What's new?

I feel guilty for having neglected my blog readers for so long, mostly by spending too much time on Instagram... 

So to make it up, here is a thorough report of my past two weeks:

First I finished a custom order for a friend, a large nappy/diaper weekend tote, made from fresh olive branch print by Ikea. 

Next I made a cheerful iPhone cozy, lined with red corduroy - I have sold all iPhone sleeves from my shop and must make some more ASAP!

And last is this hipster bag, made from upholstery fabric with floral jacquard in black and copper brown, lined with khaki linen blend canvas. All three Loddelinas are on their way to Lyon right now, Merci :)

When I wasn't sewing, I was running errands and rushing to take my children to or pick them up from school, not much different than any other week. Luckily the school winter break starts tomorrow which will bring some new activities for the children.

Of course, there will be lots of Angry Birds sessions during the holidays:

If the warmer weather doesn't melt away all of the snow, there may be some more skiing:

And some simple pleasures of everyday Pontarlier:

Have a great start of the new week, see you soon!

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.

New design

I have been meaning to add a mobile phone / gadget cozy to my shop for some time now but never knew which size to chose to make it as versatile as posible. The decision was made a few days ago when my husband came home with his brand new iPhone :). I made a test cozy for his phone, making it just large enought to fit the device snugly so no velcro or magnetic closures were necesarry. There is a small pocket in the back for a card and the cozy is lined with soft and thick wool cloth for extra padding.

The second case (the first was plain, no nonsense, masculine version) I decorated with Christmas tree embroidery and red corduroy applique on charcoal wool cloth. I quite like the result and will be adding a few iPhone 4 and 4S cozies to my shop next week. Other sizes might be available upon request, I am always open to suggestions. Stay tuned...

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.

A busy weekend

This weekend it is all about Loddelina. Thanks to my husband, who took the children to grandma's, I have a whole weekend to sew!

Ok, almost the whole weekend because there are other urgent things to be done, like reorganizing my pantry (to make sure I restock on food that is actually missing and stop buying more and more pasta that I already don't have room to store anymore, for instance).

This morning I dedicated some time to call a few of dear friends I made during our stay in Germany - we were able to catch up without constant interruptions from children who always want to take part in the conversation...

Later I prepared my sewing table and started work on a new design (I have cut the pieces and fused the interface the evening before). But my stomach reminded me it was time for lunch so I had to take a break - my abandoned sewing table didn't look very attractive but that is how interfaced, double stitched insides of a tote bag look like...

I cooked some pasta, what else (to make more room in my pantry), spaghetti with tomato and basil sauce with cubes of fresh mozzarella on top. It is one of my favourite 20 minute dishes and I often make it for my family.

After lunch I hurried to finish the bag (I will do the dishes later) and here it is, a sneak preview of my canvas summer tote with handmade starfish charm. It has interior zippered pocket, slip pocket for mobile phone and a swivel hook for keys. It closes with a magnetic snap and makes a perfect medium to large summer bag.

I intend to make two more starfish themed designs this weekend and I hope to have them all photographed and listed on Sunday.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

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.

My workspace - new pastels

Here is a sneak peek of what is coming next to Loddelina shop: some new and improved Mia zippered pouches I have been working on over the past two days.

I bought some imported Italian corduroy on my last visit to Slovenia and deliberately chose these soft, pastel colours to put me in the spring mood; lime green, robin egg blue, sky blue and dark salmon.

So far I made a few small zippered purses, same size as the Mia pouch (20 x 11 cm, 8x4.5"), only a little roomier with a 2 cm (3/4") wide bottom. To take a few steps outside my comfort zone I paired the fabric with (at least for me) unexpected colour of zipper and embroidered a blossoming cherry branch in front for a fresh, spring look.

I am quite happy with the result, a soft, elegant cosmetic pouch that allows us ladies to carry even more stuff in our handbags...

I tried to take more pictures today but the afternoon light is very cool, almost blue these days so I will take fresh pictures tomorrow morning - new pouches will be available in my shop tomorrow afternoon at the latest!

A sneak preview

Here are the first two Loddelina zipepr purses I have been working on!

After a short trial & error period in which I had to refresh my zipper sewing skills (I adopted the first, not entirely perfect attempt, as my own make-up pouch), I have finished these two zipper purses, first two of many, I hope. I have been wanting to add a smaller pencil purse / make-up pouch to my shop for a long time and this back-to-school, pre-holiday period seemed like a perfect time. The purse measures 21 x 11 cm (8.2 x 4.3 ") and has a 20 cm (7.8 ") zipper.

While taking these first pictures I realized how hard it will be to show the true colours, the soft pale blue (pigeon blue?), salmon pink and warm gray of the first purse and the dark chocolate brown and oatmeal (is it true that in USA nobody understands what colour beige looks like?) with green (that could be olive or something even darker) of the second one...

I will try to take more flatering pictures later this week, when I add the new designs to my shop. I am also looking forward to some ideas for a name of the new design...

Some yummy new fabric

I got these delicious cuts of basque cloth from my mother in law who purchased them at her recent visit to Pays Basque. Multicoloured striped cotton canvas is made by the artisans of La Maison d'Artiga and every year they launch a few new collections, using rich, contrasted colours as their trademark.

Basque cloth is traditionally used to make espadrilles that come from that very region but the vibrant stripes have inspired many other uses. As it is quite expensive, I like to use my precious swatches of basque cloth very carefully, mostly as embellishment by pairing them with solid colour fabrics, like in this case.

Since the picture was taken this morning, I have already cut out a few patterns and will be adding some new Pupa shoulder bags to my shop very soon...