ok so here's the hot place bag I made

I told you before that I made a bag to bring to the hot place I went to. But this hot place bag made me angry and at times sad because I L.O.V.E the fabric and I feel like I wasted it making this bag.


Yes it looks pretty (sorry this is the closest I have to the final version in pics). I know. I love the way it looks. But the darn thing wouldn't be able to carry much more then my flip flops, towel and maybe my copy of Eat, Pray, Love. (Did you read that book? What did you think?).

I made the bag from a pattern out of that nice book pictured above that my lovely mom gave me for Christmas. I must have stared at the picture of the bag for hours because I loved it so much. So I started sewing, and it all went down hill when I got to the handles. NOW those who know me well, know I don't like to follow patterns or recipes but honestly I followed this one to a T (tee?). Ok one thing I could have done differently is use some interfacing in the handles -- that IS my fault.


For the most part the bag was fun to make and pretty simple but I go confused when it came to the handles. With my bags, I sew all around the outter fabric, then I put them inside out and together and tuck the handles in the bag, sew around the top leaving a 4 inch hole, invert the bag, sew the perimeter including the hole and voila the bag is done. BUT this bag had me making the bulk of the bag first and then building the handles separately and I was to fold the handles somehow over top the rest of the bag and it would all fit beautifully and angels would sing in the heavens. Aawwwwwwww!


But instead I tore the thing apart three times and then just figured out my own way of attaching them because it just wasn't working for me. After some swearing and shots of vodka (not really but it sounds tough), I got it done. It wasn't pretty but at least I was able to bring it to the beach.

Ya win some. Ya lose some!

Camo Cool

I was in the fabric store sometime back and I saw this cool camo fabric that was all pixelated (word?) and cool looking. I brought some of it home to make some totes and I showed my sister and she said "Yeah that's what all the soldiers are wearing these days." Oh. I'm not a big soldier or war person, but I still liked it and I still made a tote out of it. I'm glad I did.


This is another one of those me totes. I think I'm going to make all of my totes in this style from now on too. It's kind of cross between this tote and this bag. It's perfect for zipping around town for this and that.



If you think it's cool too you can get it here!

Happy Wednesday y'all

The Fireball Tote and Clutch

Do you have one of those friends who has so much energy and enthusiasm you don't know what to do with it all? My friend Cortney is like that... it's a good thing believe me. Every time I see her she's full of excitement and passion for whatever she's doing, whether it's entertaining a crowd or chasing her adorable son around the house.

So when Cort asked me if I would be interested in donating a tote bag and clutch to the annual Fireball event she helps organize every year for Sheena's Place here in Toronto... how could I say no? I'm also going to the event which I'm pretty excited about, mostly because I'll get to hang out with some fun friends, but also because I got to buy a new dress...

Alas the Fireball Tote and Clutch.


I've made something like this before here and here... but I just really love this style of bag so why not? The thing about Fireball is that there is an unwritten rule that everyone has to wear something red to the event, so I lined the bag with some bright red fabric and put a little flower pin on the front for some added punch.

The clutch was made with the same fabrics, but I added a vintage button I found at the St. Lawrence Market a few years ago.


And because I liked this bag so much (and had enough fabric); I've made two! If you like it too (and won't be at the event to make a bid on the silent auction) you can trek on over to my shop to get on there. Unfortunately I didn't have enough fabric for two clutches, but I do have an extra zip pouch made out of grey peony fabric that I'll throw in for fun.

Happy Weekend & Fireballin'!
~lealou

red tent blues

I had my first official craft market last week and it has taken me this long to talk about it because it was SUCH a bummer. Well the actual craft sale was a bummer; the company was not. It was held in a little neighbourhood unknown to me really, which is strange because I've lived in the city for so long and in many different neighbourhoods.

It didn't help that there was torential rain for the first part of the market. No that didn't help. But I managed to snag a nice red tent from a vendor through work so that was helpful. It was ginormous and we managed to squeeze about 3 other vendors under the tent with us. The other problem was there was construction right in front of the market along with a sign telling people to use the other side of the street. Not good. To top it off there was a festival going on down the street, which we were told would be HUGE driver to our market, but really it was quite the opposite because were about 2 blocks too far east of the festival to make a difference.

