Custom Backpack

I recently had the pleasure of working with a customer to create a backpack. She picked out this great fabric by Richloom called Emily Garden. And I found a cute butterfly pendant for the flap.

Inside is a nice and simple solid red, which matched wonderfully with the floral print.

Choosing the fabrics and doodads for custom orders can be a long and often daunting process,but I love the results :)

Custom Clutches 8 Pack

I just completed a bridal party set of clutches in a variety of prints. Amy Butler did dominate the bride's choices. But there are a couple non-Amy prints in there. The green hippie batik has these wonderful rivers of metallic silver running through it. I am so glad I ordered some extra fabric for myself. Actually, I ordered extra of a few, they just looked so yummy! She who dies with the most fabric wins...right?!? :P

Anyway - on to the bags. I love this style. Simple, clean and cute. There was one point I looked over at the pile mid-stage of sewing and noticed how they looked like a bunch of skirts.

Do you see it? The handle portion is like the waist & the exterior pleated part looks skirty. The lining, well, pretend it's not there. Now I want to make some clothes!

And this is the whole set...more pics here...

I am also doing my first blog party with this post over on Everything Etsy.
I think I'll do this with all my "me" things I make...which I hope to do more often! Now crossing my fingers that I am linking up correctly :P update...the linky isn't working for me to add mine :( Maybe next week. Okay - now it worked! woo hoo!

Grr Argh Again

Yes, another Mutant Enemy has made it's way to a messenger bag. This one is hand embroidered brown on tan twill to top off the olive canvas bag. The bag itself is a bit more tweaked than normal. Under the front flap is an open pocket with a flap. On that pocket is a small zip pocket for, well, whatever is tiny & tends to get lost. Hubby has one on his Watchmen bag & it holds my biz cards...isn't he sweet? It could hold keys to a bike lock, or small set of house keys. Moving on....inside. There is a dividing wall at the front of the bag. And the back wall has a large zippered pocket. There is also a clip on a tether on the side wall. Another good spot for keys...or the little zip pouch I made for it :)

I hope my customer enjoys it...I know I had fun making it!

Custom Backpack Completed

It is always fun when the customer lets you chose things. She knew she wanted basic black for the exterior with a specific pendant she saw on another bag I made. But when it came to the lining...it was all me. So I chose this fun bold almost psychedelic print - very fun :)

New Order

I had a casual order set up just before Xmas. What is a casual order? Well, it was an unofficial, no money down discussion with a fellow Plurker about a bag she would like. I finally finished it. It was never meant to be started before the new year. But...well...it still took me a while to get back into the swing of things. She did say that is was a "just because" bag, so no rush. Well, here it is. I really liked how it turned out.

And there is even a zip pouch that goes with it. I have a clasp on the inside that it or keys could attach to also. I started making the making the pouches to be sold with this size back in the fall. They are rather large bags and I know that for myself, I like to have something smaller to keep stuff in for quick access.


And on another note...
I have been thinking about messenger bags a lot because of all the embroidery pieces I have completed but are just laying around by their lonesomes. No bag attached. No pillow. No hoops. I do not think I will make all of them into messenger bags due to the pricey'ness. I may list them as ready-to-hang in-the-hoop pieces with the option of being made into more. Not sure yet.
Any thoughts?

Holiday Orders

First I would like to start with some feedback I got from the pink ballet backpack. It always makes me feel so good to hear such a positive response from something I made. So I had to share :

"Amazing seller. I had a custom order (ballet bag), and she walked me through the entire process, asking the right questions along the way. If you don't know your canvas from your duck cloth, worry not. She is very understanding and was willing to work with my needs, despite my deficiency in the knowledge of craft materials!"

She even sent me a pic of the bag with her shoes in them...which I was so worried would not fit:

I can't remember whether or not I mentioned The 6 Pack. It was an order from a family member (thanks sis!) for a matching set of bags for her sis-in-laws & their daughters. With this one I had to design the bag first...I had 2 styles, a tab top and a zipper top. She went with the zipper top. Which is a good thing since the tab top needed some reworking.

