Extra Big News!

I'm very excited to announce here that there will be a big Hot Butter Denver Made trunk show at Fancy Tiger Clothing in Denver this Friday.  Check out my interview on their blog here (Fancy Times!) and rsvp here.  If any of you are in the Denver area, I'd love it if you stop by and say hi.  It's going to be fun!

I have been working hard on a new line of vintage sheet messenger bags to show this weekend.  I did make a couple of these once upon a time many moons ago, and they well received.  I never made any more, and I think I know why.  They take both a long time to create and muchos fabric and interfacing.  I guess I'm more of an instant gratification sewer.  Anyway, I just finished a big stack of them, and I'm happy to say that they are awesome (sorry if that was a self horn toot, but I'm really happy with them!).

So far I only have photographs of one finished bag, which is technically the one I gave to my stepmom Kris.

I'll be taking pictures of the rest of them tomorrow.  They have some fun details!

They are finished (along with my sanity).

A little while ago I bought some patterns from Pacific Designs on etsy.  I was finishing up a bunch of wallets at the time, and I was looking forward to making something new without going through all the work of designing it myself.

The Mia Rose has cute leather accents and leather straps- the perfect opportunity to learn to sew more with leather!



I was all too right.  I learned more than I wanted, that's for sure!



It converts from a small handbag into a wristlet.  It's kind of the perfect size for a small bag, and I love it.  I wanted to tell it that before I say what I'm about to say.



I have spent 2.5 days working on these bags.  It's not the pattern's fault or anything.  In fact, the pattern is well written, easy to understand, and fun.  However, I couldn't seem to help but have to do everything at least two times on almost all of these.  Oops I sewed too close to the zipper!  Oops I can't get my machine to smoothly topstitch those cute pleats.  Oops I can't figure out the tension to sew leather.  Oops I have to put my walking foot on my machine every time I need to sew leather.  Oops this leather is too mothertrucking thick to go through my wussy (but dear) sewing machine.

Sorry girl, I don't know if you're a wussy so much as you're probably not meant to do heavy work like that.

I broke two needles.  I used two others, switched to my walking foot eleventy times, and I used a variety of hardware because I was unable to find the pattern required size of super tiny d-rings.  Oh well.

Anyway, I got a few of these listed in my shop and will get the rest done soon.  They turned out cute, I learned some lessons, and now I have to be done.  I've earned it!

I've been working on some cute pouches today, and it feels so easy, like hot drawn butter.



Felix has been trying to slick back his hair.  Maybe I should get him some pomade or something?  One of those sweet combs they have in Grease??

Kitty Case

I made a last minute gift for our friend Lauren out of an adorable avocado green vintage suitcase. I painted a slightly lazy-eyed kitty and her name on it. I used a sharpie for outlining and details and quick sprayed a coat of sealer over the paint. I hope it holds up!



I sure hope she actually likes it. I know I loved suitcases when I was little!

Wristlet sneak peek!





I'll be adding new wristlets to the shop soon!

Snappy Lappy Bag

I made this lap top bag from the dress I dissected this week. It has its faults, but it's my first try.



This is also my first try at putting in a pocket with a zipper. It was both easier and trickier than I expected, if you can imagine that. My stitching is a little ugly, and I can see why invisible thread is recommended for such a project. Anyway, I love it!

I interlined it with a layer of fusible fleece and lined it with a piece of chenille I've had for forever to make it a soft, luxurious ride for my lap top. The pocket is to put my charging equipment in, and the pockets are from leather furniture samples my friend Eliza gave me.

In other news, I added some love bullets pouches and pocket clutches to my shop. :D Happy Friday night!

My new bag and a new giveaway

Felix and I saw a link to Canon paper crafts (ok, I saw it and showed it to him!), and we just HAD to make this guy:



Of course, a three year old isn't much help when it comes to cutting/folding/gluing small pieces of paper, so we had to print off the vampire mask to entertain him while I did the hard work. Also, special thanks to Chainsaw for making dinner while I did this. You know you have a good guy when you out of the blue ask him to make dinner so you can make a paper skeleton, and he says yes.

Felix has dubbed him a "zombie skeleton," and we have named him Rupert.

I also decided to get busy with my Enchino yesterday afternoon. Say hello to my new purse, if you please.



I didn't want to use a big piece of it, but I did want a lion for sure! This ended up being a big mix of materials. I used linen, cotton, buttons from my collection, and magic, of course. While making this I realized that I've never really sat down and made something knowing it was for me. Everything that's MINE that I've made is something I randomly decided to keep.



The back has some big slip pockets.



Pardon my not yet disappeared disappearing marker line.

Felix shows here that it also makes a pretty cool beard. Not sure if I'd want a lion in my beard, but I won't be using it as a beard personally.



Next giveaway business time.

I was luckily enough to go to the Thrashing Bee in Sturgis, SD last summer. They have a super old steam tractor parade, which Felix liked. They had some flea market type areas, where I scored a couple hand made aprons. I'm assuming they're vintage, but I'm no pro. I can tell for sure that they were hand made and that someone put a ton of work into them.

