Monday, August 18, 2008

Jane bags and website launch!

The other day I decided to take up my trainer's offer to showcase some of my purses at her gym. She called me the next day to say she had sold a purse and wanted more. She sold Li'l Kim, the one that I thought was the least attractive!

I started sewing like mad, and in one day managed to make a bunch of different Jane bags.. so.. without further ado:


Elegant Jane

Elegant Jane came about from Lady Kim. I set the cameo in Damask Ribbon, and it was all as an afterthought as I thought the plain polka dot pink bag needed a little something extra..

Lemonade Jane
Lemonade Jane is just like Lemonade Lucy, since I had left over lemon print fabric. The ribbon adds a nice touch and looks much nicer in person!


Country Jane
Country Jane is my favourite from this batch I think. She's understated and ladylike. Perfect for a long white skirt and big sunglasses. I love the fabric!

Cupcake Jane
How could I not call this "Cupcake Jane"? I mean, the pink polkadots and cute blue ribbon just lend itself to that cutesie cheesecake kind of look. I love the periwinkle silk lining. Yum!

Jane Picante!
I see this more as a little shopper bag, since the fabric makes me think of cooking. I think I may make an apron out of the rest of this fabric, no quite sure any one will want a handbag covered in chili peppers!


But.. on the upside.. MY WEBSITE IS DONE! of course, until I decide to change it all over again. for now, I love it. Check it out, since all the purses can be found for sale there..




Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Phew. Bad hair days and Jane.

It's been a bit of a shit day- so I'm cheering myself up by blogging about my latest creations. After a crap day at work, I got home and had a drink. On an empty stomach, so I found myself slightly tipsy. Then I went to have a piece of cheese and managed to have the cheese cutter break in half (its got a porcelain handle) spontaneously, leaving me with a cut on my thumb that wouldn't stop bleeding. Add to that a bunch of other crappy things going wrong, and you get one grumpy housewife.

So.. cheer up pictures!

New Design: Jane

this is a new bag concept: Jane. She's simple but chic. I love the metal handle hooks. This one was my first one, which I made on the fly with no pattern. I just kinda liked the idea and went for it after sketching it out. She's made out of gorgeous pink, red and creme striped pattern fabric and red cotton lining.

That led me to making my next one immediately after, Sailor Jane

Sailor Jane

This bag is too cute for words! Right before I started sewing I got the idea to really enhance the nautical theme of the blue and white pattern by adding the red ribbon. She's also a little american patriotic- though I think of her more as nautical style. I might make one with blue ribbon next to be even more nautical. So I stuck the ribbon into the sides and sewed away. Then I realised the first Jane bag had no way of closing, so I added the magnetic clasp. I think this design was one of the easiest to perfect: second try and sellable!

This next one was actually a Kim bag gone wrong. It ended up not being quite the right shape, but I loved the fabric too much to throw it away. So I just added the metal handle hooks and lined it in red.

Swirly

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Lady Kim

I've been sewing again today- guess I got the urge!

I made another "Kim" bag, and here she is:

Lady Kim
Lady Kim

I was purely selfish in making this one. I love, LOVE, LOVE damask fabric. I splurged a little while ago and bought a ton of different types of damask print fabric, and this is the first of my endeavours with it. I really wanted this to turn out perfect because of how much i love the fabric, and of only having one fat quarter or it, so only being able to produce ONE bag out of it.


Lady Kim - inside
Anyways, I lined her with bright red silk, and then decided to top it off with a cameo. I used red ribbon to make the nest for the cameo, and then glued it in with silicon glue. Then added a pin to the back, so it's a removable brooch- makes it easy to dress the bag up, or dress it down for a more casual look (or if red isn't matching the outfit you're wearing)

I love it!

I like to think I'm getting better- or at least, I hope I am!

Monday, August 4, 2008

purses and chairs?

Oh, the neglect!

With good reason though..
I've been holding back on creating any handbags, since I have so many and havent gotten rid of them yet. I dont feel that any of them are good enough to sell yet- since they're not perfect. BUT, tonight I had some time home alone, so I set about making a bag from start to finish with no flaws. I made sure to take my time, instead of rushing to the end like I usually do. The only thing I forgot was to put the feet on.. but other than that, I think she came out rather well.
Hawaiian Kim

Hawaiian Kim

Technique wise, this is probably one of the best I've made, if not the best. I put the straps on inbetween the lining and the outershell, so there aren't any unsightly ends. I also made sure this time to have my threads matching, so the outside has red thread and the inside, which is lined in a dark navy blue shimmery fabric, has black thread. Yay!


In other news, I decided that I couldn't stand the ugly pink velour chairs any longer. I've never upholstered before- but then again, most of my sewing efforts are trial&error, so I figured I'd give it a shot. Instead of buying one of those chair covers that never quite fits, I decided to have my hand at it. I managed to find a fabric that matched our couch perfectly in colour, so I thought I'd post the progress of covering the chairs (there are two, but no sense showing both!)

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This is how they started out..

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snug tailoring..


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sewn and fitted..

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Almost done..

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Done! This chair gave me a bit of a headache because I wasn't thinking, did the whole thing, then opened it to recline it (they are reclining chairs) and snapped all the seams! Back to the drawing board.

I ran out of fabric so the bottoms were showing pink.. which I decided to fix by making magazine pockets on both sides..

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Magazine pockets!


Hurrah!
Sleepytime now!