Work in progress

There are some half finished Mia zipper pouches on my sewing table this weekend,
a revisit of my favourite materials, darker wool cloth with brighter silk patches, lace trims and freehand machine embroidery. I love drawing with thread and these autumn branches, sometimes adorned with beads and sometimes bare, go very well with cotton lace trim, they remind me of traditional, ethnic motifs of Slavic heritage.

If all goes well I should have these pouches in my shop on Tuesday.

Enjoy your sunday!



V delu

Na moji šivalni mizi je nekaj na pol končanih žepkov na zadrgo Mia, v že videni
+++ kombi777777777jyi788888naciji (Tigr, spravi se dol z moje tipkovnice!) volnenega blaga v temnejših tonih in svetlejše svile, okrašene s čipko in prostoročno strojno vezenino. Rada rišem z nitjo in te jesenske vejice, včasih gole, včasih pošite s koraldami, se lepo ujemajo s čipko, spominjajo me na etnične motive slovanske kulturne dediščine.

Če bo šlo vse po načrtih, bodo nove torbice v trgovini ta torek.
Lepo nedeljo želim!

Busy Sunday

Today I am home alone, sewing and ticking off items from my to do list. Busy, busy, busy!
One of the things on my list was backing up my files and upgrading the computer which meant more than 4 hours of cyber blackout.

So instead of posting pictures of my sewing space and work in progress, here is just a quick snapshot I posted on Instagram earlier, a detail from one of two new hipster bags I am making. I will take pictures of the finished bags tomorrow and list them in my shop by the end of the day.

Have a nice evening!

My workspace

Today is a Loddelina Sunday so I am busy cutting fabric and preparing everything for my day of sewing. So far I have a neighbourhood of little house brooches in the works and I might relax a little in front of the TV later in the afternoon while I sew the brooches shut.
If time premits I also have a new hipster bag all cut out and ready to assemble...

And this is the latest addition to my shop, small money purse, made from chocolate brown wool cloth and embroidered with mustard yellow thread.

Have a great Sunday wherever you are!

* * *         * * *         * * *

Update: several hours later my little house brooches are almost finished (I have to sew a pin in the back of each one) - hopefully I can add most of them to my shop tomorrow...

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!

New season, new ideas

First blossoms of spring make me already think of summer, there is something about clear blue sky with puffy white clouds that evokes memories of childhood summer holidays at the seaside... I love the clean and fresh combination of sky blue, leaf green and white!

So this week I am working on a larger summer tote - perhaps not in the same colour scheme as this cherry branch (because I have to use some of many fabrics I have in stock) but the new bags will definitely say "Summer Time"

Stay tuned!

What is taking so long ?!

If any of you were wondering where those promised new bags are, here's a more detailed description of my very slow bag making process...

I am working on a new design, a smaller version of Luna messenger bag and things just keep coming in the way. I will not bore you with details but rather list the work stages of my latest bag that stretch over the past 5 (!) days:

Stage 1

evening after the children have gone to bed

duration : 2h 30

Designing the new bag, matching the fabrics, buttons, trims, zippers (at the end I decided to partly revisit my previous design, Free as a bird Pupa shoulder bag). Drawing the pattern and making notes of all additional ideas.

Stage 2

two evenings later

duration: 1h

Cutting the main fabric, lining and interfacing. Fusing the interfacing (since my iron was still hot from having ironed the laundry).

Stage 3

short break while my little one naps

duration: 45 min

Sewing the golden mustard jacquard pieces onto black denim, freehand machine embroidery on the flap.

Stage 4

last night

duration: 1h

Finishing the flap, sewing the front zippered pocket, swivel hook band and interior pocket

Stage 5

today

Not much longer now... I have to put exterior and interior parts of the bag together, insert the flap and adjustable strap and the new satchel will be ready for photo shoot tomorrow...

Thing that is keeping me awake in the evening (when I wouldn't mind going to bed at nine) is the new coffee machine we bought last weekend to replace the broken one. It makes delicious expresso and I like to pour mine in a small bowl, adding lots of milk froth and a cube of cane sugar. Mmmmm...

PS:

Thank you all for participating in jaebumfangirl's giveaway to win my zippered pouch. Over 350 responses in two days, I am impressed!