I love full aprons on account of I'm a messy cooker/baker, so I thought I'd pass this lovely half apron onto one of you!



Check out this chicken scratch (that's what this is called, right?):



Somebody put a lot of love into this apron for sure!

It can be yours for the low price of a one comment. I liked your knock knock jokes yesterday- let's do favorite dinners today. What's your favorite thing to eat for dinner? I need ideas people!

Also, feel free to earn an extra comment by checking out my etsy shop, coming back here, and tell me what you like best.

An additional entry can be earned by telling your friends. If you know people who dig a beautiful apron, let them know (facebook, twitter, top secret apron lovers group).

As usual, leave a comment for each entry to make my life easier. Don't forget to sign up for yesterday's giveaway here. I forgot to set an end date. I'm thinking next Friday.

Have a great weekend!

Big stuff

Hello friends!

I hope you had a great Side Pony Tail Friday Afternoon, whether you participated or not.



I seem to favor a left (to me) side pony tail. Next week I'll have to get crazy and try the right.

I finished up a couple new bags this week. I love this big linen number:



Patchwork is my first sewing love.



I love how big it is. It'd be perfect to throw a couple changes of clothes in for the weekend, a trip to the mall, or for anyone addicted to huge bags and all the glorious things that fit into one!

I have been riding the glorious high of creating things almost exclusively from thrifted finds. The linen was salvaged from a skirt, the lining from a king size sheet, the scraps from a glorious giveaway, and it's even interfaced with some weird looking stuff I got from freecycle.



This (also large!) bag is also made from thrifted supplies. I did put a magnetic snap in it, and the handle interfacing is always new (because I'm addicted to the thick fusible interfacing for handle making.)

I'm off to post a few new things in my shop. I'm trying to get in on a craft show with limited spacing, so I want my etsy shop to look good!

Vintage Sheets

I'm always in awe of the blog world's luck when it comes to finding cool vintage sheets. I always check out sheets at thrift stores, and every once in a while I find a good one. I've been hording the few I have, but I decided it was time to sink my scissors into a couple.





I spent TWO days making these, but I love them.

I'd also like to report that no snow has fallen on our little neighborhood. I did see snow on the news in areas close by though. I'm not used to it being so cold so soon. In South Dakota, yes, but here?

We are enjoying the warmth of out light switch fire place. I can't believe it's almost time to turn on the furnace!

Seriously?

I woke up to some awesome pouring rain this morning. I thought I'd check the weather and see what's up this week. Imagine my surprise when I see that it may be snowing at night this week. I have learned to take the forecast with a grain of salt. It's almost never right when it comes to precipitation thanks to the mountains.

Anywho.

I've been keeping myself pretty busy lately.

I made a pile of Zippered Card Wallets.



I'm really happy with these new bags.





I dig throwing the long strap over my shoulder. I used to require a long purse strap for ultimate bag happiness. I remember why!

Today is my first day babysitting after a summer off. I really did take the summer off. Of my several jobs, the only one I was faithful to was my cleaning job. Anyway, there was some small child scuffles/bites/head punching last year at this time. So far I am pleased to report that the boys are playing nicely. Now if only the dog would behave.

Patchwork

When I went through my scrap box to find fabric to ship out for the quilting bee, I was pleasantly amazed by the large array of scrap fabric I actually have. It's also funny to me what construed a scrap in the beginning of my sewing adventure. I found large tracts of cute fabric in there. Nowadays only relatively small scraps end up in there. It was like shopping for fabric in my own basement. Weee! So what makes a scrap a scrap to you?

I actually cut into yardage to patchwork this purse last week.



I adore it, but I have now seen the error of my ways. I've spent all day immersed in piles of scraps making little scrappy wallets. I'm excited to share them with you, but I need to run to the store for more snaps. Unfortunately there are no scrap snaps.

I also scrapped together this cutie:



Here is the pouch resulting in from my flyer applique:



It makes me so happy to see it in my purse!

I can't believe I almost forgot to mention this, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY KRIS!



Sorry I couldn't find that many awesome pictures, but both Kris and my little brother Ross are clean in this picture. What more could you ask for?

So happy birthday to this lady who is brave enough to hang out with my dad full time (and even marry him!).

New things in the shop. Free shipping for mamas still applies!

Happy Friday!

This is how I feel about the upcoming weekend. That is a look of excitement, and yes, I may even have fruit snacks currently stuck in my teeth. Don't tell Felix that I partook without him.

At this point in the blog post I must admit that it is 2:57 pm, and I am eating fruit snacks in my pajamas. In my defense, I ate brunch (too early for lunch, too late for breakfast) at 10:30 and need to raise my blood sugar. I am in my pajamas because I've been too busy sewing to take a shower. I'm considering that as my next activity for the day though.



Yesterday I finished this cutie and went so far as to post it in my shop. Sooo ambitious! I think I finally got my pattern for that style of bag down pat, but after making three of them I think I'm burned out.



