Covered in Threadmalaka’s adventure in sewing

I’m excited about opening my etsy store, but I’m holding off until I can ramp up my inventory.  I just feel like so many people are waiting for the store to open that I need to have a good selection before I officially open.    Unfortunately, life has been full the last few weeks, so I’ve only been able to get 5 bags made.

This weekend I should have lots of time for sewing, and I’m excited.  I’ve got some sketches of bag designs that I’d like to try to make.  When I work without a pattern, I end up taking way too long and getting pretty frustrated… I hope I don’t burn myself out.

My friend & photographer Robin (http://www.robinganslephotography.com) has given me some pointers on taking pictures of my bags, but I haven’t had a chance to implement any of her suggestions yet.  I need to though, because my picture taking sucks.

2 Birdie Slings, I love these bags - they are so beautiful in real life but I cannot capture it with my camera, frustrating!

2 large shoulder bags, same material.. I was experimenting here, I wanted to see how easy it would be to make 2 identical bags at the same time.  Turns out, it’s not fun.  I felt like I was repeating everything 8 times (I was, 4 for each bag - 2 interior, 2 exterior)…  I made the bags slightly different, but they used the same pattern.  I haven’t put handles on them yet because I’m thinking I want to make them long, or adjustable straps — but I need to get the appropriate hardware for adjustable straps.

The bag in front isn’t my favorite, but I was overjoyed yesterday when I finished it.  I’ve never put a flap on a bag before, so this opens up a lot of possibilities.  I mostly did it because I don’t like this pukey color brown I used (but it matched the bursts in the blue) so I figured I’d use this bag as an experiment.  It worked, I learned a few things about adding flaps to bags.

Maybe it needs a little applique on the flap, hah.  It definitely needs something, I’ll keep that in mind next time I’m making a flap.  I have two requests for this style bag… well two requests for a short messenger bag with a flap.   Now that I’ve taught myself how to do flaps, I’m ready to take on these other projects!

So much to do, so little time!