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.

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.

I should be sewing but...

instead I am home sick, and I can't get enough of the Instagram App:  Early Bird in Orange

Tangerine Messenger Bag!

Okay, I can't get enough of this color.

A linen and canvas Messenger Bag a la Tangerine.  It's a large messenger bag in bright Tangerine.

Carry everything, your laptop, (up to a 17" laptop), books and other stuff.  Messenger Bag comes with cool hardware in brass,eco friendly lining in 10oz canvas...and lots of pockets.

Under the flap are large pocket under the flap can also hold your iPad.  Italian linen, oh so wonderful...

Find it here in the shop.

Messenger Bags for Men in Steel Gray - Back in the Shop

Last June I lamented about using the last of my favorite gray hemp/cotton fabric which I used for my Gray Steel Hemp/Cotton/Canvas Messenger Bags...(It Happened this Week). 

Well as I was perusing my favorite online fabric supplier's website, I spotted it. No big announcements, no parades, no shouting from the rooftops.  Just a small thumbnail down at the bottom of the page.  Gray Hemp/Cotton was back in stock. 

There were 75 yards available, now there are only 45 yards available.

Back in the shop: Gray Steel Hemp/Cotton Messenger Bags & Gray Steel Market Bags.

A great messenger bag for men, it comes in two sizes, one will accommodate at 15 inch laptop, the other a 17 inch laptop. 

And for women, another best seller, my market bag is large, carry everything in this bag, great adjustable strap for over the shoulder or across the  body.

Needless to say, I've been sewing.  Oh happy day.

It happened this week...

Although there was a brave effort in searching fabric stores both online and off as well as fabric warehouses - it happened this week - I  used the last of my favorite dark gray hemp/cotton fabric when a customer purchase the last Hemp/Cotton Messenger Bag in Gray.


I knew it was coming months ago,  my fabric supplier inform me they had discontinued carrying the hemp/cotton in gray earlier in the year.
As the months went by, my bolt of gray hemp dwindled until I was down enough fabric for one messenger bag and one market bag. The market bag sold a few weeks ago and now as I am sewing the last messenger bag - I keep glancing over the sad small pile of fabric scraps. 

The last remains of my favorite gray hemp/cotton fabric.

:(

Custom Orders

When you are the designer, you tend to think that you have the best ideas when it comes to coordinating fabrics. So when a customer sends an email requesting two fabrics that you never considered...Purple Hemp fabric with Joel Dewberry's Chestnut Hill Narrow Strip Yellow...I had a few doubts.
However, I put aside my doubts, because yellow and purple really do go well together.  (Who knew, that color wheel was correct).  As I started construction those little doubts were replaced with wondering why you questioned your customer's idea in the first place.

I did have to make some changes, since the interior was not the typical 10oz canvas that I use...I decided  I had to reinforce the cotton fabric with a strong interface and used a tighter multiple stitching....

...but then when it's all done...you end up with one of those Ah Ha! moments...

So if you would love a Purple Hemp Messenger Bag with a yellow strip interior...each bag has reinforced stitching and can accommodate a large laptop and a book or two.

Playing with Textures - Distressed Look

Okay, the other week I told everyone I was getting bored with the Messenger bag design and that I wanted to do something different, at least start with the flap.  So, as I started making another messenger bag with a recent purchase of red/burgundy cotton twill...  

I decided to added a strap of fabric down in front of the flap, then I frayed the edges and sanded the flap in spots to give the bag an overall distressed look.









As with all my messenger bags, the interior is lined with 10oz cotton canvas in natural for extra durability.

Under the flap - you'll find a two deep exterior pockets while inside contains a zipper pocket and a split pocket to hold your keys, cell phone and I-Pod, etc.

The adjustable strap is long enough to wear across your chest or if shorten to carry as a tote.

You can find this beauty here: Messenger Bag Distressed - Red Twill

Playing around with Textures

Okay, I get bored easily. I receive email updates from West Elm and they  have duvet covers to die for…I love this pin tuck look as well as the gathered one.  I would love to incorporate this type of texture onto a bag and I think perhaps next week I will experiment some one.  

 In the meantime, it’s been a while since I have made any changes to the Messenger Bag, the last change was to add was added an external single and split pocket under the flap.  I have been thinking about doing something else to the flap, perhaps play around with a colorful fabric on the cover as I did with this messenger bag, but I haven’t done either…

The other day as I was busy cutting and sewing numerous messenger bags (in a Red Burgundy Twill), I found that I still had some fabric left over.  It wasn’t a lot, enough to make a small strap, when it dawn on me, use it as a decorative piece and attached it to the front flap.  So I did.  On the second one,  I pulled on the fabric to give it some additional texture and a bit of a distressed look, I may even fray the edges.  I think I like it, and I hope you will too… hope to have some photos to post later on…

Steel Gray Hemp!

I am still playing around with all the Hemp Fabric I purchased a few weeks ago.  I have a several colors now in my collection, Plum Purple, Red Wine, Steel Gray, and two other colors that I plan to use next summer, a muted Yellow and Celery Green.

Last night I decided to make a Large Messenger Bag using the Steel Gray and if you want, you can purchase the bag here.

