Look what DH made for me....

Garth made two hook thingies for the wall of my sewing room......to hang bags on.

  I have a glass pane door for light and as incentive to keep the sewing room from looking like a bomb went off.  I must say it works. 

Here is another in the organic collection

Another bag in my new collection.  The organic fabrics, silk screens, and hand stamped are finally getting more and more available to us.  For a long time it Ink and Spindle in Australia and various artisans whose hemp, linen, bamboo and organic cotton fabrics were just too expensive.  Well, I did eventually find some of what I have been looking for at Birch and from several Etsy sellers.  Hand dyes...hand printed with eco-friendly dies.  For a bag it may sound frivolous, but to me it feels right.  This week I made two more bags for a total now of six.  Not much, but a start......here are the new ones....

In the spirit...I use post-consumer mailers (plastic-thank you for your cottage cheese container), and recycled tissue paper to wrap, bamboo fibre string to put the package together.  All these things are from Etsy sellers.  That says a lot.

It's week 6, no 5 is it 7??.

Really it is week six of the Sew Spoiled Weekender Tote Sew Along (or SSSA) ...but I went ahead and finished.  The project is blogged here .   Go take a look at what the others in the group are doing.  Also, we post our progress on Flikr.  Click the link to see those too.  Here are some pics of what I have done.

The magnetic closure is in now.... and here you can see the huge pocket.

 And here, turned right side out and top stitched.  Now for an accessory:

...how about a wristlet/clutch/keyfob?  

There they are...big bag and little bag.

My linen experiment...

My linen experiment...,
originally uploaded by SquareBag.

I am sending photo of this bag to a lot of the  groups I belong to on Flickr. I would appreciate feedback on size, shape and using natural fibres.

Frankly, it came out looking utilitarian when I made the first one. So on the second try, I added the quilting. There is a beaded zipper pull too.

Now...have I overdone it? The idea is natural and organic, and I want to start a line of linen, hemp, bamboo, etc. bags in my etsy shop....think they might be what folks would like?

This is a trial balloon and I appreciate your input, so please be honest.  The easiest way to comment would be to click on the bag photo in the upper right.  That takes you directly to Flickr where there is a section to leave your comment.

Where is everybody???

I am ooking through my blogroll this week and it is very quiet!  Where did everybody go? 

Quilt Market!!  New fabrics are on the way to my fave shops and the older ones are on sale?  Stand back PayPal, here I come.

Look at all these wonderful creations...there is a ton more, but I think I have exceeded my limit of photo heavy posts.  All this is over at Hawthorne Threads

I STILL don't get it..

I just ordered Twitter For Dummies.....I  simply cannot figure out how to twitter effectively.   I don't want to spam, but that seems to be what it is all about. I do want to promote this blog for those who are interested and the same for my Etsy shop.  Why do I need to use # and @ and what is FF?

The Gathered Clutch....and a few more..

Love it...here it is finished.  The pattern that Noodlehead shared.

Also....since I am trending toward a bit of organic, natural and sustainable in my shop, I have ordered some lovely linens and hemp.  I already have bamboo fabrics, so I guess I just have to get sewing.  The other day I put this one together for my shop.  It is hand printed (stamped) linen from Australia.

This little one, I will probably

keep for myself,  but not sure....

This fabric is from Japan.  A lovely, medium-weight linen.    It was along one of the selvages, just little phrases that were so charming, I used it for the strap.

Also, in the clutch department

....this one was just listed on SquareBag.   Pattern from Keyka Lou .  I would suggest you check out her blog if you are into making bags. Lots of great patterns that you can use to make bags to sell. 

Karine Swenson's Art

I have just discovered Karine Swenson's blog, where she talks about her life as an artist living in the High Desert then her Etsy shop where she sells her art.   I am working on a new group of bags for my shop that will feature organic fabrics and style.  Lots of linen, some hemp and bamboo.  Some will be stamped by me using leaves and flowers from our property. 


Karine sells transfers in her shop....and I had a lightbulb moment.  How would this little guy look on the front of a linen or hemp bag?  Dunno.  I ordered a couple and will post the results of the first experiment right here.  Stay tuned.

I'm Hanging Out at Noodlehead....

Lemme tell you...for those of you that adore tutorials and love new ideas or ideas that will ignite your creativity I have found the place.  Noodlehead ;)  <- that's a link there....click on it and go over and check out what Anna has to offer (go ahead, I'll wait.)  Back?  Was that cool or what...bookmark it, add it to your blog roll, whatever.  This is the source!   They are perfect, picture heavy and easy to understand and make up.  Here is a peek at some of the wonders you will find.

I am making the gathered clutch right now.  I will post a pic when I have it done. 

It's Week 3

This is week 3 of the "Sew Spoiled Weekender Tote Sew Along"... how about SSSA for short?  There are 57 of us in a Flickr Group  started by Leah over at Sew Spoiled (how did you guess).

Ok,  I put together my outer pieces and all, so here are some photos of my progress:

Sewing the front pieces together and topstitched.  Pressing on a ton of interfacing....Ok....front pleat opened up . Then the scariest part of all...cutting away so much of the bag using the pleat template.  Here is where a lot of us just stopped.  I zoomed over to the Flickr group and found I was not the only one.  Leah posted in and said  all was well and to go for it. 

                                              

             

I did, and now I am ready for Week 4......

Look What I Found.....

I shop from time to time at the HeyDay Shop for fabric. Today I found this fabric.  It is waterproof fabric...NOT laminated with vinyl.  I am ordering some to fool around with.  Maybe make a cosmetic bag to take traveling.  Or a snack bag for the kiddos.  Go on over and take a look;  if you get some,  let me know what you think.  I am going to convo and see if this is pretty oil cloth, or what.  You know, the kind we use for picnic table cloths......Maybe get a sample. I will keep you posted.                   

The other day I found some Heather Bailey 'Nicey Jane' laminated fabric.  It is very light and I am sure easy to sew with, look at these prints.....click the link and see what you think. 

P.S. and FYI on Quilter's Batting

 Quilters Batting

I am commenting on my own post...but thought I would share this. I received a flickr mail asking me what I did not like about fusibles and what I use instead when making my bags for Etsy. Here is my reply:

"I use quilters batting. I have an Etsy friend, Linda at AggieRay, who has uses flannel for an interlining. For me, that would be too light. FYI, i have found that the best combo is home dec weight fabric interfaced with quilter's batting. There is a repositional spray adhesive product called 'Spray Baste' that will hold the batting to the outer fabric. This project is kinda big, so I may use fusible interfacing on the lining plus the batting so it will have a decent shape.I don't like the fusibles since they shrink when heated and the fabric does not...guess what..wrinkles on our bags. "

Sew Spoiled Weekender Tote Sew Along- Week 2

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Week 2  Cut out the pieces - - -May 2- May 8 

I have printed out the pattern and taped it together.  Decided what fab will be what part and cut out interfacing and decided to use quilters batting for body.I have made sure I had all the stuff I need to start sewing next week.  

Note to self: NO SNEAKING AHEAD!  Wait for everyone else.  We are supposed to share tips and what we are learning, so I don't want to leap ahead and find out later there was an easier way.

Sparrow's Nest

I don't knit, but was on the PurlBee site purchasing some fabric and saw this adorable project that Whitney created that would make a great last minute Mother's Day gift, or just a little something special for yourself: learn how at the Sparrow's Nest Project Journal.