Longing for spring ...

... And doodling bright, nature inspired drawings. One of them led to a new clutch with a similar patchwork design - I used cool wool cloth for the base and sew on it leaves in all the blue fabrics and patterns I could find in my box of scraps, then embroidered them with the machine.

The clutch is 26 cm (10") wide, 16 cm (6.5") tall, lined with cream white canvas with botanical print and it closes with a metallic zipper.

Have a creative week!

::  ::  ::

Nova torbica na zadrgo, ki je nastala po skici, načečkani med sanjarjenjem po pomladi. Torbica je široka 26 cm, visoka 16 cm, podložena z belim potiskanim platnom in se zapira na kovinsko zadrgo.

Ada on Etsy

I've just listed my new city tote bag on Etsy. Ada is quite a roomy bag with comfortable shoulder straps long (or rather short) enough to be carried also as a handbag.

I took it for a test spin the other day and it is very "user friendly", easy to reach in and get your buzzing mobile phone out before it's too late...

By the way, did you know Germans call mobile (cell) phone a "handy"? Well, most of the times it is anything but that so I've sewn a big enough interior pocket on Ada to put all the gadgets safely inside.

New tote bag Ada

I've finished making this tote last night and have given it a "test wear" this morning to see how it feels....

Ada is a roomy everyday tote, 38 cm (15 inch) high, 33 cm (13 inch) wide with a 9 cm (3,5 inch) wide T-shapped bottom seam and two shoulder straps, 55 cm (21,5 inch) long from end to end. It is made of middle weight printed Scandinavian canvas (yeah, Ikea) lined with black light weight cotton fabric and has one interior pocket. The front is adorned with some trims and three vintage buttons.

I've only managed to snap these two photos of the bag before the battery on my camera went dead - so I will have to finish photographing it later...

Got-everything? messenger bag

After designing Ma-ma zipper pouch for nappy changing necessities (see earlier posts) it was time for Mama to get her own messenger bag.  A bag just for me and my most basic stuff: it has a metalic hook to fasten my keys, an interior zippered pocket for documents, a padded compartment for my cell phone and another one with a velcro closing flap for my ixus. Next to it is yet another small interior compartment that holds a lip gloss and a pen. 

On the back side is a zippered pocket for my tram ticket and a small sewing tape measure plus another zippered pocket, hidden under the flap in the front (the flap closes securely with two magnetic snaps).

I've used the same fabric as for my Ma-ma pouch, a printed cotton canvas from IKEA - I've seen it used by quite a few Etsy sellers but for some reason people are reluctant to give it's source. Well, the beautiful floral pattern was designed by Linda Svensson.

A book-carrier tote

Next week a son of a family friend is turning 4. I thought a story book would be a nice present but didn't quite find the right wrapping paper (boys are very specific about these things). So I quickly sewed this tote which can hold a few of his favourite books when he packs his things for a sleepover at the grandparents.

I used some soft, structured black&white cotton chenille and a piece of vintage denim to make the iron-on design stand out (Lightning McQueen, who else!). I added some multicoloured ribbon and used a light printed fabric to line the tote.