Elephants and bags

I've just finished my latest "Lazy Girl" bag - this one is a Candace and made large enough to hold my new Kindle Fire. Time will tell if I like it as well as the others I've made.

I received a tote bag for Christmas that I really liked the fabric and style, but it wasn't quite big enough, so I took it all apart, used the Lazy Girl pattern and made modifications to suit me. I even used the handles from the tote. I think I'm going to really like it.

The little wonder wallet and checkbook cover are made with fabric from the lining of the purse. I love the wonder wallets and that's all I use anymore. I can change wallets and still know where everything is.

Inside of the bag. Note the pocket in the back will hold my new Kindle fire, while other pockets hold other items, keeping everything organized.

I love organization - and this fits my needs nicely. I've looked for a Kindle cover and couldn't find one I liked that I was willing to pay for. Ordered one from Amazon.com but it was too small for my Kindle Fire. SOOO, made one myself. Not elegant and just kind of figured out what I wanted as I went along, but at least it matches my new purse!

Purse & wallet

I've long felt that men designed most of the purses around (I apologize to those ladies who make the fancy handbags with their names on them) as I don't ever think I've found one that I truly like. And believe me, it wasn't for not trying.

I love purses and I've bought lots more than my fair share of handbags and purses - only to get them home and discover; they were too big, they were too small, I couldn't find anything in them, and on and on and on...

Always thought that one of these days I'd design my own. Well, finally, someone has done that for me, and done a really outstanding job - it's Lazy Girl Designs.

And, actually, I owe my friend Suzie at Ask The Ebay Queen for finding Lazy Girls. She posted a picture of a small purse on her blog one day and while I wasn't crazy about that particular purse, I looked up Lazy Girl and was immediately hooked. She has multiple patterns for a large variety of large and small purses. There's the Chelsea, the Chloe, the Claire, the Miranda, the.... well, you get the idea. There's also lots of little accessories, like the Wonder Wallet (which I LOVE), the checkbook cover and the Maggie, and more. My first pattern was the Margo - I ABSOLUTELY LOVE MY MARGO!!!

The Margo is just the right size, has two outside pockets, zips closed and has a multitude of interior pockets. Very well organized!! I used three contrasting fabrics with my favorite colors, though it could be made all one solid color.

So, then I decided I'd try the Wonder Wallet. Never found a wallet I really liked either. This one was really easy to make, is small, but holds a lot. As you can see, I made one to match my Margo.

I've added another Lazy Girl pattern of a smaller purse for shopping, but haven't made it yet. For normal everyday use though, I'll stick with the Margo. I've already bought fabric to make several more.

Look what I found

Putting away the last of the Christmas decorations today, I found an old paper bag in the back of the storage room. Curious, I opened it up to find a stack of vintage handkerchiefs and a vintage ladies slip.

Now, when I say vintage - I don't mean the 70s or 80s (that's just a few years ago). These are from the 1930s or 1940s - certainly no newer.

At first I thought it was silk - but I'm not sure.  The inside looks handmade, but it does have tags, one is a heavy paper tag, so it hasn't been worn.  The color is a peach with cream lace trim.

It's been folded a long time, but doesn't look any the worse for wear.  I'm sure the wrinkles will iron out.

Now to figure out what to do with it.  It's a "large" size (40), so who's going to want to wear it.  And anyway, why would one want to wear a slip that's 70 plus years old???  Offer it on Etsy maybe?  We'll see.

Most of the hankies are stained - mostly from being folded for so long.  Some of them are handmade, others just old.

Then there are a couple with full designs.  I'm thinking I'll try a vintage hankie Barbie dress with one or both of them (wish that was an original idea, but it sounds like a good one anyway).

I really thought I'd gotten rid of all this old stuff, I'm not usually a 'saver'.  I'm thinking my DH stashed this away at some point in time being sure I'd want it eventually :)

Barbies

Barbie arrived in doll world when I was too old for dolls. The closest we had was a "Tony" doll - you could work on her hair, but she wasn't nearly as much fun to sew for. My grandmother did teach me to make clothes for her (and for myself) and I've loved sewing ever since.

A few years ago, I started talking about Barbies and how cute they were. My hubby (always on the lookout for an easy gift for me) decided to start giving me Barbie dolls. After awhile, "I" decided to make a Barbie dress. My sewing machine was old and failing so we went on my birthday that year (the last year my sweet hubby was alive) and I got a new sewing machine AND serger (which I have a love/hate relationship with). One thing led to another and I've been making Barbie outfits ever since. I have so much fun designing and making elegant gowns and accessories. Then, almost as much fun dressing and photographing them. I've recently gotten a new "chair" to use as a prop - but haven't taken any photos with it yet.

This dress for Silkstone Barbie is called "Simply Red" and sold over the holidays. It included the custom necklace and handmade boa. More pictures of a few of my sold dresses can be found at: http://www.dollfashionsbyiris.com/photosgallery/index.php

Many times I'm designing as I go - and sometimes I'm more pleased with the results than others. This one was particularly fun and I love the outcome.

And this one didn't turn out 'exactly' as I'd planned - but definitely different and cute.


Sellling these fashions in my online doll shop and my Etsy shop are sort of a by-product of my hobby and do help support my 'habit'. If you're interested, you can see more outfits here:

http://www.dollfashionsbyiris.com/shop/

http://www.etsy.com/shop/IrisOriginals

Hope you have as much fun looking as I've had creating :)

Red Carpet Dress for Barbie

...well, it's amazing. Guess they print those directions to machinery for a reason. (Did I mention, I hate reading directions.) But, I very patiently did - well, as patiently as I do anything. Took all the thread off my serger and starated from scratch. Followed each little step in the manual, checked all the settings and WALA - it's working again. I'm still not in love with it - though I love the way it finishes. They designed the darn thing for a Rocket Scientist to rethread and adjust, plus aside from the fact that the directions are written in four different languages, I'm convinced English was NOT the first language of the folks writing the manual.

Anyway, it's up and running again and I'm a much happier camper.

So, here's Barbie's new 'red carpet' dress. It fits "My Scene" and "Fashion Fever" Barbies. Took the photos in a hurry, so most didn't turn out well. Must take better photos before I list it in the shop, but I needed a break from the tedious job of working on the serger :)


I love this fabric - it's nice and sparkly ("I was going to take over the world, but I got distracted by something sparkly" - a favorite quote of mine stolen from my friend Jacki). The photos never do the really great fabric justice.

I HATE my serger

Spent a good part of yesterday cutting out and sewing Barbie dresses. I do love making fancy Barbie outfits.

HOWEVER, my serger gave me a fit. I had to change the thread - hate doing that - and in the process, one thread broke which messed up the entire thing. I messed with that darned thing for over an hour and never did get it to doing what it's supposed to do. Finally left it and went with Plan B on the dress I was working on.

Thought maybe if I left it for a couple of days and then went back and started fresh re-threading and adjusting it would work. Maybe I was making a mistake and kept doing the same thing over and over. Anyway, I'm REALLY frustrated with it.

That dress turned out quite different than what I'd first envisioned though. You know, if you goof on one it's not normally a throw away, you just figure out another plan. This one wound up being a two pieced elegant gown. Not your typical elegant Barbie gown, but seeing some of the Hollywood stars and what they wear on the red carpets these days, it's right in style. I'll get a pic of it soon, too tired last night when I finished it.