10/30/08

Sewing for a very important cause

I was inspired this weekend as I walked around Joann Fabrics. There were so many beautiful fabrics out. I knew that I could not bring anymore fabric home to create bags, but I was still drawn to a certain fabric. My daughter who is usually very inpatient looked at me and says," Mommy, you haven't made me a dress in awhile." That was very true. It has been over a year since I made her any clothing. The last thing I made was a cute denim blazer in Fall of your Second Grade year at school. She is now going on double digits (10 years old) and doing well in Fourth Grade. I quickly went over and picked out a cute dress pattern for her. It was labelled an "easy" pattern so I said, "Perfect, it'll take me no time to crank this dress out."


Well it too longer than "no time" to make it, but I was very satisfied with the work. It's been a long while since I made any clothing. It's always good to create things for myself. I feel good walking around in a pair of pants or a dress that I made. I know that it is made from good quality fabric, the construction is superb and it fits me the way it should.


Needless to say, my daughter loved her new dress and wanted to wear it Monday morning. She didn't get to wear it Monday, because it's Gym day, but Tuesday she was extra happy and proud to be wearing a beautiful dress that "mommy" made.

I am hoping to continue on this trend of creating more goods for my daughter, for as long as she lets me. I know there will be a time in her life when "homemade" clothes are not going to be "cool" and I am happy to accept that.
~Michaela

10/24/08

New Style: Lexi



I have been wanting to create a new shoulder bag for a long while now. I sat down months ago and drafted up a pattern for what is now the "Lexi" bag. Originally, this bag had rectangular wooden handles and was deeper. I played with the size for a long time. I knew I wanted a rectangular bad that could hold a lot, but most of the samples came out too short. I thought that I had a lot of bags that were deep, so I shortened it to the height of the Mimi handbag but made it the length of another bag that I own.
I am very satisfied with the way it came out. I thought that it would have been too long, but it's just perfect. It's tall enough for you to securely place your items in, but not too deep that you lose them in the bottom. Since the bag is wider, you have plenty of light and room to look for items that may have been floating at the bottom. This bag is 7 1/2 inches high by 17 inches long and 3 inches deep. There's a flap and snap closure. The straps are a generous length with an 11" drop so that it fits snugly under your arm.
I am going to enjoy creating this new bag and hope to receive lots of custom orders for it this holiday season.
Michaela