There is still time to participate, giveaway ends 21st of March.

Night and Day

I have been trying to squeeze some work into my busy days - sometimes I have an hour in the morning and sometimes there is no time for sewing until the evening, after the children are in bed. So this is how the view from my sewing corner changes all the time:

And here is a glimpse at my latest project, a shoulder bag in salmon orange corduroy with embroidery and buttons. If all goes well I will list it in my shop by tomorrow...

Link your own button story to Petronella's Button Wednesday!

My workspace

I am enjoying a sewing day (thanks to my darling husband who took the children to grandma's), working on some new designs. My shop needs more shoulder bags so I have a couple of Pupa bags in mind and a smaller version, Pippa, that is almost finished.

When I am not pressed for time, I like to move away from my sewing corner in the bedroom and nestle on the couch, watching some of my favourite shows on DVD while I sew on buttons or beads. So instead of showing you my messy sewing space, here is a look at the coffee table and a piece of sky blue corduroy with some embroidery, felt applique and buttons I am about to sew on.

I hope to add the new items to my shop on Monday, stay tuned!

My workspace

To reassure my Etsy Holiday Camp buddy Elisa that I am still pursuing our goal to add 60 new items in our shops by December 1st - here is a photo of my current work space:

A bit messy, with empty chocolate wrappers quickly put in the bin and bits of thread swept away...

Yesterday I listed the other wooly wristlet, a pale winter version, inspired by the latest EST challenge theme - snowflakes (you may see other entries so far HERE).

This morning we went to farmers' market with the children. I love chrysanthemum - and apparently, so does Lily.

In the afternoon I worked on some more house brooches. I was "sew" close to finishing two of them but then nap time was over and since it was another beautiful sunny afternoon I just had to take the children out again. The best choice was nearby cycling park, a place with nicely kept grass (thanks to more conscious variety of French dog owners) and paved, meandering cycling path where older children can safely burn their calories while mothers chat and keep an eye on toddlers.

More sewing tomorrow, I promise, Elisa!

And now - to bed.

Good night!

Organizing my workspace

I have finally managed to tidy up my sewing corner. I was putting away the new supplies I have purchased recently and realized all of my stuff needs better organizing so I always know what I have to work with and can get inspired quickly - I was amazed at all the supplies I have "in stock" but they were so well hidden that I have already forgotten about them...

Following an advice I once came across in an Etsy forum I put all my ribbons and trims

in big glass jars where I can easily see them and at the same time they provide a nice decoration for my shelves (pictured is my lace trims jar). I organized all my metallic charms, hardware (magnet snaps, loops and split rings) and large beads in smaller glass containers (which we have plenty of thanks to our love of preserves!).

I keep smaller jars in a drawer but before starting a new project I can always take them out and arrange them on the table so I have a clear view of what I have to work with. At the moment I am making some new, smaller zipper pouches / pencil purses in warm and elegant autumn colours.

Stay tuned as I list the new items in my shop very soon!

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...

My creative space

This post was supposed to be about the new zipper pouches I have been working on lately - but instead of sewing I was happy to receive guests this weekend, a German family we became friends with during our stay in Augsburg. They arrived on Thursday and shared Sunday breakfast with us before they had to go back home. The flat looks quite empty now after three days spent in the company of four children under 4!

So instead of a photo of my sewing table I will share with you a picture of our front door from yesterday afternoon...

Now back to work!

Work in progress

I was able to set up my sewing corner last weekend - as soon as the table was put in the guest room, which we use as children's changing/bathing room, I started drawing a new pattern for a purse. I had some free time to sew when my sister in law came to visit for a couple of days to spend some time with the children, allthough Gaston helped me sew as well, mainly by decorating my sewing machine with pieces of tape...

The results will be introduced in my shop later today as I still have to take the pictures of my two new purses... Stay tuned!

My creative space

I've been working on some new designs lately, trying out the freehand embroidery foot on my machine again and setting my mind to holiday season...

Here's a sneak peek of my working place (that is what I call a small corner in the dining room) and some new totes I'm trying to inject with christmas spirit. I HOPE I'll be able to list one of them by the end of this weekend - and only then I will have some time to look through that copy of Vogue that has been sitting on my desk for a week...