Being featured in the Making magazine (and so proud :)

I have been reading through one article on Etsy back in February or March. It was about being featured in the magazines and how to approach this. It was very interesting reading as I would never actually though about myself approaching the magazines.

Well, I have browsed a few titles, and got the email addresses and sent the emails to them. The worst that could happen would be that they will not reply. So I waited a week, 2 weeks, a month - and none of them replied. LOL

After a few weeks I just forgot about this at all and carried on with my shops as usual. Then my blackberry made that email noise. I got an email from the editor of Making magazine and OMG she was asking me to make a make up bag to be featured in the issue 11 - WOW. I immediately rang my husband jumping while on the phone, so had to repeat myself 3 times :) A couple of weeks later I sent my bag and step by step instructions to the magazine and waited.................

Today my local whsmith was opening at 9am. I got there 8.55am impatiently waiting while my 2years girlie named all the things she wants from that shop. I just kept saying, yes darling :)))
Then the door opened and within seconds I found the magazine with 2 big pages of my make up bag :) I called my husband again, my mum (still jumping) and told the lady on the till that I have been featured in there, so I am buying two, but might come for more :)
And the bonus was waiting for me at home as the postman left one issue there for me too!

Well, this is very very exciting and makes me proud and even more confident with my designs.

PS: the bag has been featured in Making magazine, issue 11 (September), pages 73-74 - happy reading!

Amy Butler fabric and my new bags

I wanted to buy some of Amy Butler's fabric for a loooooong time. Luckily I got some additional funds thanks to my customers :) this month and so I started to browse on the internet for some supplies. I decide to go with bundles of fat quarters as a start to see what is the quality of the fabric.

So I bought some from home decor collection and a bundle of lovely yellow - green floral spotty bundle.

And then a few days later my Christmas in middle of the May could start - I opened the package carefully with high expectations and can tell you that I had a huge smile on my face - loved it. Quality of the fabric was absolutely amazing and the colours and the prints were even better than the pictures.

So as soon as I got them all out I started to match them and shape them - basically I started to be imagining in my head all the different bags I could make out of this georgeous fabric. Once decided what shape they going to be the magic could begin. And here are the first two results:

My first Victoria sponge

I know that this is not what I usually write about but baking is my second passion after crafts. I love making cakes and learning to make new is always exciting. So I woke up this morning at 7am and though the sunshine was glorious. Then I caught a glimpe of a recipe book. So me and my 2 years old helper were mixing and stirring and weighing and pouring. And there it was - two parts of the cake in the oven. I am actually impressed with myself how well it turned out to be. See yourself here:



I think that I might have a piece now! :)

Haberdashery - my favourite shop

Well not so favourite with my husband though as I tend to spend there more time than in some department store and sometimes even spend more money than in the department store :)))

Don't you love entering the world of all those bits you need and want. The trouble is that there are always some temptations around and I have to keep telling myself - not today but usually get it anyway:)
I am trying to be good and bring a list of things I need to buy. Well that list is forgotten within few seconds and I find myself filling the shopping basket with all sorts of fat quarters, buttons,trimmings...........
The best section is the bargain corner - and the zipper basket - I always come home with at least 10 of them :) Then slowly move to cotton fabrics and picking the ones I want - that takes ages. On the way to the cashier I spot the interfacing and has to buy it :) So when I am finally in the queue and waiting to be served I look around and realise that I didn't buy what I wanted at all. Back to the shop taking stuff out of the basket and buying the stuff I have on the list.

The best part is to get home and taking your goodies out - then the game starts - mix and match and thinking about all of those pretties to be made out of them - loving it!

Does it sound familiar? Or are you very good and just buy what you need?

Custom order - Summer handbag

I was asked a few weeks ago to make this lovely summer bag. It needed to be spacious and secure enough as the customer would use it while out with her kids. As a mother I completely understand - there is a need for a lot of space in your bag with children.

So she picked the fabric and agreed on the design. I used denim fabric for the bottom - when you have children your handbag ends up on the floor or ground a lot so the denim will not get dirty too quickly.

I love the main flower fabric - it's just so cheerful and the zip on the top is great and easy to open and close. I use the heavy sewn on interfacing on most of my projects so same here - it gives the bag more shape.
I have made the handles from the same fabric and sewn them on the top of the fabric in the place where is the seam. It is actually pretty easy to make so I might make some more out of different fabric. Let me know your thoughts :)

So what have I been up to in the past few days?

Well as it was the end of a financial year, I have sorted my last year accounts and got ready for this year, with new folder and new sections for 2011/2012. I have also started to list again in my Folksy shop - which brought me already 2 sales this week - Yay!

I also have been finnishing a custom order and will blog about that one very soon as it is a very nice summer handbag.

I have also had one more project this week - I have got a small cupboard from my friend back in September. She was leaving to start a new life in Australia and was giving a lot of things to friends as she couldn't take everything :( So she gave me this beautiful cupboard she kept her spicies in. I loved it as it has a great shape, just the colour (it was green) wouldn't fit in this place. So I was sanding and painting this week and it is nearly finnished here is a preview:



Once it's all done hanging on the wall and filled with all the pretty jars full of buttons I will blog again - I am very proud of myself :)

Have a good Sunday!

Coin purse tutorial

So how do you make those small coin purses?
Many people who just start to sew ask this question. Believe me it is a very easy project. This is all you need:



2 pieces of outside(main) fabric - rectangle shape - 12cm X 10cm

2 pieces of heavy sew on interfacing - same size

2 pieces of lining fabric - same size

1 zip - 12cm/6inches or longer



Step 1) put the interfacing on the wrong side of you main fabrics and turn the top 1cm in and press.





Step 2)Lie the opened zip under the turnover on the main fabric and put the lining under the zip facing opposite direction to the fabric. Pin it. Sew around 0.5cm from the zip openning along the edge.






Step3) Close the zip and turn the lining back on the top of the wrong side of the main fabric and press.



Step 4) Repeat the step 2 with the second rectangle of the main fabric and lining. This start from the other side of the zip. Once it's sewn press the same way as step 3.

Step 5) open the zip to the half of the width. Lie the main fabric on the top of each other and the linings on the top of each other. Secure them with pins and sew all around, but leave the gap at the bottom of the linings.I double stich where zip ends - to secure it better.



Step 6) Turn the purse to the right side.Sew the gap in the lining and put the lining back to the purse.



That's it! your purse is now finnished! I hope that it is not very confusing and actually helpful :)