumpster Diversion Diva and I traded her one of my bags for a bunch of fabric samples she'd collected from an interior designer who was going to throw these gems away!

So this weekend I made a bunch of stuff from that fabric, including my favorites: The three rope bags in navy blue, brown and red/white. The crossbody was pieced together from some smaller samples (strap included) and the larger tote was a sample that I put a grey bottom on from some scraps I had around.

On the left is a patchwork beauty from some thrift store pieces. All in all, a productive weekend of upcyling.

Happy Earth Day everyone!

Getting Schooled

Another awesome collage from Paula (thanks!), this time from the Sonoma Charter School Flea Market on Sunday. I sold six or seven purses, I think, and several zipper bags (a couple to some very adorable little girls). I was only one of two craft booths, and the people there were mostly looking for bargains I believe, but Jim and I had fun and I learned some things. Another smashing success.

A Fair to Remember

You always remember your first time. Thanks to my friend Paula, who took tons of pictures at the Martinez SWAN Day fair and made this lovely collage. I had a blast setting up the booth then watching as people admired my bags and other creations. There wasn't a huge crowd there but I made some sales nonetheless. Plus I got to see my aunt and uncle from Danville, my sister and nephew came out, plus tons of friends. It was a great day!

Sew Many Bags!

Spring Colors

Totes Adorbs

Is it normal for sewists to be inspired by the scraps sitting around their sewing areas? Sometimes when I am just trying to tidy my space I wind up making something, like the quilted panels above that are made with the crazy triangle squares left over from the banners I made two weeks ago. And the second photo, a tote made with the remainders of my lining from the turquoise blue polka dot bags I made last week. Even though they started out as afterthoughts, I think they turned out totally adorable.

P.S. I wish my photography skills were as good!