Speaking of the shop, I decided to do free shipping fo yo mama. So if you're buying a mother's day gift (it could totally be for yourself, and you could be the mother of a cat/dog/actual human being). You do need to mention it in the notes to seller section when you check out to get the shipping refund.

Water you doing this weekend? The word on the street is to expect some chilly weather (snow? are you serious?) around here this weekend, which seems crazy pants after the beautiful week we've had.

I need to mail eleventy billion things and possibly clean carpets. Last week's sick was hard on them.

New Style

I desperately needed to work on new bags for the shop, and although patchwork bags are always my best sellers (in real life, but not in the shop, curiously enough), I couldn't make myself make another one right now. It's time for something new.



This is the denim envelope bag. I have to admit that I actually made this messenger style bag pattern last year. I made a couple bags that were never photographed but have moved on to happy homes. I decided I didn't like making them. This week I thought they deserved another chance. I lost my flap pattern piece and had to make a new one. The flap on this bag isn't quite perfect, but I still think it's adorable.



I appliqued some free hand flower like shapes onto the flap. I'm trying to incorporate more cute little details into my work. It used to be more about getting things done, but now that I have confidence in my ability to actually finish things I can afford the extra time to make things special.



I also invested in some magnetic snaps from the etsy shop Being Bags. They were a pretty good deal- technically a bit more expensive in price than some other places, but the free shipping made them a cheaper overall purchase than the shops with cheaper prices but not so free shipping. I will definitely be reordering from Being Bags.

I put a couple items in my shop in the new CLEARANCE section. They're the only items that are still sitting in my shop from when I first opened. I'll be adding the bag from this post and a few others soon!

Lady Bug Bag

Yesterday I showed you my antennae-less lady bugs. Here they are with all their adorable lady bug parts.



I tried to keep them on the bag body. I swear I did, but one of them crawled right up the strap, and I let her stay there!



We are now on day two of Felix not being sick. I'm crossing my fingers that it stays that way. He fooled us last weekend, and by us I mean Chainsaw because I was in Denver slurping overpriced drinks and wearing borrowed impractical shoes.

We are having a beautiful, 65 degree (real feel of 71 degrees) Earth Day. I'll be showing Mother Earth some love by having a no tv afternoon, hanging the clothes in my washer on my drying rack, reusing glass salsa jars to hold my new magnetic snaps, and keeping the windows open to let in some sweet spring air!

What are you doing today?

Monday Mission

Wow. I totally dropped the ball. Let's have a look at last week's goals.

1. Finish 3 purses for the shop
2. Finish my two quilting bee blocks for the month
3. Complete 1 craft book project

I managed to make 2 bags for the shop. Quilting bee blocks have gone untouched. I also managed to buy another craft book, but not to make anything from one.

First things first. Super cute spring bags!



This fabric reminds me of a vintage sheet, but it's not! I lined it with an orange gingham and added a strip of it to the front of the bag. I frayed out the edges of the front strip and added a bow.





I also added a lanyard clip to use as a key clip. I am always paranoid about finding/losing my keys, so this is a great way to keep track of them!



This bag is made with one of my favorite fabrics. I made my own Simplicity 3835 out of it a while ago, and I can't stop using the extra fabric. It's so soft and has great colors!



I dressed it up a big with some lilac lace. I thought it turned out so cute that I covered one of the straps with it also!

I also somehow lost track of the fact that it's a birthday week around here. Friday Felix will turn 3, and I have been promising that I'd make him his own Super Felix cape. We are WAY into super heroes right now.



I think it turned out pretty well. No action shots until the birthday party next weekend, sorry!

Ok, next Monday mission:

1. Finish quilting bee blocks. I pretty much HAVE to do this one by now. March is half over, and we'll be taking a trip to South Dakota soon.

2. Make one craft book project. My new book looks awesome, and I'm thinking about making Felix more handmade birthday goodness out of it.

3. Make a cover for one of those couch cushions. I think I should be able to fit at least one in the car with all of us this trip, so I better get to work.

4. Finish up my pay it forward gifts. I'm almost there on this, but I'd like to get them done. That way I can move on to having a give away soon!

I hope to do much better this week. I'm not feeling so hot today, but I think it's from a not so good night's sleep. I woke up in the wee hours to Chainsaw snoring like a...chainsaw. It took a long time to fall back asleep, and I think I'm paying for it today!

The winner!

The random number generator has spoken! It says the bag should go to comment number 89, which is Adventures of the Reluctant Housewife. I'll be emailing you to get your address! Congratulations!

I made this cute new tote to match the love bullets pouch.



I wish I could keep it for myself, but alas, I wonked up a cool tote a while ago (gathers and wrinkles in the topstitching of the lining) that I decided to keep for myself. What can I say, I'm too lazy to fix it.

I'm making many friends and family members pouches for Christmas. I'm going to load them up with hand made items. I just bought some lip balm from Least Likely to Breed. She has some cool flavors and great prices. Check her out! I'll let you know how awesome it is when they get here.