10 January 10
Custom Order: Rachel
A friend named Rachel purchased this coat in high school and loved it. Wore it for many years. Wore it so long the shoulder wore clear through to the lining. There were a few tears and holes in the coat, but most of the fabric was still in great condition. She asked me if I would be able to turn the coat into a bag that would enable her to carry her Mac laptop as well as normal purse things and a folder or two of paperwork for when she went to meet clients. She also wanted a pocket for her phone, a pen slot, and a small zipper pocket on the inside for keeping small things out of the way.
There were a few things that Rachel wanted to keep that were on the coat. There were four buttons on the coat and she loved them and wanted to have them incorporated into the design of the bag. We talked about it briefly and I discovered a great way to use the buttons so they would create design interest in the bag but still be useful as well.
The buttons are slightly curved up, which makes them easier to use frequently on a coat. However, it also makes them easier to catch on things, which would happen more frequently on a bag than a coat. Since the buttons will be used for more decoration and securing pockets on the bag, they’ll be sewn with the curved side down so they don’t catch on anything and so they hold more securely.
The coat had these huge pockets on the side of the coat where there was plenty of room for a hands and a variety of other items. We agreed that these pockets would make a great design element on the sides of the bag. One of the pockets was still in great shape. The other pocket had a fair amount of wear and would need to be adjusted to maintain durability. Stay tuned for how the bag looked when it was finished.
Comment [1]
02 August 09
Nice review
A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to meet Elaine Ibarrola of Bastos Girls Greetings at a Chicago Craft Mafia event. She asked some great questions and told me about her line of witty greeting cards (several of which have a Filipina flare) and I chalked the experience up to affirming that Chicago is home to some great makers of some delightfully wonderful items.
A little while later, she was kind enough to post a short commentary on her blog where she found a picture I forgot had been taken of me and wrote some sweet things about my work.
And since I truly think that it’s easiest to make your mark in the current craft world if you have a niche, it’s great that Elaine is a voice for the funny Filipina communities that exist all over this country, and in many others.
Comment [1]
09 June 09
Brown and Blue Patterned Tote Bag
Since I’m riding high from meeting my first deadline, I decided to get to editing some of the pictures of bags I took recently. I purchased an inexpensive light kit and I have to say that while I think I need to spend some more time figuring out the perfect lighting setup and exposure, I really wish I’d made the purchase years ago.
It was so much easier to edit these images than it has been to edit any of the other images I’ve taken. And while I was worried that the light would flatten out the texture and just look blah, I realize that quite the opposite was true. So big thanks and kudos to Veronica for prompting me a year ago to realize how much I needed this. And I also need to give a big hearty thank you to to Central Camera Company for giving me a great deal, explaining what I needed to know about bulbs, and talking me into the diffusion filtes for the lights. And I think I see a reflective umbrella in my future. Woot!
Comment [2]
28 May 09
Gabberflasted and awed
I’ve donated a lot of bags to raffles and silent auctions for nonprofits I like to raise a lot of money. I’ve been lucky to attend some of them but unable to attend them all. Generally, as these things go, the bags sell for maybe half of my retail price. I accept that they’re just not going to bring in what they’re “worth”. But I’m glad that I’m able to help an organization raise a little bit of money and feel satisfied that the bag is going to someone who feels like they got an amazing deal.
But this past weekend, my dear friend Amy asked me if I would donate a bag to a fundraiser for some friends who have a beautiful child who needed a very expensive operation. Well, generally, any friend of a friend is a friend, if you know what I mean. And since Amy is a good friend I was happy to help her out. So with the help of Andrew I got a bag to her before he left for our trip to San Francisco (which I promise to talk about soon). The fundraiser happened on Saturday while I was shuffling around the house grunting and trying very hard to wake up and stop feel like I was still moving in a car at 75 mph. And Amy tells me that the fundraiser went great.
Amy also tells me that the bag sold for more than the retail value I had listed. Quite a bit more. It’s a new bag that I’m excited to be able to add to the site soon. But I rushed production of one so she could have it for the event and now I’m slowly making the rest of the run so I can post them in the shop. But Amy tells me that a number of people were bidding on the bag and they took my business cards.
Because I’m always amazed when people like something that I like, I’ve decided that if you really liked the bag that I donated, and if you are interested in purchasing one of the new ones, I’ll donate half of the actual retail price to the surgery fund. Just leave a comment or drop a line and I’ll give you a special way to buy the bag. And if you liked the bag, but decide that you like one of my other bags better, I’ll still make a donation. And this way, you’ll get to feel like you’re the one who got an amazing deal.
