Petite City Bag

Another Petite City Bag, finished.

Outer fabric and lining are both from Anna Griffin's Honoka Collection.

Base and handles are chocolate brown faux leather, my favorite.

 Zippered pocket on one side...

 ...and triple compartment pockets on the other.

On display (and for sale) at Needles Quilt Shop, here in Wellsboro.

Tasting Table Tuesday - a day early...

Yes - it's still Monday, but since I've been late with so many of my posts, I decided to be a day early this week.  I hope you're all enjoying this wonderful Memorial Day Holiday.  It's sunny and pleasantly warm here in PA.  Thought I'd end my day by sharing what's on my Tasting Table first, then relax with a glass of wine in the backyard before supper.

I finished an order for two iPad Mini sleeves yesterday.  The only request from my customer was the color.  One in pink/orange and the other one lime green.  I hope she likes my fabric choices!

I used my Idea Pouch pattern by Michelle's Patterns, which is sized perfectly for a regular iPad, then adjusted the size down to fit the iPad Mini.  These little ones are so cute!

Now I'm working on a new Petite City Bag for ME!

I loved the green and navy one I made a few weeks ago so much, that I decided to make myself one in aqua.  I love this Simply Color collection by V & Co.!

Cheers!

Sew, Mama, Sew! Giveaway Day

Welcome to the Cotton Cellar!  It's time for the semi-annual Giveaway Day, (actually it's five days!) hosted by Sew, Mama, Sew!  This time, I'm giving away a set of three handmade wrist-strap key fobs.  One for you, and two extras for your special friends.  Or heck - you can keep all three if you'd like!

The wrist strap is 3/4" wide and the open portion that fits around your wrist is about 6" long.  The D-Ring on each strap holds a 1" diameter split key-ring.  All you have to do to win this trio of key fobs is to leave a comment at the end of this blog, answering this question:

"What is your favorite color combination in fashion accessories?"

I'm asking because I've started making a new line of handbags in my Etsy shop, Cotton Cellar, like this green and navy City Bag...

...and I'm wondering what color combination to make next.  What's your favorite???
And I love visitors, so please stop by my Etsy Shop and take a look around!

This giveaway is open to everyone - international entries are welcome - just remember, if you're a "no-reply" blogger make sure you include your email address in your comment so I can contact you if you win.

The comment period closes on Friday May 10th at 8pm EST. The winner will be chosen using the Random Number Generator Tool and I will post it here on this blog post on Saturday.  And don't forget to head on over to Sew, Mama, Sew! and check out all the other fantastic giveaways this week!  Good luck!

Comment period is now closed.  Winner to be announced shortly!  Good luck!

And the winner is...

Congratulations Glenys!  I have sent you an email requesting your shipping address.

Cheers!

City Bag - Full Size Version

I finished up this custom City Bag yesterday.  My customer wanted a larger bag than the Petite City Bags I've been making lately, so I used the pattern at it's original size.  If you like a bigger bag, this one is wonderful.  It has plenty of room inside, but it still hugs your body and tucks neatly under your arm.
***Update - my daughter just asked me if an iPad fits in this bag (because her iPad doesn't fit in the Petite City Bag I made for her) and I'm happy to report that YES - an iPad fits!***

To give you an idea of the difference in size, here it is next to the Petite City Bag, which is 85% of the original size.

Cheers!

Summer in the City

I just finished another Petite City Bag.  I really love this "Good Fortune" fabric by Kate Spain, in periwinkle.  I bought it a while ago and have been waiting for the right project.  When I saw it next to the blue cotton duck, I knew this was it.  I love how the blue base makes the fabric pop.  It's a perfect bag for summer!
The last one I listed in my Etsy shop sold in a week, so we'll see how long this one lasts...

Etsy listing here.

Cheers!

Tasting Table Tuesday - Custom Orders

Wow - this is the week for custom orders!  Just last night alone, I received four requests.  When it rains it pours, as they say, but I'm certainly not complaining.

First up was another one of these Idea Pouches, for an iPad.  This is an earlier one I made, but the request was for an identical one, so why take more pictures?  And it's headed all the way to Australia!!!

Then I got a request to make another City Bag, but this time it will be full sized, not reduced like the ones I've been making lately.  It's going to look amazing in this leaf fabric from the Simply Color collection by V & Co for Moda.  This will make up the main part of the bag, and the base and the strap will be navy blue duck.  I love bright green and navy and can't wait to see what this one will look like when it's done!

Then I also got an order for two sleeves for iPad Mini's.  I've only made them for full-sized iPads so far, but don't see why I can't scale the pattern down a little for a mini.

So it's a good thing I finished my granddaughter's new dress over the weekend.  It's going to be a busy week!

Cheers!

More City Bags, and a plea for help!

Seems like I haven't had much time to sew lately, and it feels like it took ages to get these finished, but they're finally done.  And worth the wait!  I'm sure you can tell how much I'm lovin' this scaled-down version of the City Bag pattern by You Sew Girl! since I've made six of them in the last few weeks.

The brown and green one in the back was a custom order and it's gone already, but the other two will be listed in my Etsy shop tomorrow.

I really like the chocolate brown faux leather I've used on these, but I just bought some in black and I can't wait to see how that looks in the next batch of bags.  I've been searching for some of this faux leather in bright colors, but haven't had any luck finding it yet.  I know it exists, because I see it in store-bought bags, so I'm still looking.  All I've found in brights is a heavier vinyl - too heavy for my liking.  I like the weight of this faux leather because it's not too bulky and it's easy to sew, so I'll just have to keep looking.
If you've seen it anywhere, please let me know!  I'll be forever thankful!!!

Tasting Table Tuesday - More bags!

