CreateHYPE Feature

Hi all,
This month I was the Featured Shop of CreateHYPE's monthly series, Shop Critique.  I received some great ideas how on to pull my shop together visually, so look for those changes in the coming weeks.
A big thank you to Megan for her insights...

  
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Field Bag with Leather Strap in Brown

New item in the Shop, Field Bag in a Teal Duck Canvas. 

Made with a strong teal duck canvas for the exterior, the interior is lined with a cotton fabric by Valori Wells, Del Hi Tapestry Cinnamon.  Closes with metal buckle and finished with a Leather strap in Brown.  


Find it here.

Key West

Enjoying a few days off in wonderful Key West, FL, one part to celebrate our 10 year anniversary, another part to decompress. It's a vacation that is desperately needed, as work and time are taking a toll.  Enjoy the week.

2013 Spring and Summer Cross Body Bags

I can't get enough of bright color fabrics and as Winter rolls into Spring, it time for new bags for Spring and Summer.  

Just in time for Spring, the 2013 Cross-Body Bag in bright colors.  Available in European Linen or Cotton Twill. 

Large enough to carry your tablet or a small laptop and other stuff and strong enough to last.

Available in four colors:  Orange, Lavender, Sky Blue and Lemon

Orange Linen & Canvas Cross Body Bag

Sky Blue Linen & Canvas Cross Body Bag

Lemon Linen & Canvas Cross Body Bag

Lavender Twill & Canvas Cross Body Bag

Sneak Peek - Spring Trends

Spring is coming, and bright colors have a cheerful effect on me. 

I am working on a Spring line of mid-size messenger bags in a few cheerful colors of Blue, Lavender, Orange, and Yellow.

Emerald Green

Okay, I have never been one to consistently follow trends (well, except for last year (Tangerine – Color of the Year 2012).  I had some great Tangerine Orange Linen fabric which incorporated into a few Messenger Bags last year.    

A few weeks ago, Pantone announced the Color of the Year - 2013 as Emerald Green.   Now this girl would never turn a blind eye to any Emerald (especially on a ring), but I guess I never considered using it as accessories.  So I gave in the other day and purchased some Emerald Green Burlap fabric.   

This warm Florida winter has me pining for some burlap totes and clutches.  I found some great white Hemp/Cotton fabric that I thought would be a fantastic combination...we shall see.

MIA? No just hanging in Sunny Florida

Missing in Action?   

Nope, I am still here, enjoying a warm winter in Sunny Hot (did I mention Hot) Florida.   I lost some of my stamina over the Fall and decided to take a step back during the holidays.  The time off was great as it gave me time to breathe and play around with fabric and leather. A few months ago I discovered a Tandy Leather Store just a few miles from my house, so I am really excited to expand to a medium outside of hemp and canvas.  It had been so long since I tried something different, as I had grown a little weary after my large order of tote bags for Delta Delta, Delta.  I did add a couple of items to the shop, a few messenger bags and a tote or two and I promise to add some more soon. 

Hopefully your holidays were peaceful with your love ones near.  This year’s holiday had a melancholy feel as I did not head North and I also did not decorate, which I think only added to the melancholy.  But I did spend a quiet Christmas with the puppy and DH.

As with the start of another year, time to take stock of my world and as usual I have created another list of stuff, objectives, etc, etc., etc.    Perhaps this year I need to add some milestones, because I did not accomplish too many items on my list.

So what are your goals for 2013? 

Lonely Visit to Southern California

I spent a few days in California visiting my Dad.  I’ve been in a pensive mood and he accommodated my need to walk along the Pacific Ocean.  Although I live only 8 miles from the Fort Lauderdale beach, I never see it, walk along it or put my feet in the sand.

Feeling a bit lost lately…

Morning Sunshine

It's Day 3 of my four day weekend. 

Yesterday after straighten up the house and baking some Carrot & Banana Cookies for the Pup, I spent the rest of the day cutting fabric for some new items for the shop.

This morning I noticed the sun streaming in through the window of my studio...

Stormy Weekend Projects

Well it's still raining. Last night it was reported that the worst was over, but it looks as if there is some flooding and the roads look treacherous. Since it was a weekend wash out, I kept myself busy sewing and doing a few things around the house.

