Some More Scrappy Sewing

Today, I dug to the bottom of my scrap basket for the “just right” fabrics for these two purses.  When Hubby arrived home and peeked into the sewing room, he exclaimed “what’s all that?!?” at the mess of fabrics laying all over.  It’s amazing how many little scraps fit into my bin, and how enormous they look when they’ve been dug into for a few hours trying to find this or that.  I’m pretty pleased with what I found in there, each purse has a wide variety of prints, with the color being the unifying factor in the design.

They’re newly listed in my Etsy shop, click on the picture to view the listing details.

Need a New Wallet?

If you don’t feel like using my tutorial to sew one yourself, I just added some to my Etsy shop.

Check it out!

My latest pattern hit my Etsy shop this morning.  Pull out your knit scraps and get ready to sew up some new undies for your children.

A Note About Etsy.

I’ve responded to many e-mails about this recently, most on the lines of “I’d love to buy your pattern, but I went to your Etsy shop and it’s sold out!”  Don’t panic!  If it is indeed sold out, I’ll relist it as soon as I notice.  However, it may not actually be sold out.  For some reason, when I use the “relist” feature on etsy, my item gets a new item number.  Therefore, the old link to the sold out pattern, still shows up as sold out even though there are more in my shop.  What you can do if you click on a link that takes you to a “sold out” page is look in the shop itself.  If indeed, the top pattern is not there, feel free to drop me an e-mail about it, or just check back later to see if I’ve restocked.  I have no intention of keeping my pattern out of your hot little hands.

And for those of you who have older girls, I am working on drafting a larger range of sizes for this pattern, so keep your eyes open for an 8-10-12-14 size range coming soon.  I doubt I’ll make it in grown-up sizes, though.

Not My Usual Kind of Craft

Have you ever decided to try to make something just because you have everything you need for the project?  This was one of those kinds of crafts.  “Hmm…I have hair clips, ribbon and a hot glue gun…Maybe I’ll make clippies!”  Here they are, minus the burnt fingers.  I added some buttons for embellishment.  When looking over what I’d made, both girls asked the same question:  “Why is there only one of those ones?”  The answer is simple, I didn’t have enough ribbon for another one.  The pink and purple pair of clips were missing from the photograph, they’d already found their way onto some little girls’ heads.  I guess the kids like them.

And, some more of today’s craftiness, this time more my style.  I made these three spring-y wallets.  Two of the fabrics you’ll recognize as being scraps from the girls’ Easter dresses, the other is a vintage-y orange label print.  I think the orange one turned out just right to throw into your tote bag on the way to the beach…totally cool!  Also shown is a bit of the bag I listed in the shop the other day.  Cruise on over to check them out if you have a chance.

How Many Wallets?

Are in your scrap basket?  In mine, four so far.

 I’ve been trying to make productive use of all my scraps this week, and so far I’ve found the pieces for these four wallets in the scrap basket.  A wallet is a great project for scraps, as it is small enough that you don’t need much fabric, and it lends itself to patchwork designs.

My productivity this week is twofold in that it both decreases the size of my scrap basket, and increases the inventory in my Etsy shop.  Also, this batch of wallets is the first to be sewn on the Rocketeer, which did an amazing job stitching through all those layers!  She’s shown in some of the auction pics in an attempt to be artistic in my photography.

Everybody Loves a Sale!

I just marked down some of the purses in my Etsy shop, hop on over and take a look!

  

Sewing up a storm

Have I been busy sewing this week!  I’ve got several purses made and more planned, in addition to *maybe* getting the kids’ Christmas pajamas sewn before Christmas rolls around.  The trick to that has been making time to sew without the kids around.

Here is one of the projects I got done.  I know I’ve said it before, but this is one I love enough to want to keep it!  I have a thing for the matchiness, I have a wallet for each bag I carry (easy for me, though, since I make them).  This set came out adorable, and so fun to carry!   The round handles are swingy, and slide onto your wrist if you need a free hand.  I’ll definitely use more handles like these on other bags!

The other thing I’ve been working on is a PDF bag pattern, which will be coming soon to my Etsy shop.  Right now some of my sewing friends are trying it out to work out any kinks.  Thanks, gals!

New in the Shop

In addition to the wallets I made last week, I have listed a new bag in my Etsy shop.

Here’s a photo of today’s project, which was a new shape for me.  I call it a “bucket bag” which may not be the prettiest name, but at least it’s descriptive.  Speaking of pretty, I love these fabrics!  They were just begging to be made into a lovely bag today, so I HAD to oblige.  (I can’t be the only sew-er whose fabrics talk, can I?)  This tote came out in a just-right size, big enough for what you need without being too bulky.  The shape is nice for putting things in and out.

And, just for you, my loyal blog-reader, a special offer this holiday season.  If you buy an item listed in my Etsy shop, just drop me an e-mail letting me know you read my blog, and I’ll throw in a little something extra to go with your purchase.  Consider it a gift from me to you.  So go, SHOP!

I’m Super-Hip!

Look what I found in the December issue of Parents magazine!

It’s a little blurb about Etsy, that tells how “super-hip” moms are into buying handmade.  Maybe now when I tell people I sell things on Etsy someone will know what I’m talking about.

Speaking of Etsy, I’ve listed another bag in my Etsy shop.  It’s my newest style, which I call the “coming and going” bag.  It features a center front seam which makes for a different look from the front and back when it’s slung over your shoulder.

When I was working on this pattern, I came to the realization that I could no longer avoid the magnetic snap.  This bag really needed a closure, so I gathered up my courage and installed a magnetic snap with the help of this great tutorial from Craft Apple.  It was way easier than I thought it would be, and made for a super-professional looking finish.  I will definitely be making more of this style of bag!