It is a a great bag whether you are a student or just need a versatile bag with ample interior space to carry books, documents, files and up to a 17" laptop - a new addition to my Messenger Collection.




As with all my messenger bags, I lined the interior with a 10oz cotton canvas in natural for extra durability.

Under the flap - you'll find one large deep exterior pocket while inside contains a zipper pocket and a split pocket to hold your keys, cell phone and I-Pod, etc.

The adjustable strap is long enough to wear across your chest or if shorten to carry as a tote.

Messenger Bag Straps

Well, it appears that the weather is getting cooler up north, and based on last week snows, it seems some states have already had snow!  The closest I get to cool weather and warm clothes is when I go to the Hockey games, (yes, South Florida has a Hockey Team). 

Living in South Florida, if you don't pay attention, you will miss the seasonal fashion trends, as most of the year, I find myself in a pair of cargo shorts, light top and flip flops.

According to the Etsy Merchandising Desk,  "Classic and modern interpretations of autumn and winter holiday color schemes: Rusts, browns, reds, oranges, yellows, whites, greens, blues, and purples. On a more general front: Blacks, grays, camels, teals, aquas, rich earth tones, mustard, deep purples berries and wine, and muted shades of green."

As the holiday season is just around the corner, I have been busy cutting and sewing, I thought I would stop and snap a photo.  On this day I was preparing the large and mini messenger bag straps for sewing.  Lovely shades of grays and deep purples...  

The Larger Messenger Bag in Purple Hemp!

A few weeks ago a customer requested a custom order using the Purple Hemp fabric for the Larger Messenger Bag.   

Of course I had used the last of the fabric on another Messenger Bag custom order.  Luckily (for me) my poor customer waited for my supplier to ship me more fabric before I could start on her order.  Around the same time, the light bulb went off in my head that I should take some of photos of the item and actually list it in my shop.   

Genius I know.  

I wasn’t sure at first if the Hemp fabric would be a good fit for the Messenger bag, but the 10oz canvas interior and stiff interfacing gave the bag its strength and the hemp fabric gave the bag a nice feel to the hand. 

As with all my other larger messenger bags, it's a great bag whether you are a student or just need a versatile bag with ample interior space to carry books, documents, files and up to a 17" laptop.  You can find it here.

Mad about Plaid

Back to School in Plaid

Since I have been under the weather, I have lots of time on my hands. Before my illness I had spent the previous few weekends cutting out fabric and sewing several messenger bags in preparation for back to school.  I did manage today to finally post one of those bags using a new plaid fabric that I couldn't pass by...

Larger Messenger Bag in Plaid - Hunter Green

I did more experimentation with bag and added two exterior pockets under the flap.  It's a great versatile bag with ample interior space to carry books, documents and up to a 17" laptop.  As always, I used a 10oz cotton canvas for extra durability.

There are two other plaid  patterns that I purchase in addition to the Hunter Green Forest shown here.  As I was sewing with this fabric I couldn't help but be reminded of my school days and school uniforms.

It starts with a roll of fabric

My girlfriend has been dying to take me to a fabric wholesaler down in Miami.  A couple of weeks ago she took another friend, I'll call her "V" who took pity on me, (as I couldn't go with them on their excellent adventure) and purchased fabric for me.  She kept texting me photos of different rolls of fabric while I was on a conference call...oops perhaps I should say no more...

Anyway....she came home with a large goody bag of fabric samples, one which was this fabulous soft brush twill cotton in an olive green.  I was in the midst of making spring clutches and stopped because that brush twill screamed Messenger Bag! I decided (after several request) that it was time to make my current messenger BIGGER.  My current bag which I call a midsized bag has the current dimensions: Height: 11 1/2", Width: 16", Depth: 3", which can still hold a laptop and other things, but I guess folks want to be able to carry even more...

So I experimented with the pattern and the new bag, "The Larger Messenger Bag" now has the following dimensions: Height: 13 1/2", Width: 17 1/2", Depth: 4", so you can use it to carry books, documents and up to a 17" laptop. I used 10oz cotton canvas for the interior and more stitching for extra reinforcement.

Check out "The Larger Messenger Bag" here. 

I am very happy with the results but I think that I may keep experimenting. The next generation of this bag is going to include a divided large split slip pocket across the front exterior under the front flap.  What do you think?

It's Thursday

Where has the week gone?

So much going on, I sold two items, another Brown Canvas Messenger Bag & the Charm Tag Necklace - Even Monkeys Fall from Trees in addition to a custom order charm tag necklace. 

The nice thing about the two charm orders is that they came from my 1000 Markets Shop, which I have to admit, I had sorta forgotten about...

Although, the bedroom has been quite an undertaking and time stealer, I have managed to start work on all three orders.  However, I am approaching the two week mark on their orders, so not what I would call the best customer service.  So that said, after work today, I plan on finishing the necklace and custom order and with luck will ship those out tomorrow.  The Messenger Bag will probably take part of Saturday to complete. My house is a mess as the contents of my closet and bathroom are in the dining room and kitchen. Our unusual cold winter has killed most of my landscaping and the weeds are overgrowing in the flower beds.  So much to do and I am itching to start other sewing projects, make a few bags with some fabric I have been dreaming about...

So what have I been dreaming about...Laura Gunn's newest line, the Poppy Collection...just dreamy.