With These Hands

Say that in a sing-songy voice. ’cause I am.
And ’cause I do.
Recycle.
And sing like a fool.

I thrifted this gorgeous skirt from eBay.
It’s very funny to me that I buy clothing that don’t fit me.
It’s because I have vision people.
I don’t see dead people.
I see revamping and repurposing and reincarnating.
It’s awesome.
It’s a gift.

Here is the before:

And now for the afters:

I have the tiniest amount left. So I’m gonna make a tote that matches that last stripey makeup bag.

My favorite detail is the braided strap that I made. I just love the look of it.
I’m definitely gonna do more of those straps in the future.
This bag doesn’t have interfacing. The first one I’ve done like that.
I wanted to keep the natural, slouchy shape of it.

The best part?
I already sold the large purse!
It sold on etsy in one day.
Which is awesome.
Though a smidge bittersweet.
I love that purse and had to really fight the temptation to keep it myself.

materials used:

satin skirt
olive twill
cotton
thread
magnetic snap
zipper

June 14th, 2007 ★ 1 Comment »

Oh yes, I’m not joking!
There is even more good stuff in the shoppe.
Check out the brand spanking new items section!

Sneak:

Pencilcases, pouches, wristlets, and totes!

(And don’t forget the jewelry!)

June 12th, 2007 ★ No Comments »

Well, nowhere exciting.
Just here.
Just doing.
Just tired.
But for good reason!
Having thoroughly survived the holiday season, and needing to shake up our daily grind, in January we gave up our car and television.
It’s been interesting, to say the least.
So now, every day, I either walk or bike Matty to school.
I suspect that I will enjoy it much more when I don’t have to put on 12 layers of clothing.
In any event, I have been working on my things and such, but still find myself rather tired after all is said and done, so I haven’t been updating my blogs as much.
I’m just adjusting myself to all the newness and hope to get back into the swing very soon.

I did update the shop with some sweet new items though. Yay!

Actually, I’ve been so into fruit lately.
Which, is that weird?
Nah, it’s good! And yummy! And healthy?

Peek:

And hearts-afire baby:

And of course, the flowers:

materials used:

twill
canvas
cotton
zipper
interfacing
thread
button
cane handles
lightweight corduroy
nickel components
felt
dmc thread

I’ve been having a lot of new ideas floating around my head as well. Which is good, the creative juices, you know? I’m going to try some new techniques and new purse shapes as well. Plus I keep promising myself a new messenger bag. I’m always the last customer on my list!

February 12th, 2007 ★ No Comments »

Well, yeah, not quite. Yet.
After all the holiday hopping around, traveling, etc., we’ve finally been home and unbusy for more than a minute.
But heck if I’m not having a hard time getting back on a structured work schedule.
Maybe I needed a sewing break?
Okay!

But being that I’ve purchased some advertising space on the front page of etsy, I want to bump up inventory considerably. Over the weekend I cut out a bunch of stuff and I spent my Matt-free time yesterday sewing a few new items. They’re already listed in my etsy shop and I’ll be posting them on craftysassi toot sweet. (Tuit suite?…or you know, erm, quickly?)

So here we have 2 cutie-patootie wristlets and 6 new hairbands:

I LOVE that cherry hairband!

materials used:

cotton
twill
thread
buttons
zippers
interfacing
wool felt
dmc thread
elastic

January 17th, 2007 ★ No Comments »

Maybe soon.
I’ve been a real busy bee these last few weeks.
The W-L High School Bazaar went very well.
As much as I like to sell my wares, it’s always a bit weird to let go of one of my favorite bags. Kookey right?
I almost want to tell customers, “Take good care of it okay? Love it like I did!”
But that would be, erm, kinda creepy?
Yeah.
Ahem.

So anyways, I need to update soon and all and I’ve done some recent stuff and all, so I will.

But in the meantime, a bit ago I made one of my cute little letter bag sets for our niece Tai. Remember this?

Here’s the cutey herself, sporting her new wee tote. Awww.

December 13th, 2006 ★ 1 Comment »

I have 4 events coming up in the next few weeks and despite knowing about them for quite some time, I’m sewing like a madwoman trying to catch up and plump up inventory. What else is new, right? This week, I’ve vowed to make 3 purses/bags a day so I have a healthy stock for the home party on Saturday and the craft fair on Sunday. Back-to-back. Nice! Hopefully folks will be in that holiday shopping mood. A mood which I can’t seem to force myself into yet. Ah well, that’s what December is for.

I did a wee bit shopping for a few needs recently though.