Instead of working on those four totes, I decided I wanted to redesign my messenger bag this weekend.  So after working on a pattern and staring at the rain falling, I had the wild idea to waterproof the exterior fabric as well.  After cutting some gray hemp for the exterior and blue canvas for the inside, I coated the exterior fabric with my wax mixture. 


While the bag is still missing it's handles, (I think I am going to add a black leather strap), I thought I would share my progress so far.

 

I also played with my new toy, a Food Dehydrator. 

I love potatoes chips and apparently they love me, my abs and hips, therefore I am on a quest to eat better and slim down a bit.  I read that dehydrated zucchini slides are a great substitute for chips, therefore Saturday night I sliced four medium zucchini and coated one side with a salt, garlic, red pepper and onion power mix.

I let the machine run overnight and  fourteen hours later, I had zucchini chips.

One one vat of homemade hummus + one bag of zucchini chips = Yum!

I Should Be Sewing (Project 65 Totes - Four More!)

My 65 Totes customer reached out to me the other day.  Apparently, there will be 69 women in attendance for Bid Day, therefore she needs another four more totes!

Unfortunately, Bid Day was the following day and obviously it will take me a few days.

So I should be sewing, working on the four totes, preparing for the holidays and working on new designs for the Fall and Winter, but no.   Instead, I am watching the bands of rain coming in as Tropical Storm Issac moves through the South and into the Gulf. 

(Photo : National Hurricane Center / Google Maps)
Tropical Storm Isaac Route, Path Map into Florida, USA

Sweet Words

Earlier this week my sister asked if I heard from the 65 totes customer as the totes would have arrived at their destination on Monday.

Nada.

We nervously concluded that no news was good news and left it on that note.

I came home today to find a box of flowers on the kitchen counter.  From DH?  No, from my customer...

 Wow...such sweet words.... :)

Celebrating

It was a wonderful day in South Florida.

It's been two days since the 65 totes have shipped off and to celebrate the completion of the project, I took Laura and DH out to lunch along the Intercoastal.

Day 102 - Shipping Day

What a wonderful day!

It’s Shipping Day for my 65 Totes.  I lined the hallway with three very large boxes and after DH and I did one more count, they were sealed and ready to be carted off to UPS.

Day 99 - Home Stretch

I am in the home stretch of completing Project 65 Totes.

At this point there are still two phases left, closing the interior and top stitching.  DH took pity on me and while watching the Olympics he turned all the interiors in for me so I could begin stitching interior opening close.  

I was hoping to ship the bags out yesterday, but it appears I will be another day or two as I complete this phase and complete the top stitching as well. 

I couldn't help myself when I saw the pile in the living room, so I snapped a couple photos to share.

Day 90 - Tote #1

Now that the leather handles have been cut, I thought I would complete one tote first to ensure proper placement of the rivet holes.

One down, 64 more to go....

Day 89 - Leather Handles

Before - 65 Straps of Leather

I pulled out the large box containing my order of leather straps.  The day I have been dreading has arrived - Leather Handles

 This next phase requires several time consuming steps, including: 

• Measuring
• Marking
• End Punching
• Hole Punching
• Placement on Bag Exterior
• Sewing Handles onto Bag Exterior
• Riveting
 

 



Tools

So after a few of work, the straps have been cut into 130 handles and the ends rounded. Reviewing my list in comparison to my Project timeline, I doubt if I have allotted enough time. I guess we will see…

After – 130 Handle

Day 86 - Piles

I started working on the interiors last week when Juki had a breakdown.

Now that Juki is back and purring, I made progress with the totes' interior this week...

Slip Pocket + Lining = Pile

Sewing corners

Interiors - Done!

Day 83 - Disaster Strikes - Juki Down

So looking at this photo, can you answer the following question:

What’s missing from this photo? 

Did you figure it out?

Well, it’s Juki, the muscle behind this operation.   

Yesterday I was moving along sewing the interior lining seams of the tote lining when disaster struck.  After changing the bobbin, the thread jammed and Juki came to an abrupt halt.  After an hour of vain attempts to resuscitate Juki, DH and I gave up.   

Luckily I have two other sewing machines so I continued on, but at a much slower pace.  So this morning DH took Juki to the repair shop so they can attempt to repair him.

Sigh….

Day 82 - It takes a Villiage

These are photos of my girlfriend Laura and DH helping me through various stages of Project 65 Totes.  Without them, this project would not have advanced as far as it has today.  

 All I can say is thank you guys….