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.

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!

A fox? Me?

Let me present a brand new member of Loddelina family - GOGA wristlet.

She (a lady, what else) is 16 cm 6.2") tall, has a roomy, 6.5 cm (2.5") wide bottom (she dines out a lot) and closes with a 18 cm (7") zipper. Detachable wrist strap has a swivel hook and there is a small interior pocket in the lining.

I chose black denim for my first wristlet and sewed a red wool felt applique in front - in the shape of a fox (I wasn't sure if it really looks like a fox but my two year old daughter recognized it as such, which is good enough for me...).

Inspiration behind this woodland creature applique comes from Elisa, the creative force behind peskycatdesigns, one of my favourite Etsy shops, filled with unique, nature inspired bags.

My day Monday

My day Monday is back - I hope you enjoy it!

Summer accessories in black & white

clockwise from top left: ThongbaiTatong, lightkeeping, krize, SoleDeVita

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 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.

Live, love, create!

;

The Loddelina bag in the picture is a special order I once made for a girl who wanted many colourful flowers on a large black velvet tote bag. I used little pompons and pieces of felt and attached them on the bag with colourful embroidery thread (unfortunately I can't show you any close-up pictures of the bag, it would take me weeks to find the right back-up CD at this moment...).

St. Valentine is supposed to bring first signs of spring, waking up the sleeping roots of plants and flowers.

So happy Valentine's day and I hope your spring is just around the corner!

BEA the boyfriendly tote

My latest listing (and the last for some time - at least until I set up my work space again in the new home) is this large city tote made from black denim and cheerful striped canvas.

It is a Valentine's day handbag with a bit of humour, inspired by this week's European Street Team's challenge. The theme is "Bring your inner child out to play" and HERE are all the entries, in a blog post by enchantedhue, who won last week's challenge.

The boyfriendly tote has a reinforced, zippered "boyfriendly" pocket in the back to store your date's wallet - so he never has to fish it out of the depths of your handbag, trying to avoid the lipstick and the tampax during his search...

The tote has two comfortable shoulder straps, a cotton lining with flowery pattern, an interior pocket and it closes with a magnetic clasp.

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...