First up, I wanted something other than a business card to hand out when someone purchases a new bag. I decided on custom made magnet buttons with my shop address and little red birdie mascot. I got 50 of them from Kate Black, who has a cool etsy shop and website. They came super fast and look fantastic. Here’s to hoping that folks will slap it on their fridge and think of my shop whenever they get that new purse itch.

With my order, I also snagged me a new pocket mirror for my purse. Having only come across puny 2.5 inch mirrors, I love the fact that Kate makes a larger 3.5 inch mirror.

Reading is sexy, yo.

Here is a cuff that I’ve been drooling over for some time now. This is from Ellen’s etsy shop, Bonspiel!. She had previously only made them in smaller sizes, but I contacted her and she made a few larger ones for us curvy girlies. How cool is that? I love cuff bracelets. This one particularly because it’s leather and I think it makes me look tuff.

So having recently purchased another large plastic storage container to hold my inventory. (I’m up to three!) But something was up with this one, it had a heavy plastic-y smell. Which, ew. I didn’t realize this until weeks later. Not wanting my fabric bags to be infused with this stink, I set forth in searching for some homemade pretty smelling sachets. I found pillowhead over at etsy and thought Angela had the perfect product for me. I ordered her set of 2 (customized!) sachets. They arrived super-duper quickly and they look and smell great.

No, I’m not a doctor.

They’re so well-made and they have a lovely lavender smell. Ahhhh.

And finally, this one was from me and my hands. I needed a new purse. So I made one! Isn’t that cool how that works out?

I got this cool fabric from my fav, reprodepot.com. It’s called Forest Pods, which makes me giggle a little. It is a lovely canvas with an interesting pattern. I love the color.

(Did you notice my Hello Kitty calculator?)

November 15th, 2006 ★ No Comments »

I made new pencilcases over the weekend.
And they are cu-yewt! (That’s cute, but you know, even more.)
There are 10! Can you see 10? Click the thumbnail and you will.

It helps, as you’re watching, go like this, “blop-blep-bup-bop-boop-blop…” outloud. So people think you’re weird.

Oh and if you can’t see the animation, your computer is lame.
Kidding!
But I’m not computer savvy, so I don’t know what’s up if you can’t see it all moving and cool like.

But anyways, the pencilcases are in the shop!

materials used:

canvas
twill
cotton
zippers
shell disc beads
wool felt
craft felt
dmc thread
interfacing

October 30th, 2006 ★ No Comments »

This weekend was a wash, I will grant that.
But here is some new stuff that I sewed (is that a word?) prior.

Lavender Etsuko Scene print. This is a Japanese import purchased from reprodepot.com. They are still my number one source for cool fabrics. And quick! And they take PayPal! (You can see how I can get myself in trouble.)

Pretty corduroy.

More import fabric. This time it’s Etsuko Balance. In oatmeal.

And a striped kitty pencilcase for good measure!

materials used:

canvas
twill
cotton
corduroy
nickel d-rings
zippers
interfacing
nickel magnetic snaps
wool felt
dmc thread
nickel o-rings
nickel swivel clips

October 22nd, 2006 ★ 1 Comment »

Mike had a long weekend, so I had an opportunity to sit down and cut out more bags and accessories. Usually when I cut stuff, I’m all wiped out and won’t sit at the machine for another day or two, or more! But this time, I got right to it.

First up, I finally used this ridiculously adorable hippo fabric. I could only get one fat quarter of it though, which is like 18 x 20? Not that much. I couldn’t decide whether to do a wristlet and a hairband, or maybe a few keyrings and a makeup bag? Decisions, decisions!

I ultimately decided on:

A wristlet and a pencilcase!**

Next up is a cozy, warm, brushed twill bag with a cool striped flap:

Finally, an ultra-cool circle bag with matching accessories!

materials used:

twill
canvas
cotton
brushed twill
nickel components
zipper
interfacing
wool felt
dmc thread

**HOLY FAST SALE BATMAN! No sooner did I list this cool pencilcase did someone snap it right up! Well that’s just cool my friends.

October 9th, 2006 ★ 2 Comments »

One of my favorite things to do is make things for friends and family.
My latest work was for our Aunt Denny’s birthday.

Denny has a dog.
His name is Jake.
He’s a pug.

Here he is:

I had no idea that I was going to be able to find pug fabric! But I did. The internet seriously rocks.

Denny initially said that she was going to use it as a gym bag, but she now says that it’s too nice for that! Awwww!

materials used:

cotton
cotton denim
zipper
interfacing
button

October 6th, 2006 ★ No Comments »