Inspiration Item: Indian Cottons

Sometimes I know what I'm going to do with an item when I buy it. Sometimes the item inspires an idea when I see it. Sometimes I have no idea but I know I have to have it and will figure out what to do with it later!

These cottons from India were like that. I didn't know what I would do with them, but I snatched them up back in February or March and waited with baited breath for three weeks until they arrived. Then I looked at them a bit, realized I had no clue what to do with them, and stuck them with the rest of my fabric.
Eventually I decided to create a patchwork purse out of all five fabrics, and since they all have the common gold accent, I used gold metallic thread and a bunch of fancy stitches to stitch between each section.

Eventually I made a wallet just like that.

And I decided that I needed to make something that showed off the gold stripe, so I made another wallet.

These wallets are actually sold but I will be making more just like them soon.

In Progress: Woven Loop Purse, Messenger Bag, and High Heel Purse

At any given time I have multiple items in progress. I like to work assembly line style and so I often will cut out five or ten purses or wallets, then spend a few nights interfacing them, and then sew them at my leisure. I thought I would take snapshots of a few in progress purses.

First: Purple Woven Loops.
This complicated and time-intensive little beast was directly inspired by a ribbon throw pillow I encountered the other day while looking for new bedding. It was so fun to run my hands across the little loops, and I immediately started dissecting it in my mind to figure out how I would make it. However, neither my husband nor I care for throw pillows, so the next thought was, "How can I make this into a purse?"

Hopefully this little mess of loops will end up as cute as that little pillow.

Next up: Tweed Messenger Bag

This bag has been in my head and on my list of things to do for a loooong time! I've been held up by many factors, the main one being that I was afraid to work with leather. But finally I loaded up on nylon thread, a teflon foot, and lots of patience, and started working.

There will be more leather accents and the bottom has leather.

Final purse: High Heels and Leather Purse

Speaking of leather, here is another purse that has been in the works for some time. This one came together beautifully; it's currently just waiting on some better studs because the ones in the picture had trouble fastening, so I ordered a different type.

This purse will have an internal tube frame, which will be a first for me.

Of course there are many other purses I have been working on but these are all new styles and especially fun.

Behind the Bag: Asymmetrical Studded Purse

Location of first inspiration: King of Prussia Mall
Trigger: A studded leather handbag
Process of thought: I have no memory of what the rest of the handbag looked like, I was just enamoured of the studs all over the bag in a random pattern. I pointed it out to my husband and said, "That is so cool!" Then as I went home the ideas swirled around for awhile until I decided that not only would it be cool to use studs on a bag, it would be raised to even more heights of awesome if I used them in a recognizable pattern. Maybe the recent episodes of Doctor Who that we've been watching inspired me to choose Van Gogh's Starry Night, who knows, but that was the scene I chose.
The asymmetrical design was an added touch of whimsy.

I did ponder for awhile which way to make the design face, but ultimately decided that since I am a righty with my purses, I would make it that way.

Giveaway Winner!

The winner of the $25 gift certificate is comment number 17.

And that means the winner is: jc! I will be contacting you today and if I don't hear back by Thursday I will pick a different winner. Thank you so much everyone for entering!

Happy Birthday to Me! Win a Gift Certificate

This Giveaway is now closed.

Today is my 25th birthday! And as a Happy Birthday gift from me to you I am offering a $25 gift certificate to one lucky person. This $25 will go towards any item in my store and includes shipping as well.

With this gift certificate, you can buy a purse,
a stiff clutch,

a business card holder (or two, or three!),

a framed clutch,

or one of my new wallets,

or anything else you find in my shop, Toriska Bags & Crafts.

Details:

-This giveaway is open to everyone 18 and up, worldwide.

-It runs from today until Sunday at 11 pm eastern time (i.e., right before I go to bed!). At that point I will randomly pick a winner and contact them. If they haven't replied within three days I will choose another winner. Your gift certificate will be good for three months, so until July 31st.

Ways to enter:

There are two possible ways to enter, so you can get two chances to win:

1. Leave a comment on this post and tell me what your favorite item is in my shop (you can pick a sold item too; that helps me know what things to make more of!).

2. Go over to my facebook page and "Like" me. Come back here and leave a comment telling me that you did. If you already are a Facebook fan, let me know in a comment.

That's all! If you leave a comment, make sure that you either leave your email address or have your email in your blogger profile, otherwise I will have no way of notifying you.

Thanks!

-Tori

A new bag

This bag will be up in my shop soon:

New Facebook page

I've created a Facebook Fan page for Toriska Bags & Crafts. Go here if you want to "like" me!