Rockabilly purses

I love creative customers!  And this one was a great one to work with.  She decided on seven different purse designs, most of them Rockabilly inspired.  This was the concept collage we came up together.

 

I knew the hardest purse would be the one with the sparrows.  I was fairly confident that I could come up with something on my new Silhouette Cameo.  My ideas were to either use vinyl as a stencil and paint on the sparrow, or to use heat transfer.  This is the free sparrow vector graphic that I found online.  Adam (my husband) and I both have limited vector abilities, but our combined efforts worked well.  Adam simplified the graphic, and then I figured out how to make it compatible with the Cameo software. 

 Here is a progress photo of the purses.

 And after several miserable attempt at cutting out a sparrow, I finally figured out the vector program and got this to cut out successfully (with only a little hiccup on the tail from a lump in the vinyl).

 I experimented with both fabric paint (fail for several reason, mostly that the vinyl really liked being stuck to the glitter vinyl), and heat transfer.  I had to be really careful to not scorch or melt the glitter vinyl.

 Sewing a couple layers of glitter vinyl is tricky, so sewing these purses wasn't a walk in the park.  I'm really happy with the final order.

 Some close-ups.

I think my customer will be happy!

Purse Week Top 10!

My teal purse that I entered into Purse Week got into the Top Ten! If you're interested in voting for me head over to here and cast your vote.  I think voting goes through Monday the 22nd. Thanks!

Purse Week

It's that time of year again--Purse Week!  The blog Lemon Squeezy Home does a Purse Week each year where people can enter with bags they have sewn and win prizes.  I think I've joined each year.  This year my real motivation was to make a new purse for myself.  My son was recently pottytrained and so now I have both kids carry a backpack with their sippies and other stuff.  So I needed a smaller purse!  I have only a few things that I carry in a purse: my wallet, kindle, phone, keys, checkbook, pen, and hand sanitizer.

 

 

I took my machine to the shop on Monday and they told me it would take 5 days to work on.  I got out my old machine, which is slow and clunky and can't really sew a straight line, and managed to make this purse.  The next day I was shocked when they called me and said my machine was done, so I hurried out to get it, because I couldn't handle sewing on my old machine for any more projects!

 This fabric is a gorgeous embroidered wool blend, and sadly I am at the tail end of it.  I didn't even have quite enough for the gusset. The front has a pocket for my keys and phone.  The back has a zippered pocket for my kindle.

 The inside has a small zipper pocket for chapstick or any other small things. 

 And because I have kind of sloped shoulder and purses slide right off at the most inconvenient times, I made a crossbody strap.  I had to knot the top because it's too long, so I'll probably end up shortening it, but I just haven't done that yet.

 The purse ended up being really cute and really comfy to carry around.  It's just a smidgeon too small, so I have to work hard to get everything in it.  Because I also considered this purse a prototype for a new design for my shop, I decided to keep going and make another one.  This one is three inches wider but the same height.  My husband thinks it's a little too wide, but I actually like it.  I do intend to have the gusset go all the way around for the next one I make.  I decided to use the woven style that I use for many of my clutches in order to transfer it from a fun purse to something unique.

 I really love the handle--it's faux leather and slightly adjustable.

 It also has everything the other purse does--front slip pocket, back zipper pocket, inside zipper pocket, and a recessed zipper to look extra nice. 

I'll definitely be making more of these!  I think I only need to make a few adjustments to make them perfect.

So I think the teal one will be my first entry, and for my second I think I'll use one of my clutches.  I'm still debating, but I think it will be this one:

Fun things in my studio

I have known for awhile that my storage system for my purses was really flawed.  Purses were getting squished, finding them was difficult at times, and one of the places I stored them was right next to a vent, so I was concerned about lint.  So I did some internet research, and ultimately decided that shoe storage was the chepapest and most efficient way to go.  I ultimately bought four of these shoe shelves from Target, each with 15 slots.  I stacked them all up in the corner where I used to have a normal bookshelf full of purses.  We bolted it to the wall.

 I love it!  Most slots can fit two purses, but a one style fits 3 to a slot, and one style only fits one to a slot.  I don't have much more room left for more purses, but they are small enough that I could probably fit one or two in my dining room if necessary.

 And I do plan on filling more!  This is a shelf I bought last month specifically for storing in progress purses.  I'm not even sure how many purses and wallets are cut out on this shelf!  I'm having a slow time working through them, because I always have current orders, but it helps a lot to have them already cut out and interfaced.

 Here's a fun toy I bought last month.  I may not use it much for my business, but I already have a few ideas.  It's a Silhouette Cameo, which is a cutting machine.  I know I'll be using a lot for cutting out quilt appliques and Christmas gifts.

 Here's something I made that I may use for the shop.  I use these postcards to close the tops of my packages.  I tried cutting out one, and I think it looks kind of cool!