Three new City Bags in the works this week.  The brown & green leaf print (Outfoxed by Lizzy House) is a custom order, and the other two will be listed in my Etsy shop when they're done.  I love all these fabrics, but those birds are my favorite right now - Larkspur by Alexander Henry.  The third one is a batik in bright summer colors - fun!

Tasting Table Tuesday - I'm back...

I just returned from sunny Florida this afternoon.  Ughhh...  back to the cold of the North East.  Even though Florida was a little cool for their standards, it was still SO much warmer than it is here.  But there were some storms mixed in with that sunny, warm weather!  We were visiting our grandson and his parents, who live very close to Orlando International Airport, where they clocked wind speeds in the 80-90 mph range during a nasty storm on Sunday that passed through quickly, leaving downed trees and power outages.  Of course, I was out shopping with my DIL when it happened and we were pretty much oblivious to the storm until we came out of Target and saw all the damage.
But the next day was sunny and very pleasant, although not super warm.  But warm enough to sit outside and soak up some of that wonderful Florida sunshine.  I wish I could have bottled some and brought it home with me - although I'm sure TSA would have found a way to prohibit it...

I missed last Tuesday's Tasting Table post because I was up to my eyeballs in projects, packing, and lots of other things too numerous to list.  But I did manage to make a birthday gift for my daughter, and now that she has received it, I can share it with you without ruining the surprise.  I made another one of my downsized City Bags for her.  She admired this grey & white paisley fabric when she was here visiting a couple of months ago, so I decided to pair it with her favorite shade of dark periwinkle blue.  I really wanted to find it in a faux leather, like the brown I've been using on other bags, but couldn't find anything.  So I resorted to using Duck Cloth (kind of a light-weight canvas) and I sprayed it with a fabric protector to make it more durable.  From what I hear, she loves it...  :)

Now it's time to get back into the swing of things, and get work done.  Hopefully I'll have more to share next week!

Cheers!

Play Day - Zentangle Stitching

It's been a busy week and I've gotten lots accomplished (pictures of my latest projects are at the end of this post).  So today I gave myself permission to play.  You may remember me writing about Zentangle drawing last summer, and I've been doodling on paper from time to time, practicing some designs, but hadn't yet tried stitching out the designs on fabric.  Afterall - that's what attracted me to Zentangle in the first place - the designs lend themselves so well to free-motion quilting.  So I stitched my first Zentangle quilt block.  The design is called Paradox.  This is what it looked like after stitching it...  Not bad, but look what happens...

...when you add some shading with a colored pencil...

Isn't it amazing what a difference the shading makes?  (Lighting too - the first one was taken under a fluorescent light and the second and third ones were in natural daylight - huge difference in color!)
I can really see myself having some fun with this!  Do you Zentangle?

In case you're interested, here are the "work" projects for the week.  Two custom purse orders in one week!  Woo hoo!!!  First up is a Two-Zip Hipster in Juggling Summer and lined with orange swirls.  The combination of fabrics and stabilizers in this bag is just perfect.  I wish you could feel this bag.  It has lots of body without being stiff, and feels so nice!  My customer will be picking this up later today and I can't wait to see how she likes it.

And this work-in-progress is a City Bag, at 90% of the original size.  I'm still waiting for the strap hardware to arrive in the mail, so it's not quite done yet.  I used a multi-colored batik for the top and faux leather for the bottom and the strap.  Now I get to Zentangle (aka play) while I wait for my package of hardware to arrive!

Cheers!

A City Bag for Me!

I've been making bags and purses to sell for a few years now, but I was still carrying a store-bought purse.  I always talked about making one for myself, but you know how it goes - there's always tomorrow...  someone else's project needs to get done first.  But the strap on my store-bought purse was starting to tear and I knew it was just a matter of time before it would break - and the last time that happened, my purse fell to the ground in the middle of the street.  Just a little embarassing!

So I decided to be proactive this time and make myself a new bag before the old one dies.

The hardest part was deciding what pattern to use...  I've got so many good ones to pick from.  I've always loved the look of the City Bag from You SEW Girl!, but it's a fairly large bag and I've never been one to carry anything that large (I'm only 5'1" and I prefer smaller purses), so I took the pattern to my local copy shop and had them reduce it for me.  I made this one at 80% of the original size and I love the way it looks.  The lines are the same, the style is identical, it's just a little sister to the big one.  However, in hindsight, I should have gone with 85%, as this one is just a tad small.  I really had to weed out my stuff to make everything fit.  The base measures about 10.5" x 3" and the height varies between about 6.5" and 8.5", so it's really not very big.  But so cute & stylish looking!

I also wouldn't put five compartment pockets in my next one.  I put 3 on one side and 2 on the other, and by the time I put stuff in them, there's not much room left in the center of the purse.  The pattern calls for 3 compartment pockets on one side and a long zippered pocket on the other.  That would make more sense, and I'll probably do it that way next time.  Live and learn...  Besides, it will give me an excuse to make another one!

The fabric I used was a gift from a friend and I just love it!  It's perfect for an everyday purse because it has black, brown, white, gray, bronze, gold & silver in it so it will coordinate with just about anything.  I used brown faux leather for the bottom and the straps.  The bottom of a purse can get so dirty and I thought the faux leather would hide the dirt, and wipe up with a damp cloth quite easily.  Besides - I just like the look.  For the lining, I used an old favorite of mine - a city map of Paris that looks hand-drawn.

The strap is adjustable, shown short here to use as a shoulder bag, or I can adjust it longer to wear as a cross-body bag.

So all in all, I'm happy with the finished product, even if it is just a tad on the small side.  I'll start using it for awhile and see how I adjust.

Cheers!