These were the results:


I really like this design and plan to make more. But unlike these, the lining will NOT be canvas. I lost count of the broken needles littering my work area. The shorter, more structured, handles are fun too. I am not sure if you can tell by the pics on Sis's couch, but they stand up on their own.

Now to get my rear in gear and start sewing again. I think I was sewn out last month...I haven't touched my machine in over 2 weeks! I think that's the longest I've gone without in the past 2 years!

Holidays Equals Vacation

Hmmm...actually, looking at my recent posts, I'd have to say I already hit vacation made. With my blogs at least. They have been neglected while I gave my attention to the sewing machine. There have been 2 hand painted messenger bags, 3 custom backpacks, one altered backpack, 2 zip pouches, a pillow and a 6 bag set (pictures will be coming later for these 6 & the most recent backpack). So vacation...not really. But it is now, because for the next week there will be no sewing or blogging...well, not much anyway :)


These are the completed messenger bags. I think I may start making more of these...some in a half size. I was thinking about the smaller size for a while...ever since the summer zoo trips. I think it would be a perfect hands free was to carry my wallet, keys, camera & small snacks.

This pink bag was a bit challenging. The customer will be using it as a ballet bag. There needed to be 2 mesh pockets for the shoes and a box pocket on the outside for keys & small wallet. Not having the actual shoes in front of me made it tough to get the pocket size correct. I did have the basic measurements, which helped, but it would be nice to have the actual shoe for testing. She sent me a pic of the bag with the shoes in the pockets - it looked like a great fit. woo hoo!

Have a Happy Holiday! See you in a week or so.

Trading Fun... Fa La La

I have had a slew of custom orders this month. Well, to me it is a slew. And amidst it all, I have a couple trades as well. These are always fun, especially when going to online buds :)

The first one was a zip pouch with a front zipper & a pillow. Pink zebra minky...so soft! I may make another pillow like this for me.

And I made another purple zip pouch. This one is in flames with a standard top zipper. I just hope her crochet hooks fit (they are hooks right? or is it needles?).

Thanks ladies! Now I need to decide my end of the trade :P I was in no rush, so I told them I'll shop later...let the Xmas buyers go first.

Custom Black Backpack

Nice & simple solid with a little surprise inside....silky leopard print.


I think I may need to make a variety of solid color backpacks...after the holidays though. I am, almost, overwhelmed with custom orders. It is not that I can't get them done...I am merely surprised at the sudden influx of requests. Feels nice :)

Hand Painted Custom Order

I was so excited recently when I was asked if I could make another Serenity & Grr Arrgh bag...only painted instead of embroidered. It is always fun to make something in a different medium. The woman had seen my Serenity pillow that was hand painted, so she knew I knew how.

The bags are done, but I still need to click some pics. I do have pics of the painted portion I am going to show off though....

New Purse

I know I said I was not going to make any new purses for the rest of the year, but....I am making some custom purses for Xmas gifts and need to make the pattern. I played around with one this past weekend. Overall it'll work. The "problems" are pretty much just the parts where I winged it. But since I use the prototypes myself, it's no biggie.

I do love the fabric though. I had a remnant that was the perfect size...all that is left is a 6 inch long 3 inch wide strip. I do, however, hate working with the material. Upholstery material like this looks great on bags, but it is so bulky to work with, well, let's just say if my sons were in the room they would have learned a few new words.

I had some fun with the lining too...nice and bright. Next go around will make sure to have a facing for the gusset too though. That was one of the places I winged it. The top sides were supposed to be longer & narrower, but the fabric disagreed. I did come up with an alternate if I kept it the same size...grommets on the front & back to hold two straps.

Last Purse and Custom Clutch

In my last post I showed you 3 of the 4 mid sized purses I have been working on...here's the 4th:


I have made another zip pouch, I guess you could call it "detachable". I think I may make matching ones for as many of my bags as I can, well, those where there is still enough fabric left.


