zippy

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I was at a wedding -- my "little" cousin tied the knot... really I can't believe he's married now!

I also dropped off a few things to a good friend -- I made her two of these zip pouches and a paris bag for her little sister. I hope they enjoy them!

On the task list this week are some placemats to match my napkins for a friend here in the city; and a tote bag for my Mom's neighbour -- she likes this one! I'm pretty partial to it too.

Happy Week!
~lealou

a little obsession

Can I tell you how "busy" I've been in the past little while? I say "busy" because all of my "free" time has been used up with a little series of books written for teenagers... Ok I'll just come out and say it: I'm obsessed with the Twilight Series of books. There's something about a vampire love story that really makes my heart flutter. I told C not to give me the books -- it's just the worst time of the year to be head over heels with something other than sewing (don't the Cullens know I have Christmas presents to make???). Ok enough of that.


I have been sewing I guess. A week or so ago I did my first ever little craft event. I offered to set up a table to sell my stuff at the market bazaar at work to help raise money for United Way. Although there weren't a lot of people passing through, it was a really great experience because it got me out of the house and away from the computer. The best part was to see people I knew from the office "You made all this stuff?"


The Clara Clutch

I managed to sell a few things, but I still have lots left so I've put it all up in my shop. I can't really guarantee it'll get to you by Christmas, but if you're reading this from Ontario you'll get it for sure (some of you may even get personal delivery from moi!) And to keep with the theme of the original purpose for making these things, I will be donating 10% of all sales to United Way until after Christmas. How cool is that.


The Zoula Zip

View the rest of the items here

This week I'm dedicating my time to making the rest of my gifts for my friends and family. There isn't A LOT to do (who am I kidding) but it is still stressful (really, I love the pressure). I'm not sure if I'll get back on here before the holidays so if I don't -- Happy Holidays! I can't believe it is here already to be honest with you -- it really crept up this year.

later gaters
~lealou

a tisket, a tasket...

Aren't these the cutest little things you ever did see? Well I think so. C gave these to me last night as a thank you for making her so many things over the past while. Little does she know I actually consider her my quality assurance manager, so I call it even. These are from Jenn Maruska Design -- the bag is a little sweetie called a "tasket" and then there is a pin cushion and a needle book. I just love them. Thanks C!


On Monday, I managed to get some napkins made -- something I've been meaning to do for a while. I'm calling them The Gold Leaf Napkin set for some reason -- really it was the first thing that popped into my head. I tend to do that a lot. I love this fabric -- it's Anna Maria Horner's Shadow fabric in Ivory from her Drawing Room line, which really looks sharp (yes I just used the term 'sharp') with crisp, white dinnerware. They're in the shop as we speak.




Oh did I mention that I did a spinning class today for the first time in say, four years? YA.... I almost died. The class started at 6:45 and I was one timbit away from leaving at 7 - no kidding. I honestly don't know how the hell I managed to get through it. I think the fact that Obama won kept me going. I kept telling myself that if Obama beat all odds to become President of the United States... I can do this measly spinning class. Anyway I finished it and now I'm not sure I can get out of my seat.

Great, now I have that song in my head....

the kate bag

Another sister tote! Named after my other sister Kate, this tote is a big one (Kate is only big in height I assure you!). I used more of the same fabric I used on some of the napkins I made for Christmas last year.


I love this fabric and really I was thinking of keeping it but I realized that I can't keep them all. The Kate Bag has one big strap that sits across the chest and has a cute little button on the outside. There are two pockets on the inside. This one is in the shop.


Happy Sunday!
~lealou

clutch, clutch, clutch

this week I decided to take the zip pouch from bend-the-rules and make a little wristlet. i also made my first yoyo -- how fun! I think I'll make a million of these little beauties -- they're such a fun away to dress up a project! I got the tutorial from Heather Bailey and I honestly didn't realize how easy it would be.

Then I made what I am calling a portfolio clutch - I'm sure the term has been used before but that's ok. I saw this style first at Club Monaco a while back -- it was quite a bit smaller, and then I saw this pic and loved it!



I decided to make my own -- ok so mine doesn't look like it's made of butter and would melt in your hands but I'm pretty happy with the outcome. I made it based on Amy's BTR clutch. I will make it much smaller next time -- this one fits my laptop I'm sure. M looked at me kind of strangely when I showed him, but it does fold down into a longer type cluch if you don't want to be carrying this massive purse around.



Happy sewing!

more from the wonderful world of bending the rules

the 'artsy clutch' and a variation of the 'no cash wallet' from bending-the-rules. I got the material from a garage sale around the corner from my house. I wasn't sure of it at first because anyone who knows me knows that I'm pretty standard grey & black with a few punches of colour, but I've been taking a few colour risks lately (1 or 2) so I decided to get it. I'm super happy with the outcome!

bending the rules

I was so excited to recieve a book delivery yesterday -- three sewing books! Inspired by my grandmother's creations and all of the patchwork goodies I see everywhere, I decided to purchase two quilting books: Denyse Schmidt Quilts, and Make Your Own Contemporary Quilts. The photos in both of these books are so inspiring and I love that they have quilt patterns and instructions especially for newbies like me.

Of course I had to get bend-the-rules sewing by Amy Karol because I've been reading all over the blogsphere about how great it is. I was amazed at all the fun projects there were so I got started right away... well after hours from my 'real' job of course!

This weekend I have a baby shower so decided to try out Amy's bib design as a gift. It was so much fun I made three! They might be a tad big for a newborn but I figure the baby can wear it when he/she is 2 or 3 ;). I can't wait to try out some of the other designs. Thanks Amy!


--yes more denim -- I have a lot of it around here!



--a cute grey cotton bib -- I put a pink ribbon on one side and a blue one on the other because my friend doesn't know what she's having!



--all three bibs