Perhaps - Not So Basic Black!

Yesterday I blogged about the basic black purse I made for my friend.

She has bought several of my purses in the past, and while she sews, she doesn't like to make bags, although she has done a couple.

She found a pattern and brought it to me, and then did some shopping in my 'fabric closet'. 

The purse is just basic black twill - the pattern had a flap with velcro/magnetic snap closure, but I put a zipper in the top instead.

The straps were kind of short - I know my friend like a longer strap for her shoulder, and to dress it up, I added the rectangular metal rings.

So, then the fun starts!  This isn't such a basic bag after all - those buttons are there for a reason!  The bag gets a cover that can be changed - and in this case is reversible! 

So on one side we have the bright colorful flowers and on the other side a basic black and white.

Now, think of the possibilities!

Happy Sewing!

Susan

Basic Black Purse?

A friend bought a purse pattern and asked me to make her one for the fall.

Looks pretty much like a basic black purse, doesn't it?

Well, the buttons and rectanguler rings on the handles dress it up a little bit.

The pattern was just a flap closure with a magnetic snap - I made it a zip top.

Happy Sewing!

Susan

Custom Order - Monogram Applique

I've been making the box pouch for a while.  It's a shaped pouch - much like a dopp kit - zipper across the top and down the two ends just a bit.

I added some 'manly' fabrics a while back - one of which ended up in an 'Etsy Finds' email and another on the Etsy front page not too long ago.

I'm currently working on an order for six - I'm assuming they are for a wedding - there was a request to monogram them.  I don't have an embroidery machine - and have no plans to get one - so I found a decent block letter set and tested out an applique monogram.  Not too hard.

Here's what the first one looks like.

I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out - although I'm sure I would not want to have to make a living on applique.

Happy Sewing!

Susan

Tales of a 'Steamy' Festival (part 2)

I meant to get this written sooner - I've been a little busy since the show.

I wanted to share some of the interesting things that people say to me at shows.  I wish I got a dollar for each time I hear one of these!

Sew Darn Simple - there's nothing simple about it.
Sure - 'You' think it's simple.
I love everything here.

Your stuff is so cute.

Do you make ALL of this yourself?

Those are just a few of the fun things I hear.

After the show, I spent most of the first day getting my etsy shop back open - since I don't keep a separate inventory for shows and online, I have to go through and make sure I don't keep any items in my shop that I either don't have made, or especially, don't have more fabric for.

My niece and her family came later that week for this past weekend, so I had to organize my inventory and clean it off all the beds, so they had placed to sleep, go to the grocery and generally gear myself up for the visit.

While they were here, I made this cute skirt for my great-niece. She picked out the fabric because she liked the 'sparklies'.  Of course, you can't see that from this picture, but there is silver around the cats.

And my niece wanted some new throw pillows and a cover for her ottoman, so we went and found fabric for that.  Hope we got enough - had to guess, since we didn't have ottoman measurements.

I have a few other projects going on, so it's busy as usual.

Happy sewing!

Susan

Tales of a 'Steamy' Festival (part 1)

If you know anything about me, you know I'm not much on the great outdoors - especially when the weather is - well - anything except perfect.  So having a 3-day craft show in 95-100+ degree weather - not my most favorite activity.

I was accepted this year to the St Johns Medical Center Festival of the Arts in Westlake Ohio (more about this later).  It's a Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday show.  I'm usually not even a fan of the 2-day format, but a lot of them I set up Friday anyway, so I figured it wasn't that much more time involved.

You know we've been having a heat wave here in Ohio (and much of the rest of the US) - so boy, it was a fun weekend. (are you sensing the sarcasm?!?)

Luckily, my helper for the weekend was my husband - I'm pretty sure I would have given up about 5 minutes into unloading.

We were in a lovely park-like setting at the hospital - my booth was at the top of the hill, by the main road - and there was a little slope and some really uneven ground.  So the booth setup had to change to accommodate.

Believe it or not (it's true!) while I went to check in at the hotel, Jamie put all the product out and arranged it.  Really, he did a great job!

Stay tuned for some additional tales of the weekend!

Happy Sewing!
Susan