 Here is a collage of bridal orders for the last month or so.  It was a busy month! 

 And here is a collage of individual purses that I added to my shop or made for custom orders this month.

And lastly, I hit a big milestone this month!

500 sales on Etsy since starting just over 2 years ago! 

Welcome, September!

August was a record month for me and I have the pictures to show for it!

 

Here was a bridal order where the bride contacted me with less than a week until her wedding.  Her original clutch seller had disappeared and she was left in the lurch.  I was able to fit in this rush order and get them off to her with a couple days to spare!

 This was a large order with beautiful purple color.

 An order that combined my bow clutch with nautical embellishments.  The pearl brooch is removeable and she can put an anchor on that one instead if she wants.

 This one has a different embellishment for each bridesmaid.

 And embroidered initials with a little charm.

 Another gathered order (glad I introduced this style!)

 Champagne colored. Champagne has been a big color this year.

 Eight bright yellow woven clutches with gray interiors.

 Pink and champagne gathered.

 Chocolate and ivory gathered.

 This clutch was fun, if a little stressful at times.  After I ordered the applique for it, my supplier contacted me to let me know she couldn't find them in her inventory.  Instead, I had her send me some white ones, and I then dyed it to the right color.  The first time I dyed it, it wasn't quite the right shade, which was pretty depressing. Then I remembered that I still had yellow dye from an order last year, so I dyed it again with fuchsia mixed with a little yellow, and it ended up perfect.

 I have been cutting out purses like crazy in preparation for the holiday season.  I really want to have a full shop, and to make extras of popular products so that I don't have to worry about making items to order during the busy periods.  Anyway, I have a new shelving unit just filled with purses I've cut out, and I'm trying to work on those items and current orders simultaneously.  Here are a couple recent favorites.

September will be an interesting month for me.  My 4 year old starts preschool mid-month every weekday for three hours.  That means I'll have to drive my husband to work and back home every single day in order to have the car, which will make dinner prep interesting until I can get into the groove.  I'm excited to have my daughter in school, learning and making new friends.  And I'm also happy to have more one-on-one time with my 2.5 year old, who dearly loves his sister and may have problems with her gone everyday.  The afternoons and evenings will still be my sewing time. :]

Recent custom orders

I guess it's been over a month since I last blogged.  I've had quite the selection of bridal and custom orders since then.  Here's a boatload of pictures.

Nautical orders continue to be popular.  I love when a bride picks something different for each purse.

 This was actually not an order, but a quilt for my newborn niece.  Kind of busy, with lots of appliques.  Choosing complementary colors for a quilt is always difficult for me.  The important thing was that my sister loves it.

 Some woven purses. Have I mentioned this is my favorite of my designs?  I've been making variations of it from the beginning and still enjoy making it.

 Ivory with orange and pink insides (another thing I love doing--can you tell I like it when brides find unique ways to personalize their purses?)

 I had a bride ask for a red cameo, and I was about to decline, when I actually searched around and found one.  I decided to go ahead and buy a few and add it as an option in my shop.  I haven't actually gotten around to that yet though! I think I may have a section in my shop simply for nautical purses of different variations.

 This customer sent me two different fabrics .

 Bright green gathered purse with keyholes and chocolate interior.

 The funny thing is, the fabric in the above order was so difficult to work with that I decided to only offer gathered purses in silk.  Polyester fabrics warp when exposed to the iron, which I have to do in order to fuse the interfacing in this style of clutches.  I had a bride ask for silver and white silk gathered clutches:

 After that I added these to my shop with a few different variations: flowers, keyholes, and plain.  This was a little over a week ago.  I've already had three brides order them!  One chose different embellishments for each bridesmaid, which will be fun.

 A customer asked for a silver anchor or something with rhinestones, and I was pleased to find a rhinestone anchor!  I've ordered some plain silver anchors to offer as an option, and am considering adding these rhinestone anchors too.  I also had to clear out a drawer just to use for nautical embellishments!  I needed them easily accessible so that I can see at a glance if I'm close to running out of a certain style.

 Champagne satin clutches with cascading ruffles.

 Coral interiors:

 Seven silk pleated clutches in gray:

 With a peach cotton print on the interiors:

 Three ruffled black clutches for bridesmaids and a fuchsia (a color I recently finally figured out how to spell correctly!) clutch for the bride, and a woven clutch for MOB.

 Four green silk clutches with couched embroidery and bead leaves.

 Silver and scarlet purses for the bridesmaids and silver and ivory for the bride.

Whew!  That's my July plus a bit of August custom order round-up!  Coming up in the next couple of weeks, I have several orders of gathered clutches, a fun nautical/bow variation, and a large woven clutch order.  My work is cut out for me!