Last week I posted about a custom order for a big bag for a trainee dance teacher. She needed room for her dance kit as well as folders and personal things like a purse.
She loved the Navy cotton twill which is hard wearing and lovely to sew with, but it took a while to decide which fabric she wanted for the rest of the bag. She had a look through my stash and settled on the Flower Child Sorbet in Purple from Fabric Rehab. She loves purple so this was the perfect choice for her!
So in the last 2 days the stash of fabric has gone from this:
To this:
It is the first bag I have made that has a zipper closure, which has been really exciting to do.
It also has a zippered pocket on the inside and a flap pocket with a magentic snap on the front so she can keep things like a purse secure, but easy to access.
Because the bag is so big, I have added a swivel hook and a matching zippered pouch:
So the 2 bags together look like this:
I hope she likes it when she comes to collect it later this evening!
A very good friend of mine is currently doing her PGCE to be a secondary dance teacher. In the ten years since I met her, dance has been her true calling and she is going to be a superb teacher. She approached me to make her a bag big enough to carry her dance stuff as well as some A4 folders – oh and it it needs to be funky!
I love people asking me to make them a bag, especially when they have a basic idea that we can build on. She settled on using the lovely blue twill and is matching it with this great fabric:
This is Flower Child Sorbet from one of my fav shops, Fabric Rehab. The webshop is fantastic. Fabric orders 3pm Wednesday and on my doorstep Thursday morning! Means I can get the bag before my friend heads back to the big smoke on Tuesday evening.
She needs loads of pockets to keep things safe as well as enough room for all her things so this project is going to be loads of fun designing.
Keep checking back for progress updates over the next 2 days.
Yesterday afternoon I suddenly realised that my eldest son had a birthday party to go to. There is a limited number of shops in Tetbury, and I think I might have a reputation for giving book vouchers as presents! Fortunately the party was for a little girl so I dug out the sewing machine this morning and went through my stash. Not what I had in mind for my Sunday morning at 7.30am!
This is the little bag that I made, which I hope she likes for carrying round her favourite things:
Pretty pink flower tote for a lovely little girl!
Close up of the flower with a pretty vintage pink button.
I went for a very bright lining to brighten up her day.
I hope very much that the birthday girl enjoys using her cute tote.
A week ago I posted a blog with pictures of a custom order I was working on. I have now finished the bag and the matching Louise clasp purse that the lovely Jane decided she NEEDED to match her new bag.
She hasn’t actually collected the bag and purse, even though she is dying to get them, so I thought I would show you all her lovely new bag!
I love the colours together and the flowers are so pretty with the c0-ordinated vintage buttons.
The inside of the clasp purse co-ordinates with the flower and the lining of the bag.
I really love these. Jane had better come and get the quick before I start using them!
A couple of weeks ago I was sporting my new Chloe bag in brown corduroy and red spots, when a friend said she really liked it and could she order a bag. Finally yesterday, Jane and I managed to get together and we went through my stash of fabrics. I think she thought I was joking when I said I had a fabric stash…..
Jane initally said she wanted spring colours: orange, yellow and green. I have a lovely piece of fabric from Fabric Rehab that I thought would fit the bill. We went through the stash and whilst Jane loved the fabric I had picked out for her, she fell in love with a totally different colour scheme!
Having choosen her fabric and bag design Jane skipped out of the house very excitedly saying “No hurry Anna, but when do you think it will be made?” No pressure there then!
I started work on her new bag today and I am really pleased with the results. So pleased I had to share it with you ( I hope she doesn’t mind me showing the whole world her new bag!).
To start with I wanted to put some machine appliqued flowers onto the bag. I used the lovely outer fabric and co-ordinated lining to do this:
I appliqued the flowers onto the bag and embroidered on the stems.
When Jane visited my work space she mentioned she love buttons and played around with my jar of buttons. So I found some vintage buttons to finish off the flowers.
Vintage buttons finish off the flowers.
The next step is to put on the top panel and small handles:
The panel and then the small handles are sewn on.
The lining and pocket were then added. The finally step is to attached the co-ordinated longer handle, which will have to wait until tomorrow.
A picture of the bag on my work chair.
I really love this bag and I hope Jane does too. What do you think?
After buying a fab book a while ago about freestyle machine embroidery I have finally found time to try it out. Armed with the book, Free and Easy Stitch Style by Poppy Treffry, I decided to just let he machine loose on some fabric!
I am really pleased with the results:
First attempt at free styling!
Pretty little purse. I love it so much I am going to use it today!
Shopper with flowers to match my new little purse.
Close up of the flowers.
I am very proud of my first attempts. They are not perfect, but it is a good starting point!
The book gives great tips and has some lovely projects to have a go at. I recommend it for anyone who wants to give free styling a go!
April 2010, Custom Orders | Anna | 
April 13, 2010 4:26 pm | 
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