Wishing for spring

While outside my window winter only just begun (we've had almost 1 metre of snow over the last seven days), my thoughts are fast forwarding towards spring - I crave pastel colours and cheerful motifs.

I added three new XL zipper pouches with a starfish applique (that one always makes me smile and made from soft corduroy it feels nice to touch as well). I was able to use some leftover cotton canvas from my university days when we experimented with dyeing - that is why I like to work on smaller purses, there is always an opporunity to use those pretty little scraps of fabric I find difficult to throw away...

A friend of mine asked for a custom faux leather messenger - she wanted bright green interior and a cheerful embroidery on the front - with the word Hope. Perfect for spring!

Čakajoč na pomlad

Zunaj meter snega, v meni pa že želja po svetlih pastelih in spomladanskih motivih. Zadnje tri puščice, ki sem jih dodala v trgovino, imajo našito morsko zvezdo iz mehkega rebrastega žameta, ki ga je užitek pobožati. Uporabila sem tudi nekaj ostankov blaga, ki smo ga ročno barvali še na fakulteti, vedno mi je žal zavreči lepe koščke tkanin... Torba iz umetnega usnja pa je nastala za prijateljico, ki ima rada živo zeleno barvo in je želela poseben izvezen motiv z besedo Upanje.

Starfish brooch

A customer recently bought one of my Stella Maris wristlets as a gift for her sister's bachelorette's party. She told me starfish was the theme of the party as her sister was getting married at the beach.

When I buy an item on Etsy as a gift to someone, it is always a pleasant surprise when the seller includes a little something for me as well. So I decided to make a little starfish brooch to match the wristlet; I used the same robin egg blue corduroy, reinforced it with fusible interfacing and cut out a small starfish. I then glued the starfish to a piece of pea green felt and cut out the shape again, leaving a 2 mm margin. At the end I sewed a pin at the back, using green thread.

Michelle told me the package arrived just in time for the bachelorette party and she happily wore her new brooch pinned to the strap of her own bag.

New in my shop

Here they are, the three new hipster bags I made over the last weekend - all three are now available in my shop.

All bags have adjustable cotton webbing strap, large zippered pocket inside and a d-ring for attaching keys.

Warm grey upholstery canvas with orange starfish applique and buttons

Olive green floral upholstery fabric with repurposed men's tie applique

D-ring and small interior slip pocket

Blue denim-like cotton blend canvas with aqua blue starfish applique and buttons

Today is Button Wednesday on Petronella's blog (from Etsy kraplap shop) - check out this week's button beauties!

Happy Wednesday!

Work in progress

I am having another one of my sewing weekends!

With the husband and children gone to grandma's, I have a house to myself. That means I have set my sewing station on the kitchen table, where I can cut the fabric and sew while I watch TV. And thanks to Elisa from Pesky cat designs, who has infected me with the sudden need for some British humour, I have spent the whole morning clicking through episodes of Keeping up Appearances on Youtube. It is hilarious even if you don't keep your eyes on the screen all of the time...

Here is my progress so far:

I have finished one new hipster bag in upholstery canvas and upcycled men's tie and have two more bags just a few stitches away - they will both have a starfish applique in front and cotton webbing adjustable straps. I hope to be able to take pictures before the dark and list them tonight!

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.

Stella Maris wristlet

The weekend is almost over and I still have some tidying up to do before my family returns (and muffins to bake like I promised the children).

Here are two new summer wristlets I listed in my shop today. I call them Stella Maris, starfish in Latin, and I must say I am very pleased how the corduroy applique in salmon and robin egg blue on two tone beige canvas turned out.

I have already sketched some more starfish inspired designs but they will have to wait for the next sewing break...

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!