The thoughts, sewing projects, and fabric oglings of a dedicated sewist.

What's Up: Upholstered Clutch Wallets, Funky Flower, Bag for Donation, Packages Shipped!

2/20/12
This past week was a little slow.  I worked hard, but I don't feel like I have as much to show for it as I spent more time than usual on the computer catching up on admin and placing orders.  The latter does mean I have the arrival of lots of packages of fabric and hardware to look forward to this week (soooo exciting!).  But the former means that I didn't spend as much time as I like actually sewing.

But sewing did happen!  I finished the first two items on Melissa's order from the skirt party, a zebra print clutch wallet and flower pin.  I love the way they turned out - the right mix of edgy and pretty:



 



I made a variation on the clutch wallet from an old chair cover that I found at The Economy Shop, using bias tape to finish the edges:





I want to redo the stitching on the bias tape (I figured a technical issue out halfway around) and then I'll put it up on Etsy.  I now think I know enough to write a tutorial for these and I hope to post that on Thursday or Friday of this week for those of you who want to make your own.

And since it seems to be the week of clutches, I made another Ali Foster clutch to donate to a local school auction:



Jennifer, the woman who contacted me about the bag, has her own blog called HealthAtMySize.  I dropped off the bag yesterday and she invited me in for a mimosa and a chat (nice treat!).  In order to find new and unusual donations for the auction, she searched for local artists on Etsy - such a great idea!  There are tons of artists and crafters who sell completely online without a store front and I bet they don't often get asked to do this sort of thing.  I love the opportunity to do something good (help raise money for the school) while getting my name out to potential clients.  She is showcasing the artists on her blog - go check out the work.

I did have a helpful realization this week.  I made a promise to myself to save weekend sewing time for my personal projects.  I haven't done a good job of this so far and I realized it's because the personal projects I want to work on are challenging.  They will stretch my skills and require multiple weekends to complete.  So I've been avoiding them by continuing to work on my client's projects on the weekends.  No more!  I made myself sit down to trace and cut out my first project, a spring/fall coat by Indygo Junction:


I'm going to make a variation on the version on the left and if I get it completed in time, I'll enter it in IJ's design challenge competition.

And this week I will do a lot of sewing.  I want to get Melissa's messenger bag bag and finish Diane's corsetted skirt (the fabric for this finally arrived).  I hope to get a draft version of Melissa's skirt finished, too.  And the upholstered clutch wallet tutorial . . . and the unpacking of many boxes of fabric.  We'll see how fast I can sew!
1 comment on "What's Up: Upholstered Clutch Wallets, Funky Flower, Bag for Donation, Packages Shipped!"
  1. Wow ... love the fabric inside the wallets - completely unexpected. And HELLO coat!! GO go Lisa!

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