A cat in the frame

This past weekend I have been working on some new tiny house Christmas ornaments and a custom Leelou bag, a smaller messenger style bag with adjustable shoulder strap and this is a result -

I used two colours of cotton webbing for the strap, a salmon orange corduroy and warm grey upholstery fabric for the body and I ecru coloured ric rac trim with pale blue embroidery and zipper for decoration. As I was taking the pictures of the bag yesterday, I couldn't keep Tigrou the cat away from my reflecting silver foil that I use for counter ligh - it makes a delightful swishing sound that made him constantly jump into the picture frame!

Tigrou is settling in very well, after three weeks of staying exclusively indoors I started showing him the outdoors. We had a few excursions together with him safely on the cat harness and leash. Now that he understands this is his new home, I can let him out of the house on his own for short intervals and after 15 minutes or so he comes miaowing back - the chilly autumn weather also helps him return faster - no amount of freedom can replace a warm spot by the fire...

Pretekli konec tedna sem izdelala nekaj novih hišk - božičnih okraskov in dokončala naročilo - torbico Leelou, manjšo torbo s poklopcem za nošenje preko rame.

Naramnica je izdelana iz dveh različnih barv, torbica pa je iz oranžnega rebrastega žameta in sivega  tapetniškega blaga, okrašena s svetlim cik cak trakom ter bledo modro vezenino in zadrgo. Medtem ko sem torbico fotografirala, se mi je maček Tigrou kar naprej silil v kader, ker ga je privabljalo šelestenje srebrne folije, ki jo uporabljam za odboj svetlobe.
Tigrou se lepo privaja na novi dom, po treh tednih hišnega zapora sem ga začela počasi voditi na vrt, varno pripetega z oprsnico, zdaj pa ga lahko že spustim za krajši čas samega raziskovati okolico in po 15 minutak primijavka nazaj, mrzlo jesensko vreme ga prej prižene domov - svoboda ni nič v primerjavi s foteljem ob ognjišču...

A very sweet swap

So far I have found only a handfull of Etsy shops, owned by fellow Slovenian artists, but we keep discovering each other through comments on our blogs or in Etsy forums. I found Saša from Tika Ceramics through Sonja's blog and I instantly became a fan of her beautiful ceramic dishes, cookie jars and oil burners. When we started emailing eachother she mentioned she likes my handbags and that is how we decided to do a swap!

Pippa Grande in sky blue corduroy with applique, buttons and embroidery

We met during my summer holidays in Slovenia (it was all in a bit of a hurry so unfortunately there was no time for a picture) and exchanged the goodies. I made Saša a larger version of my sky blue corduroy Pippa bag ...

...and in return she gave me this beautiful lidded cookie vessel, adorned with birds, imprints of handmade lace and delicately painted.

Saša also gave me a small handmade ceramic pendant (which I will model another time and post a picture!) and I really hope we have a chance to meet again soon. 

If you want to see what Saša aka Tika is creating next or to know more about the beautiful part of Slovenija she is from, check out her blog, Tikin svet.

A real challenge

I finished another custom work yesterday, a fabric compendium that can hold a standard A4 note pad, two BlackBerry devices, some pens and business cards.
To even make this stiff structured item that would hold all the contents safely inside, I had to purchase some super strong double sided fusible that Lisa, the amazing writer of U-handbag blog suggested to me.

The colours, materials and embroidery followed this Loddelina zippered pouch, the only thing I had to figure out was the right dimensions for all the pockets and how to sew everything together including the strong interfacing and magnetic clasps closing the folded compendium.

Making this item was quite a challenge for my handbag oriented mind, but like any challenge it gave me new ideas for future projects and, hopefully, taught me new skills to bring them to life.

::  ::  ::   have a great weekend   ::  ::  ::  

Work in progress

Very slow progress, but still...

In between nursing my son's broken elbow (hopefully it is not really broken but it has to rest in a cast for a whole week) and entertaining Gaston, who can't ride a bike, draw, climb outside in the playground, or sleep very well at night (due to the same annoying cast, stretching from shoulder to thumb), I am working on a custom order. It is a larger version of my Pippa blue corduroy bag and so far I have finished the front embroidery, all I have left is deciding where to sew the buttons.

I should have more news from my studio next week; if you want a closer update, follow me on Twitter - I have finally opened my account, find me HERE or click on the little blue bird in the sidebar...

Tweet you soon!

Custom work

I finished my special order and sent it to its new home today. It is another version of Leelou bag, small satchel made from black denim and golden upholstery jacquard.

Instead of cotton webbing, I used the same fabric to make bag's adjustable strap and finished the warm look with a cream coloured ric rac trim and a piece of lace.

Thursday is also farmer's market day and this time of year stalls are full of young onions and fresh garlic, bound in beautifull small bouquets. I bought one just for decoration because I rarely use fresh garlic in my cooking (I prefer dried one; it has less "side effects" and gives the same aroma to dishes...).

And here is our Pontralier with its windows & shutters ...

... including my window with two recently planted boxes of zinnias.

Latest news

What has been going on in Loddelina studio lately, you ask?

Well, there was a trip to the nearest IKEA, purely essential purchases, of course :)

The skies over Dijon were just amazing that morning, beautiful puffy clouds made it very hard to keep our eyes on the road.

And back home, it was time to reorganize my working space and replace the old drawer unit with a new, shiny creamy white one that matches the sewing table (when it is not completely covered with stuff).

It might not look like much to you but to me it is super tidy and it made me start on a new project straight away!

So this new project is a special order, a remake of my Leelou "Free as a bird" satchel, this time with cream white trim and lace accents.

Next weekend we are keepping our fingers crossed for some nice, windy weather so we can try out our new kite - bought at the kite festival in Pontarlier...

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?

New custom work

I have just finished listing another Mia zippered pouch in my Etsy shop - this time I used charcoal grey wool tweed, some purple red embroidery thread and a brass charm in the shape of small scissors.

The idea of the scissors cutting through "fil rouge" came from my children who are always interrupting my train of thought, sometimes with questions but often with just a "mama, look at me!"

Mia zippered pouch "fil rouge"

The pouch is lined with plaid fabric in matching colours for a bit of autumn feel...

This weekend I was also working on a custom order. Sophie from Australia wanted me to make a Mia pouch very much like the chocolate brown one with lace and leafy trim but with some added colour. A few convos and a couple of photo sketches later she chose the combination with ruby red silk and chocolate brown zipper.

(The sketch and the final result don't match in colour that well because they were taken at different times of day but you get the picture)...

The sketch

Custom made purse for Sophie