Ready for Easter

I am trying to get into a spring mood inspite of constant snow showers we've been having (at least the weather keeps my snow shoveling muscles nicely toned).

Spring might be far away but the first buds are starting to show - tulips already left for a new home but the water lily shoulder bag is still available in my Etsy shop.

These three bunny plushies were made as a gift for three siblings who don't care much for cats, my usual stuffed animal of choice. So I redesigned my kitten plushie a bit and, what do you know, it's Easter!

New in my shop

I recently listed a couple of XL zipper pouches with, as I like to call them, wild tulips. I have always wanted to make my appliques a bit "messy", with not so neat stitching and not every thread in its place but each time I try to go a bit wild, my (otherwise very messy personality) pulls me back into clean, neat lines. I don't know why that is but having this in mind you might find the two tulips quite an achievement for me :-)

The third new listing is a hobo shoulder bag, made from rich olive green upholstery velvet (soft to the touch but very durable). I have sewn four little fishies on it (again, with clean&neat stitching) and then decorated them with some hand embroidery. The interior is my recent favourite botanical print from Ikea and as usually, the bag has a zippered interior pocket and a swivel hook.

I wish you all a wonderful weekend!

Damjana

:: :: :: 

Novo v trgovini:
Dve puščici na zadrgo z "divjima tulipanoma". Vedno sem si želela ustvariti takšne bolj scufane, neobdelane našitke, pa me moja sicer ne zelo redoljubna narava vedno usmeri v čiste, polikane, natančno obšite oblike, kjer stran ne štrli niti ena sama nitka. Ta dva tulipana sta torej, vsaj za moje pojme, precej divja :-)

Druga novost pa je malha Pupa, narejena iz olivno zelenega tapetniškega žameta, ki je mehak na otip, a zelo trpežen. Na torbi so našite štiri ribice (spet z zelo strogim obšivom), čez pa sem jih malo povezla na roko. Torba ima še notranji žep na zadrgo in kaveljček za ključe.

Vsem želim lep vikend!

Damjana

New Pippa bag

Remember this bag I was announcing oh so long ago?
Luckily I was tidying up my sewing space over the weekend and found half finished Pippa under piles and piles of fabrics...

So here she is, a new edition to my shop, small and elegant shoulder bag, made from robin's egg blue corduroy and golden jacquard, lined with cheerful bright red floral print. The bag has one interior slip pocket and one zippered pocket in the back.

And another Pippa bag just found a new home, thanks to wonderful Jeannine I found through Instagram - here is her view of the new bag - Thank you again :)

Finally, an update from my previous post - the nappy/diaper bag got a matching changing mat I made from dark blue & white polka dot waxed cotton canvas from Ikea - inside is a soft, white cotton waffle, the mat rolls up and closes with velcro.

Soon in my shop

I made two new messenger bags with adjustable strap over the weekend, one will be available in my Etsy shop later today and the other I am keeping for myself ( I honestly needed a new bag!)

New Luna bag is a medium size messenger bag with tons of interfacing so it will keep it's shape plus you can store everything neatly in its many pockets - there are two double compartement interior pockets, one large exterior pocket in the back and one zippered pocket under the front flap. Interior also has a swivel hook for attaching keys and the front flap closes securely with a magnetic snap.

This was the first time I made two identical bags simultaneously, phase by phase. Usually I prefer making one bag from start to finish, from cutting the fabric and fusing it with interfacing to placing the magnetic snap and closing the lining at the end.

I am keeping the bag on the right. Perhaps when it stops raining I can model it outside...

And here is a look at the wall above my sewing table - since we are renting I can't do much about this ugly structured wall paint but I can dress it up a bit with my favourite pictures. The cheerful Amsterdam canal print is from Laura Amiss and next to it are my postcards of Ljubljana, Cape Town and one with Le Petit Prince.

Pippa Grande

This new design came to life thanks to a custom request from Heather - she wished for a larger Pippa shoulder bag she could carry around every day and I made her a bigger version of this bag in brown chenille with embroidered branch.

I liked how a larger scale shoulder bag looked like so I decided to introduce Pippa Grande to Loddelina family (thanks, Dawn from Latouchables, for suggesting the name :).

So here is another one, this time in salmon orange corduroy and warm gray upholstery fabric, decorated with various blue buttons and embroidery. The shoulder straps are made from the same gray fabric and matching denim blue canvas and I added some teal blue stitches for a more graphic look.

I really enjoyed making this bag and focusing on all the little details, from the zippered pocket to swivel hook loop and embroidered word "handmade" in the lining.

Today I ran out of daylight to take the final picture of me modelling the bag, perhaps tomorrow...

Good night!

Work in progress

Here is the bag I have been working on for the last couple of days, a custom order for Heather, who has been a real pleasure to communicate with.

Heather saw my Pippa shoulder bag in brown chenille but found bag's current size too small for her needs so she asked if I could make a larger version of the same design.

After I resized the Pippa pattern, trying to keep the familiar proportions, I found this gorgeous cotton canvas in oatmeal with cherry flowers print in burgundy and white. I think it lines the mink brown chenille perfectly and I hope Heather will agree with me.

Here is a quick peek at my sewing table; the two sides of the bag have to be sewn together and at the end I will attach the shoulder straps.

I will consider adding this new, larger Pippa to my shop, but how shall I name the new design?

Here she is

For those of you who were wonering what those buttons and embroidery turned into: a new Pippa shoulder bag.

Made from sky blue corduroy (not the same robin's egg blue as in some of my other designs) and warm grey canvas with dark grey handles, floral print lining, an interior zippered pocket and a swivel hook.

There are other almost finished projects on my sewing table, I will try to list them in the next few days.

Have a wonderful start of the new week, everyone!

