Purse Week- a lemon squeezy home

I just stumbled across this fun looking purse contest on a Lemon Squeezy Home. Since I am a lover of purses and bags (mostly because I can't sew much else!) I think this would be a good one for me to have a go at to test out my creative bag making skills.... if I have any!

The entries from last year were just gorgeous! From the top 10, I liked these two the best:




Bowling Bag from Lifestyles with Love

 How cute are the pigs and apples? I had a look at the Lifestyles with Love website and there are so many cute little purses with gorgeous Kawaii fabrics and Zakka prints. Sweet!

Grey clutch lbg studio

 

Beautiful fabric and style. I love a clutch. So chic!

I might have a go at making a clutch too. Maybe with some pleats and a zippered section. We'll see!

The Mad men collection- Banana Republic

Now, we don't have any Banana Republic stores in Australia (that I know of....) but when a friend tweeted information about their Mad men collection available online, I at least had to check it out.

The line was designed in collaboration with the show's costume designer Janie Brynat, and is 'inspired by the razor sharp tailoring and feminine silhouettes of 1960s style'.

Here are some pieces I like best from the Mad Men Collection from Banana Republic

lace tipped dress

Houndstooth dress

Full circle skirt

cabled dolman cardigan with tie neck top

Bracelet sleeve jacket with head scarf

So wearable and worky. I love them all!

Which piece is your favourite?

Blog love- Heartmade

Since joining Twitter I have been exposed to more wonderful and lovely craft and sewing blogs than you can poke a knitting needle at. It has been fun flitting all over the interwebs looking, listening and absorbing what experienced crafters and handmade business owners generously offer and I feel quite inspired and motivated.

I would like to highlight one lovely blog I have discovered by Mayi Carles called heartmade. It is a wonderful resource to help 'empower creative hearts' and inspire and motivate wannabe handmade business entrepeneurs (like me).

Mayi is so vivacious, enthusiastic and positive and a wonderful writer.You can subscribe to her newsletter for weekly updates, inspiration and resources, or browse through her online resources, tutorials and templates. After signing up to the newsletter, I received her weekly to do planner, and the the next day, receieved two free E books on success with social media and marketing tips. So generous!

Her lovely website has a really positive message with lots of tips to help you to cultivate your creativity along with ideas to help you get organised, plan and follow through. Since I have a propensity to be lazy and dreamy, I think the tools will be the helpful butt kicking I need! 

Check out heartmade or follow her on twitter @mayicarles  and enjoy the infectious enthusiasm for your mutual crafty love.

sewing gifts

During this time of economic wariness, I feel less and less inclined to go out shopping and spending money I don't have. I still love giving presents though so it means I need think thriftily when it comes to friend's birthdays and other celebrations.

So lately I have just been making presents instead of buying them and using sites like free pretty things for you to download super cute cards and gift tags. I love being able to give someone something handmade because it's a way I can show them how special they are to me.

Here are some pics of things I have sewn up for friends lately:

make up bag, Kokka fabric
 

Paris fabric cushion

front and back of cushions

vinyl make up bag, oven mitt by Mozi

To make the cushions, I followed a really easy and wonderful video tutorial by Brett bara. View it here then make your own!
With many more birthdays and baby showers on the way, I have my hands full with sewing gifts. Just the way I like it. :)

Pretty on Pinterest

Time for another posy of pretty pictures from Pinterest (try saying that after a few wines!) 

Frilly apron

Sunday crossbow

Carma

Carma

Happy loves rosie

Nana Company

I adore the blue wallpaper with what looks like giant white doilies. The mint polka dot skirt is so gorgeous and effortless... I like the ric rac detail and the floral fabric of the coasters. So cute and retro looking! I'd happily have a house full of these things..... Might need a bigger house first.

Happy Monday!

Sewelegantpaws is now on Twitter!

After bagging out twitter for years, I have now discovered legitimate reasons for joining- connecting with fellow sewers and crafters!

I have avoided joining Twitter in the past because I honestly thought, 'who on earth would be remotely interested in whatever mindless garble I have going on in my head?' I have since learned that Twitter is quite a powerful marketing tool and a fun way to connect with like minded people. I figure I can use it to promote giveaways and tutorials on my blog and share the love of crafting in a whole new way. Yay!

If you would like to follow me on twitter you can click on the chalboard above or find me at:

www.twitter.com/sewelegantpaws

I'd love to follow you too! Happy tweeting. :)

xx

Pretty things for ballerinas- part 2

I have finally finished sewing 10 pretty things for ballerinas for my friend Kylie. She wanted a few special little things to give to the girls in her dance studio who were trying their best. You can read about how it started here in part 1.

For this project I bought a few contrasting ballet themed fabrics so each piece would look a little different. In the end I made 5 ballet bags for shoes and 5 little purses for hair ties or coins.While all the ballet bags were made using this tutorial for making a drawstring bag, I tried to make each purse a little different to the next.

Overall I'm happy with them and hope the little girls like them too! Here are some pictures of the whole collection and each individual piece:

collection- 10 pretty things for ballerinas

ballet shoe bag- Kokka fabric

ballet shoe bag, Kokka fabric

ballet shoe bag- Kokka fabric

ballet shoe bag

ballet shoe bag- Kokka fabric

  

zippered coin purse, kokka fabric





hair ties and clips wallet



hair ties and clips wallet

zippered coin purse- kokka fabric

small make up bag

I also wanted to make something special for my friend Kylie who has always been so supportive of my sewing. I used my favourite ballerina Kokka fabric to make her a tote bag and popped all 10 things inside for her. she really liked it and wants me to make another 15 for her girls at Christmas time. You can find a tutorial for making this tote bag by following the link.  Here's a picture:

tote bag

 I had fun making my first little collection. I also enjoyed taking the photos and processing them myself, but I really have a lot to learn about that!

I'd love to see some links to any of your collections!

xx