And maybe it just wasn't the right market for my stuff. I sold one thing and it was to my friend that I used to work with (thank god she bought something!!) BUT I have to say that the actual DAY was quite fun and a good experience (lemonade out of lemons right??).

First off M stayed with me at the sale. I thought it was funny that he wanted to stay at a girly market, but he was so helpful and admitted to having fun during the day. Also my sister K was there from the beginning and then my other sister S showed up and stayed the whole day. They were all so supportive and the marketing gene that we all got when we were born came out in full force because from the beginning they were throwing around tons of ideas on how to bring more people to the market and to my booth. I love them all so much for that.

Anyway I paid for two more market days which kind of sucks, but maybe it'll be better next time. Maybe I'll look into adding more colour to my craft stash because this time around I focused on LOTS of yellow and grey (my favourites!) and perhaps people are into a bit more colour. Who knows.

So enough blabbing and complaining! I posted some pics below from the day:

Getting ready with K


The construction (and the nice "parking spot" that M scored after he talked "construction" with the workers...)

The goods


K showing off the goods

Two of my sales people ;)

My sister S showing her crafty pipes

My very happy customer V

J Stands for Jolly 'ol Friends

Weew what a week it has been so far! I can honestly say my brain hurts. I've been crazy busy with my day job, so I haven't had much time to do much sewing. I know, I know saying "I'm busy" is SOOO je ne sais quoi -- dumb? Everyone is busy these days.

I DID get a chance, however, to finish a custom order from November. Yes I said November people (I'm sure my friend Scott is reading this thinking about the bag I said I'd make a mutual friend over a year ago but I digress...;)).

So my good friend from work, Rana, wanted me to make a tote for her daughter, and really Rana has been all too kind in waiting for this order. I really did take my sweet time finishing it and all I can blame is her second order which is a laptop case for work (I've been staring at the fabric trying to figure out how to make it because Rana is VERY particular... in a good way of course ;)).

Anyway, I finally got her daughter's tote finished and trekked over to the office today to give it to her and to see my favourite work clan.

Rana loved it of course, but the first question out of her mouth was "Did you take a picture of it for your blog Stephanie???" Well no because I was too "busy." So Rana whips out her camera and proceeds to have a photoshoot with my friend Shama as the model. What good friends I have, really; they're always looking out for me. I mean Rana DID pay me with Baskin Robbins gift certificates after all -- how does she know about my love for mint chocolate chip ice cream???

Alas, here are some pics of the tote and the photo shoot. Made with some lovely Amy Butler fabrics and a nice denim "J" for Rana's daughter's name.





Now that Rana has her hands on the tote, I'll be back into the sewing room trying to figure out her lap top bag and trying not to pull my hair out But I do have some ice cream motivation, so I'm sure I'll get it done soon... I promise :)

hello?

Sheesh. Time has certainly flown by in the past month. I haven't really been doing much besides the regular (working, eating, drinking tea). I wouldn't say I'm in a funk 'cause that's not it. I wouldn't say I'm sick of the snow (even though I'm tired of pulling over to let others by on our streets because there's only enough room for one car to pass, and I feel like I'm in permanent 4x4 on the roads... oh and don't get me started on parking... I can't wait until spring...). I guess I can't really put my finger on it. But I haven't been doing much sewing that's for sure. I tried to do a custom order for placemats a few weeks ago and I almost threw my machine out the window. I just chose the wrong fabric for the project. It wasn't working so I didn't finish it. I'm taking it as a learning experience that I can't work with shiny fabric. That's it. Just cotton my friends.

This week I'm working on a diaper bag for a friend of a friend and I'm pretty excited about it. If it works out as well as I think it will, then I might make more for the shop. Also I have a fun little contest coming up in about a month that I can't wait to share with you. Stay tuned.

After that I'll be concentrating on the new house. We get the keys tomorrow and I can't wait!

Take care my pals and talks to you soon!
~lealou