I have also completed a custom clutch. The print of this fabric is so great. The pictures don't show off the red as well as I would like, but they were just quickie pics I took tonight.

The fabric itself, well, not so much fun to work with. It reminds me of barkcloth, only stretchier & with a lower cotton content. But a little interfacing & viola! The fabric holds up much nicer now - not droopy. The fabric was supplied by the customer & I am so tickled because she is letting me keep the remainder! Now... what to make with it....

The Accessories Version of the 3 Bears

I sold a clutch in this fabric the other week and she requested some accessories to go with it. I posted previously the checkbook cover/wallet thingy, zip pouch and keychain...these are the "credit card holders with a back slot/pocket". Scratch that - I just went back looking for the link & realized I never got to it. So i posted them at the bottom here ☺

This was the first pouch made. And there really was nothing wrong with it...until I put a card in the back pocket.

Too Big

See this snap on the back pocket? I had to put it there because it was not snug enough to hold a card in safely. So what's the problem? When I went to put in the snap...only one side worked. The "inside" snap kept getting flubbed. Eventually, there was a ring of small holes where the snap should be. I am keeping this one for me, because, well, doesn't matter to me...but I'd never try to pass it off to someone else. Besides - I am now out of the fabric...which I love. This way I get to enjoy the fabric a bit myself ☺


This is the back of the 3rd pouch...the one that was so hard to do because of the zipper bulk. Actually, the one before this was too gggrrr - it got scrapped. This one just ended up too small to fit credit cards in once I tried to fix some of the bulk problems. But it made a great coin pouch.

Too Small

This next pouch was my last one. I found that making such a small zip pouch is rather frustrating. I kept having a hard time with the tininess of it...so I rearranged the zipper to go across the front. When it was at the top, the bulk was too much for such a small pouch.

Just Right

And here is the first accessory trio...no problems with any of these guys.

More Monsters Invade

I have scanned all the monster sketches to prep for pattern drafting...I think there are about 12. But I couldn't resist playing more until then. So I made 2 more keychain guys based on the sketches. The proportions aren't quite right since I was just eyeballing it, but they're cute anyway...right? My youngest thinks they're fun - it's ok to base stuff on a 4 year old's opinion - right?


This next guy may look familiar to some of you. He is my 3rd flying piggie. I worked out some of the assembly kinks and used a darker pink so it's less see through. Plus, I skipped the white fur trim & used felt instead - much easier on the fingers...and my shirt.


I have 4 more cut and ready to go. The yellow & maroon ones are based on some I saw while browsing Etsy - I couldn't tell you who because it was just an image that stuck. Those guys will be staying home with us or head off to my niece & nephew.

I have finished this maroon one since these were taken, but have not taken a pic yet...which is okay, he didn't turn out so great. The circles & the body colors didn't look right once put together. But again, my 4 year old loves him :)


You can't tell from this pic, but this one is rather large. The head is almost as big as my arms when circled together. I hope I have enough fluff to fill him :P

This last one started as a bear. Yup, a bear. The head of this guy was a belly. I had it laid out on the table with some other color strips to use for eyes & stuff, but when I looked down at it, I saw this octopus type guy. My oldest dubbed him Troctopus (tri-octopus)...since only 3 legs/arms/appendages. I have already got him going. I hope to show him early next week.

Where are my bags you ask? They are there. And I need to get going on them. But sometimes, changing up what you create can help get the inspiration & motivation back for what you do regularly. A recent custom order for lots of fun matchy things helps too . I love it when the customer helps "design" the bags :)

Bridal Party Clutches Complete

Another custom order complete! These are so fun!
I had another order for coordinating clutches for a bridal party. The choosing of the fabrics took a little while, but I love what she decided on - they look great live!
Here they are...each one has a great little touch - monograms! What a wonderful keepsake for the bridesmaids.

wanna see all of them? just click here

Custom Bride

Everything arrived late last week...so here they are...




...and if you'd like to see them inside & out...click here