Saturday, February 23, 2008

I love fabric...

Ok, besides being my new hobby, handbags are my new obsession! And I think I'm addicted to buying fabric. I love the colors and textures...reds, greens & golds...chenille, velvet, corduroy...it's all wonderful. And when I look at all the fabrics next to each other, I picture what they would look like all sewn together into a neat little bag with handles.

I went fabric shopping tonight and spent more money than I had planned on. Some of it was on sale, but not all. I kept trying to put things back, but couldn't. But I look at it as an investment in my business. I am planning on making bags out of all of the fabrics I bought. I want to start selling a few and see how it goes. I love making handbags, and like other women, can't seem to have enough of them! Hopefully, there will be women out there that love my new creations as much as I do. I guess I better get sewing!

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

My New Hobby

I recently looked all over for the perfect handbag. I already have a large hand-made tote bag that I bought at a farmers market before Christmas. I love it, but it's rather large. I wanted something smaller, with a certain kind of upholstery fabric and a certain number of pockets inside. Oh, and a handle long enough to go over my shoulder. (I'm not picky at all! :-) But I couldn't find one anywhere. Then I decided, as always, if you want something done right...do it yourself! It can't be that hard, right?

So, I went shopping on President's Day (lucky for me, because there was a 50% off everything sale at JoAnn Fabric). I found some GORGEOUS red velvet tapestry/upholstery fabric, some other coordinating fabrics to go with it, and a pattern of course. Then, my 4-year-old and I took a number and waited for OVER AN HOUR just to get the fabric cut. Everyone and their sister was shopping for fabric, apparently.

Today I made a "practice" bag with some cheap fabric just to see how the thing would go together, and to experiment a little bit with adding pockets, etc. After a little frustration, and some seam ripping, I actually finished the thing! It even has two pockets and a pen holder! The only problem...I forgot to put in the magnetic clasp before stitching the lining into the exterior of the bag...oops. And, I didn't make the handle long enough. So, this bag will now be handed over to my son to do with as he pleases. When I get brave enough to cut the expensive fabric, I'll complete the "real" bag. I will post pictures when the masterpiece is complete! In the meantime, here is a picture of the prototype.