Front Page surprise

Last Thursday evening my shop was unexpectedly featured on Etsy's front page - my first FB feature since April!

This beautiful, calm and romantic treasury was put together by Fira from chomelkidswear, lovely fellow European Street Team shop for children's clothes. It featured my latest Pippa shoulder bag in golden mustard and aqua and the bag caught enough attention to be sold the next day...

Thank you!

My day Monday

warm & brown

clockwise from top left: JurgitaMi, afra, BacaCaraJewelery, beliz82

I'm in a brown mood after having finally finished my new design - PIPPA shoulder bag .

Pippa is the younger, smaller sister of Pupa - she doesn't like to carry around a lot of stuff, just enough to go out on a date or meet your girlfriends for coffee and cake.

I find the new bag very practical - it closes securely with a magnetic clasp on the front flap and once opened, it yawns widely to make all the contents quickly accessible. Small interior zippered pocket will keep the smaller items in place.

My day Monday

Colour purple

Clockwise from top left: Clariceonline, nezoshop, AMIdesigns, ayawedding.

I found this vibrant plum purple chenille in the upholstery fabrics shop the other day and just had to try it out. The best way to use this soft, yet sturdy fabric was to make a Pupa shoulder bag but I couldn't find another fabric to match it with to make the bottom of the bag so I just reversed this one and got a slightly darker and more flat version of same chenille.

To emphasize the contrast I added some freehand machine embroidery to the bottom part and lined the bag with dark olive green cotton linen canvas. Also green are ultra suede shoulder straps, adorned with purple satin ribbon.

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!

New in my shop

Here she is, another Pupa shoulder bag, made from the delicious Basque cloth I got a couple of weeks ago. I chose this plum purple and rusty red striped combination and paired it with some chocolate brown upholstery canvas and cotton webbing shoulder straps in oatmeal colour.

I have another similar bag a few stitches away from being made but today I ran out of time & daylight to finish it...

These days I'm lucky to be able to make one bag a week - and last week I made a special version of Pupa for a friend who celebrated her 40th birthday with a huge party over the weekend.

Check back soon for more Loddelina bags!

Salmon and olive tapenade

Than is how jewellery maker TopazTurtle called her yummy treasury that includes my Pupa shouler bag among many lovely items. Some of the featured shops are already my favourites and others I have yet to discover.

Thank you!

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!

New bag and more to come

I have just listed my new Pupa shoulder bag called Postcard from Paris. This time I used cheerfull striped upholstery canvas in bright fuchsia, spring green and orange and decorated it with a sewn-on "postcard", featuring a small metallic Eiffel Tower charm with rows of embroidered town houses underneath.

The inspiration for the Paris postcard came after I purchased some beads and metallic charms from yukidesigns. I can't wait to use them all so keep your eye on Loddelina shop, there will be some new bags coming soon!

New in my shop

I know I should be searching for my Monday inspiration right now but instead here is a brand new Pupa shoulder bag I listed last night.

It is made of floral upholstery fabric in olive green I bought years ago in Troyes in France - I found a lovely fabric store very close to where we used to live, but sadly it was closing down so I had to quickly grab the leftover pieces that were still available.

I love this soft and luxurious fabric and it goes really well with raspberry pink corduroy and metallic lace trim in old gold. In my vintage buttons box I even found two matching metallic buttons and to make it more summer like I lined the bag and the zippered pocket with colourful rose print. The handles are made of thin ribbed corduroy in khaki, adorned with raspberry ribbon.

Another challenge entry

I am participating in another European Street Team's challenge - this week it is hosted by Dawn of LaTouchables, who runs a unique Etsy shop, full of gorgeous bags and accessories.

The new theme is self portrait and I chose all my favourite fabrics and colours to make this Pupa shoulder bag, called Simply Me. I love the red flowery lace trim I bought years ago - it makes me smile every time I look at it. I like drawing with thread and this time I used some thick embroidery thread to make decorative stitches on both sides of the bag. They remind me of nonsense drawings I doodle while I'm talking on the phone; the drawings often turn into flowers without me even being aware of it...

The new shoulder bag is now available in my shop!

k

You can see all the other challenge entries at Dawn's blog.

New in my shop - Pupa shoulder bag

Here they are, two new shoulder bags in Loddelina shop, French-made so to say...
I have designed this pattern a while ago but have only rediscovered it recently, adjusted it a bit and voilà!

Black poppies

English rose

Pupa is a medium sized bag that sits close under your arm but has a small magnetic clasp to keep everything safely inside when you put it down. Instead of a simple interior pocket I decided to make a zippered one on the back of the bag. It is lined and reinforced to hold everything you might need in a hurry so you don't have to fish it out of the botom of the purse.

The first Pupa bag in black, white and red popped out of my fabric drawer all by itself - I have been wanting to make something with that Ikea printed canvas ever since I bought it. I outlined one of the poppies in the front with red embroidery and added some other red details to complement the cotton webbing handles.

The second, more romantic version of the shoulder bag, was made from something old, something new, something borrowed and something - pink. Oatmeal canvas for the body of the bag and softly woven linen canvas for handles were some leftovers my mother in law let me have and the buttons come from my mother's "stash".

And those small green and red beads that decorate the zipper? I remember getting them for my birthday when I was a little girl, in a set of do-it-yourself yewellery.

My EST challenge entry

I've just listed my first ever entry for European Street Team's weekly challenge.

This week's theme was Friendship. I've made a black denim tote with embroidered tulip on the front, growing out of a striped canvas pocket. On the back is a small embroidered watering can; for friendship is like a flower - if you want it to bloom, you have to water it regularly!

You can see all the entries for the theme Friendship at the blog post of last week's challenge winner, Kim from viltalakim, HERE.