Don't stop me now ...

"... Cause I'm having a good time", said Freddy Mercury a long time ago.

And it is fun, spending every minute of my free time sewing & taking pictures, trying to list one new item in my shop every day or so. Larger bags take at least two to three days to make and at the moment I am busy with the smaller Mia pouch, determined to make as many zippered purses as I can before Freddy's energy runs out.

I start in the evening when the children are in bed; I match together a few different fabrics, trims and zippers, think about the new design a bit and then go to bed. In the morning I come back to the sewing table to see if the colours I had put together last night still match by daylight. I try to finish the pouch by afternoon the same day, stealing half an hour here and there between my chores, and then take pictures of the finished design before the light runs out and the intense evening family time begins. If it's not my turn to put the children to bed I use my evening to prepare the pictures on the computer and list the new item - or leave it 'till the next day and list two at the same time...

Here are my latest additions:

First pouch is made of striped basque cloth in forest green, deep sage and purple with brown leaves on the trim*

and the second is another wool tweed experiment, this time with embroidered acorns on the front and lace in the back.

I recently purchased a nice stamp that says "Handmade" and have already tried it out - on the paper I use to wrap my purses ...

... and stamped, with more permanent ink, on the inside of the pouches.

* The credit for the first Mia purse in forest green goes to my husband: it was him who, while peaking over my shoulder the other evening, suggested I sew the ribbon with leaves horizontally and put the Loddelina label in front rather than sewing it on the side.

Thanks, Mr Loddelina!