More Fun

I have been having more fun creating little purses with fancy fabrics. I'm hoping to sell some at my local coffee shop/purse exchange (they sell new purses too as well as having a purse exchange). I don't want to approach them until I have more inventory, though. In the meantime, I am going to post what I make here in case any of my blog friends want one.

The purple paisley purse (p3) was quite an adventure to make. I honestly didn't know what to do for the cord, but my daughter helped me find some awesome blue/purple cord, which I combined with a funky wunky sparkly purple fuzzy yarn to make a sensational strap. This one has a velcro closure and a neat Shiva Paintstik iridescent paisley design on the front (which will be washable as soon as I heat set it). This one will go for $30 plus shipping.

The butterfly purse is simpler, no velcro, a deeper/narrower design. The cord is very soft and fuzzy. This one is $20 plus shipping. It has a shorter cord, so better for someone who is not really tall or likes the purse to hang higher. I have another one like this in the works which will have a longer cord.

Triple Treat

My creative output for the last couple of days has been pretty voluminous. As you can see, Daphne is coming along with a large part of her shoulder, chest, and foreleg developed. I am fairly happy with how that is blocked in, although the textures will need to be refined. I also darkened the left part of the face somewhat; there is more of that to come.

Additionally, since there was quite a bit of interest in the little batik bag I made (which I ended up keeping), I made another one to sell. This one is shaped a little differently and includes the refinement of a velcro closure (not visible in the photo). It is available for $25 plus shipping--email me if interested.

Finally, here is the batik shoulder bag I have been working on. It uses the same fabric combo as the little batik bag, but follows the shoulder bag format (with a few refinements in the shape and the interior pocket).

So this is what I have been up to. Full speed ahead!!!

Sweet Distractions

Here are a couple of the reasons Daphne is evolving so slowly....

The purple bag is for my friend Jenn. It is another Slouchy Shoulder Bag, but with a modified inner pocket which is deeper and is hemmed instead of elasticized. Much better. I am making myself another one in different colors with this modification. In fact, the fabrics I am using for that are the same as for the other bag, the little blue-green batik purse with the velvet lining. I got the design for that from Loretta Alverado, who kindly gave me permission to use her very simple, stylish pattern. You can see it at http://www.howoriginal.net/projects/handbag_instructions.htm.

I'm thinking of making some more to sell (I fell in love with this one and decided I can't part with it). I'm curious what people think a bag like that should sell for. (BTW, I asked Loretta for permission to sell bags made from this pattern as I respece her copyright).

I'll get back to Daphne very soon....maybe even tonight. But it sure is fun to sew!

Slow and Steady

Well, time marches on, and so does Daphne......

I have added to the left side of her face. Also added are her collar and tags, and her interior ear color (or at least the basic shapes). I'm not totally happy with the texture of the fur I added. I think I need to sharpen more often and work with shorter strokes. Additionally it is becoming very clear to me that I need to go darker. Probably I should block in the fur first, then darken so I can work all over the picture at once and balance the contrast. I have been doing some adjusting as I go along, seeing places that need more pencil and adding it in (especially around the eyes).

I would be very interested on comments and suggestions about where I am. I feel that things are progressing fairly well considering my near total lack of experience with this type of art. However, I know people might have suggestions that could help me keep moving things in the right direction.

Disaster Averted

Well, it's been awhile....but I'm back with progress. I worked on Daphne's portrait a few days ago and really messed up her mouth. I just wasn't careful enough. I got in a rush and messed up. When it happened, I knew the best thing to do was walk away, so I erased as best I could and did that. Today I felt like I was ready to give it another try. I sat down and started working on it, and stuff started coming together. I love it when that happens! I wasn't able to totally correct the problem, and if you compare the drawing to the photo, there are discrepancies. However, I am not trying to duplicate the photo. I am trying to create a likeness, and that in this case means that it is a compromise between the photo, the image of Daphne in my head, and the imprecision of my drawing abilities. So anyway, this is where it stands now.

More Daphne

Here is the next stage of Daphne. I am not totally happy with the nose and plan to remove some of the color along the edge. However, I feel I am getting closer to the desired colors and textures in the muzzle. So much depends on getting the right shade of slate blue undertone, or so it seems to me.

First Full Size Bag

Here is my first full size bag, from the Slouchy Shoulder Bag pattern I got from Make It You. I modified it a little. I am going to make a purple one next for my friend Jenn and I am going to modify it some more. This was a real challenge for me, especially the buttonholes which my 40 year old Singer did NOT want to sew. Somehow I muddled through, though, and it was a great learning experience. I have already cut out Jenn's purple bag....I feel an addiction coming on!

Daphne Update

Today was a stellar day in a number of respects. One of the best things that happened was that I sat down to work on Daphne and did her eyes, and they turned out really well. I remembered a lot of the things I have read about doing eyes and implemented them in the drawing. That was tricky because her eyes in the photograph have that green glow that many animal eyes get with a flash and did not look like her eyes really look, so I had to do some creative reformatting and make them look as real as possible. I feel that worked out really well--when I look at the eyes in the drawing, they look familiar and right. I also worked on the fur on her muzzle for awhile. I'm beginning to feel like I am actually going to be able to do a good job on this drawing. Considering my hesitation about attempting a realistic drawing, that is certainly a good thing. I think today's work session was a turning point.

In other news, I have been making dog toys with my new sewing machine and that is going well too. Our dogs love the ones I have made so far (in fact, Sharky is trying to destroy the one I made for her right now, which she does to all her toys, so we will see if it is as well made as I intended). I sewed it out of thick denim with triple seams. I used a squeaker from one of the many toys Sharky has shredded. I made another one for Daphne today. I am going to have several households do product testing for me and probably make some to sell if my design is a shred-proof as I hope. They are quick and simple to sew, and the two I have made so far are a big hit with the dogs.

Side Note

I have not abandoned my Daphne drawing, but I have taken a little hiatus from it. I got a sewing machine from my Mom yesterday, an event I had been anticipating for a while. After a trip to the library and to the bookstore, I did a lot of reading and DVD-watching to try and figure out how to sew (since I had not used a sewing machine since middle school, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth). Fortunately my preparations paid off, and I was able to create an extremely simple travel bag with directions I found on the internet. It is literally just a cloth envelope with a zipper, good for holding makeup or toiletries in your luggage. Still, it was a nice, simple way for me to start out. The navy paisley one above was my first effort. I made a couple of mistakes, but it did end up being a usable bag. My daughter paid me the ultimate compliment and asked me to make her one, so that was one of today's projects. I hope to do another session of working on Daphne tonight or tomorrow.