Comment [1]
08 April 09
Chronic Babe Tote Bag
Chronic Babe (www.chronicbabe.com) is a website where women who are living with chronic illnesses are encouraged to live their lives as babes instead of patients. Jenni Prokopy started the website in 2006 after dealing with her own illnesses and confronting her own pain before coming to a place where she realized she could be happy, healthy, sexy, and fun-loving. Since I suffer from two different chronic illnesses I’ve been able to gain perspective, support, and comraderie through her website and her counsel. I’m a better person because of her work. And to help support her work, I’ll be donating 50% of the sales from each Chronic Babe bag sold.
Each of these bags is made from high-quality, sweatshop-free, US-milled, woven, and printed cotton fabric. The bags are large enough to carry many daily essentials, but not so large that you’ll end up with a sore shoulder after a day of carrying your life around. The shoulder straps are 1.5” wide and made from high-quality webbing which will be soft enough to wear against your skin or over a delicate shirt. The fabric is lightly water-resistant and the coloring won’t rub off on your skin or clothing. There is a heavy-duty stiffener sewn between the exterior and interior fabrics which lets the bag stand upright without flopping over.
Exterior fabric: Cotton upholstery-grade fabric
Interior fabric: Lightweight yellow-orange cotton print
Height/width/depth (inches): 13w” x 13h” x 4d”
Strap length: 24”, but customizable if requested
Closure: magnetic snap
Pockets: 9“x 6” interior zipper pocket, 5“x10” front slip pocket
Comment [1]
08 April 09
ChronicBabe Shoulder Bag
Chronic Babe is a website where women who are living with chronic illnesses are encouraged to live their lives as babes instead of patients. Jenni Prokopy started the website in 2006 after dealing with her own illnesses and confronting her own pain before coming to a place where she realized she could be happy, healthy, sexy, and fun-loving. Since I suffer from two different chronic illnesses I’ve been able to gain perspective, support, and comraderie through her website and her counsel. I’m a better person because of her work. And to help support her work, I’ll be donating 50% of the sales from each Chronic Babe bag sold.
Each of these bags is made from high-quality, sweatshop-free, US-milled, woven, and printed cotton fabric. The bags are large enough to carry many daily essentials, but not so large that you’ll end up with a sore shoulder after a day of carrying your life around. My wallet, small camera, keys, cell phone, notebook, pen, lip balm, gum, tissues, and a few other items fit neatly in this bag. The shoulder straps are 24” long, but can be made longer or shorter to fit your needs.
Exterior fabric: Cotton upholstery-grade fabric
Interior fabric: Lightweight yellow/orange cotton print
Height/width/depth (inches): 10w” x 7h” x 3d”
Strap length: 24”, but can be customized
Closure: pink nylon zipper
Pockets: 8“x 5” interior zipper pocket
$25 from the sale of each bag will be donated to Chronic Babe
Comment [1]
10 February 09
The Hip Professor Messenger Bag: The Original
I created this bag almost two years ago for Kate and sent it off to live with her in Hawaii. She kindly sent me a picture of what it looks like now and offered a few alteration sggestions that she thinks may make future bags look and wear better. She says she wears it every day. Aside from requesting more rows of stitching where the front pocket meets the side seam, the bag seems to have worn fantastically well. Much better than I would have expected after two years of near-daily use. This makes me feel good. It gives me physical proof that the pattern and methods I’ve used for sewing are sturdy, reliable, and durable. All things I’m going for. It’s a great feeling and one that I’m happy to be have. It’s great to feel pride in your work. It’s even greater to see your work years later and still feel that pride. I owe a portion to this for Kate for helping me work out the proportions and pockets that would work best. And if you’ve seen Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style, you know Proportion is one of the watchwords of style. I couldn’t agree more.
I’m currently sold out of the old style but will be adding slightly altered versions of the bags to my shop very soon. If you like, you can order the Hip Professor Messenger Bag.
Comment [1]
21 April 08
New bag, coming soon
I’ve got a lot of pictures of bags I need to post in the shop and I like them all, but this bag isn’t even for sale yet and I’m wickedly excited about it. A woman on Etsy.com asked me if I could make the Deception bag I used to have listed in a larger size. I told her “Funny you should ask, I’ve been thinking about making that bag larger.” Especially so I could take it with me to New York so I have a bag to carry all the stuff I might need to carry: 35mm SLR camera, wallet, keys, lip balms, maps, small notebook, other miscellaneous stuff. And the dimensions she wanted were the dimensions I wanted.
So I’ve made the prototype (using plastic rings instead of metal because that is what I had) and I like it. A lot! And I’ve got an order for metal rings on their way to me. So once I get back from New York, I’ll be finishing up a bag and posting it on Etsy. I’m pretty excited about it. Pretty excited indeed.
