skirty flirty, and opening the petite shop

I've had more free time lately, so I've been able to work on a few projects. A few are still in progress, but today I just finished my skirt!

I have a skirt from ASOS that I really liked and I wanted to recreate it. A while back when Joann's Fabric in San Ramon was closing they had a 12 patterns for $2 sale so I hoarded a bunch of patterns, and found this great skirt pattern that was super similar. This is the outcome. It was my first time using a very thin fabric. One tip I have is to always use the right size needle, (size 9 for this) so that the fabric works well with it. There are some puckering effects that I'm not happy about but I just wanna twirl around in it so I stopped caring.

In other news, I re-opened my little shop. I haven't had much time to promote it, but you can check it out here: http://brainmade.storeenvy.com and shop. I only have a few goods on there right now, but plan on adding more and eventually promoting my store more... not sure how to go about that yet but we'll see. But the big reason I opened my little shop is I got to sell my stuff at Turbo Tea Party in SJ. That was really fun! It motivated me to make more items and get more creative...I've developed a long laundry list of items to get through. Lots of drawings to make. Cheers for now.

baggu-inspired!

I was lucky enough to get some of this super ultra soft leather from my friend Alyssa, and it had been sitting in my fabric pile for a long time! I was super in love with Baggu's drawstring purse. It looked simple enough to make, so I made a small pattern from the dimensions they had online and made this:

I added rivets (my first time using my new hole punch and rivet kit) and then made some tassels for the ends. The only thing that I wish I did is used a thicker leather for the bottom, since the leather is almost too buttery soft for the circular bottom, but when I put my phone in it it seems to hold up to the bucket shape quite well. This was my first time sewing with real leather (in comparison to vinyl) so I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

bucket bag out of denim jeans

My grey jeans ripped so I couldn't wear them anymore, and I've been wanting to make something out of them for a long time. I've been hoarding a lot of fabrics so I decided to make a bucket backpack out of it. I was inspired by a few bags I've seen. For this bag I kinda decided to wing it, since I just made a similar style bag. Probably not my best idea, I think I got really really lucky.

old jeans, ripped right in the butt (probably due to the frequent amount of splits I do)

initial sketches, I was going to put pockets in the front, but I ended up with too little fabric. 

you can also see another project i am planning out really quickly.

There is a hidden iphone/wallet compartment on the back panel. You can access it without having to unload your bag and open the main compartment. I like that it is hidden on my back so that I can feel safe with my iphone near me at all times but not in a super visible pocket. This feature is something I fell in love with on my incase bag. I used it every day when I was working in the city as I was always grabbing my wallet/clipper card to get in and out of bart.

Another note about this, is that I used all reclaimed material, except for the two zippers. The ladder locks and metal hook came off of some old keychains and things. I keep a lot of random hardware pieces and hoard a lot of fabric. The lining is made of an old t-shirt. I love bright interiors, makes it easier to find stuff!

I hate myself for using my iphone all the time for photos but it is too easy! I think its time to buy a nice camera, I've been putting it off for a long time.

eye collar tips

I was inspired by this image I pinned.

Recently had a bunch of takeout, so I saved a lot of togo boxes. I have more shrinky dink plastic then ever and I dont even know what to make yet haha but for a small go, I made these.

knit + leather

Leather elbow patch with studs to a cable knit sweater. It was a little tough squishing the sleeve up the sewing machine, but I love the way it turned out. Inspired from this.