New city tote

I listed another tote today, this time a city version - a bit taller, able to comfortably hold a A4 size folder, school boooks or work papers - whenever you want to take it.

Made from delicious cherry red cotton canvas and decorated with a patch of striped Basque cloth in rainbow colours, interfaced and lined with contrasting dark khaki canvas. Inside are two pockets, a smaller slip pocket for your phone and a larger, zippered one plus a D ring for attaching keys. Many colourful details make this tote really unique and if somebody doesn't grab it quickly (my 15% sale is still going on), I might keep it for myself!

Today I was busy all afternoon, working on a custom order Pippa Grande shoulder bag. I will have some pictures tomorrow...

Chocolate and polka dots

I listed another Pippa purse today and due to a small error (pssst, don't tell anyone) I made the bottom slightly deeper; the end result is this very petite purse with more prominent hexagonal shape.

The purse with a sort of 50's feel is made from dark chocolate brown upholstery fabric and warm grey canvas, decorated with red polka dotted ribbon, red corduroy straps and matching flower brooch. Ever since I bought the craft book Kanzashi in Bloom, I wanted to try out one of its many fabulous ideas and this seemed like a perfect opportunity. I cut out and folded five petals from grey canvas and decorated them with red wooden beads. The three dimensional flower is attached to a pin and can be also worn independently as a brooch.

Pippa purse is lined with creamy beige checkered cotton canvas and has one interior zippered pocket plus a swivel hook for attaching keys. New bag is now available in my shop.

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And remember those zinnias I bought last week? They are now planted in two flower boxes and are making me smile every time I look out the window...

Have a great start of the new week!

New hipster bag

Here she is, another Loddelina hipster bag, now available in my shop!

Yes, it is definitely a girl because it is made from bits of juicy red, dark red and raspberry pink corduroy and smooth cotton velvet in bright fuchsia. The bag is so soft and cuddly people will stop you in the street to stroke its velvety texture...

Hipster bag has a generously adjustable cotton webbing strap in khaki beige and a large zippered pocket in the back. Sturdy canvas lining in khaki has a gadget slip pocket and D ring for attaching your keys - and the magnetic clasp to securely close everything inside.

Red star

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have been working on a new bag design.

Some of my friends have made observations about my shop lacking a smaller cross body purse one wears when one doesn't want to carry around much more than bare essentials; others have said they don't like it when a bag closes with a flap that needs to be constantly lifted up when you want to take a peek inside...

So what is the solution? Hopefully this new Loddelina design, a small sized hipster bag with adjustable strap, with almost flat shape and a magnetic snap closure. The bag has a large zippered pocket in the back plus a small interior pocket for a phone and metallic D-ring for attaching keys.

As I was drawing the bag, starfish came to mind again so I decided to try a black denim version with bright red corduroy applique - army green shoulder strap gives it a unisex look and since tomorrow is May 1st, labour day in most European countries, the red star seems only appropriate...

The new hipster bag will be listed in my shop tomorrow.

No. three

I have a confession to make: I almost kept this little purse for myself :)

But, at the end, I decided to put it in my shop. So here she is, a small money purse in vibrant red, plum purple and turquoise striped canvas, lined with cheerful print and adorned with teal blue zipper & button.

Free as a bird

Here she is, LEELOU, a new small cross body satchel from Loddelina.

This bag is a smaller version of my Luna messenger, with adjustable strap and a zippered pocket, hidden under the front flap that closes with a magnetic snap.

You might remember the colours and the bird embroidery from one of my previous designs, a Pupa shoulder bag, made from black denim, gold yellow jacquard and with a cherry red shoulder strap.

The bag is now available in my shop. Happy weekend!

New in my shop

Today I finished another Pupa shoulder bag - this time I used the striped cloth only for the bottom of the bag and then paired it with medium weight canvas in dark khaki and added cherry red shoulder straps. I decorated it with some colourful embroidery thread and a button that matches the glass bead on the zipper pull in the back.

Although there are a few more bags "sketched" in my mind, it is time to tidy up my sewing corner because tomorrow is the final day of packing before my holidays in Slovenia! I have been looking forward to this trip for a long time - due to our recent move and the settling in perion in France, we haven't seen the Slovenian side of the family for over seven months.

This time the bags are going with me (they deserve a bit of a change as well) and I won't put my Etsy shop on vacation mode, so heart away! It also means I will be shipping the packages from Slovenia for the next three weeks.

I will keep posting as often as I can during my vacation - and who knows what coming back home might mean to Flashback Friday!

Free as a bird

My latest Pupa bag is called Free as a bird - another instant inspiration by the lovely metallic charms I purchased not long ago.

This one is made of black cotton denim and French jacquard in honey yellow that has a soft golden shimmer against the light. The front is adorned with a small bird cage charm and some freehand machine embroidery with cherry red shoulder straps and birds&flowers print in the bag's interior.

I love this bag so much I wanted to keep it but I guess it wouldn't be right so I'm setting it free - it is now available in my shop!

Another Treasury feature for Ola

My Christmas inspired wooly tote bag got featured in this festive treasury made by Rachel - her Etsy shop rachelwhelton is full of yummy Christmas gift ideas...

Thank you!

Red&green Treasury feature

Maykela, an experienced Etsy treasury curator, has again chosen an item from my shop for her sellection. This time she included the Ola green wooly bag with applique and embroidery in her early Christmas inspired Treasury.

Maykela runs two jewelry shops on Etsy, the Maykela shop with unique precious and semi-precious stones and lavenders, affordable wire wrapped unique jewelry.

Thank you!

My newest listing: Ola 'Christmas' bag

Ola tote bag is now available in my shop

I made this large wooly bag a few years ago, just after I've moved in with my husband (to live in a small town in Borgundy, France) and was trying to get into the Christmas spirit in my new town, new country and new life.

At the local fabric shop I found many inspiring pieces and this lovely wool melange in green&brown made me immediately think of some sort of ethnic embroidery in red, green and brown. I sewed it into a large A shaped bag with a doubble front pocket, a pattern that had been very popular among my friends (or, shall we say, pre-etsy costumers).

The red corduroy shoulder straps and inside pocket give this bag a very christmasy look and that is why I decided to list in now, before the holidays...

Totes for kids

When Gaston left his nanny or Tagesmutter, as Germans call it (meaning "daytime mother"), he got some beautiful going away presents from all of her family, like a photo album of the months spent in their home and a handpainted callender, mostly done by his two "daytime sisters", nanny's 3 and 8 -year old daughters, who were very fond of him.

I wanted to give something to the girls to thank them for their love and so I've embroided their names (thanks to my new machine embroidery foot, see previous posts) and sewed it into small tote bags, just large enough to carry around some books, toys or crafting materials. The totes are 30 cm (almost 12 inch) wide and 22 cm (8.5 inch) tall, with a T-shaped bottom seam of 10 cm (4 inch) and handles measuring 35.5 cm (14 inch) from end to end. I have lined this beautiful striped canvas with bright red cotton and I think the black stripe with red embroidery gives it a nice touch.

Now all I need is to find a nice name for it and I can offer some in my shop...