One Project A Month - January

I bought a new ' make to sell' bag pattern last week, a Bucket Bag, earlier today I finished it, new patterns are always a bit challenging especially with curved edges, so there were some times while I was making it , well just replace the 'B' in bucket with an 'F', well I'm sure you get my drift!

Anyway here are some photo's, some not very good as it was just starting to go dark, I'm going to take some more tomorrow and then it will be listed for sale in my Folksy shop. http://folksy.com/shops/sykesssillysite

It's a small but roomy shoulder bag because of the shape and there is a large pocket on the front of the bag with a vintage button from my button tin which I think looks just perfect , it has a magnetic fastener and it's lined too! 

Anyway this is my One Project A Month for January, have a good weekend

Josie x 

Sunday Sewing...

Remember the lovely fabrics I posted about a few days ago, well I've finished what I started making, a messenger bag! 

A simple style shoulder bag, a small but roomy bag with a magnetic clasp fastening on the front flap. I chose some gorgeous fabric for the lining, Cat's Amore by Benartex, a lilac fabric which really compliments the deep blue linen fabric.

There are some more photo's on my facebook page  and it is now avaliable to buy in my Etsy Shop

Have a good weekend.

Josie x

One Project A Month - Pretty Pinafore Purse

I bought this bag pattern back in January and on Saturday I finished bag no 9 , which I started sewing last month, so that's nine bags in five months, that's not exactly churning them out or skimping on the quality either as some people recently commented on Twitter. Yes, I use a lot of fabric that is re-purposed, mainly curtain fabric which is good quality fabric,especially Sanderson Linen. I've been recycling fabrics for years and I'm going to keep doing that, because it's what I do.

For example, this latest bag is made from linen fabric in a tapestry floral print (curtain remnant from Dunelm) with lovely piping trim on the front of the bag which fastens with a magnetic clasp, the lining is a matching brown hexagon print (re-purposed Marks and Spencer duvet cover).

The shoulder straps are made from both fabrics, one side matches the main fabric and the other side of the straps are the same as the lining fabric, I've done that with all the bags made from this pattern, you can quite clearly see the two sided straps on this bag, especially the japanese print fabric. Looking through some posts at other bags I've made, I've been sewing the two sided straps on bags since I started making Morsbags in 2008.

The binding at the top of the bag has been hand-stitched to make sure that the seams of the lining or the main fabric don't show, surely that's a sign of poor quality finishing if they are?

Here it is finished and do you know what, I'm very pleased with the finished result so I'm counting this as a finish for One Project A Month.

anyway I thought I would take a photo of the collection so far..... 

All the bags are now listed in my Etsy shop (link on the side) and three more bags are a 'work in progress, so they should be finished for about August or September!

Josie x 

Squiggle & Spot Bag finished

That's another bag finished, bag no 8. I've called it 'squiggle & spot' because of the fabrics I've used. anyway here are some photo's. Lovely bright cheery colours for summer (when it arrives with all this rain!)

This is the first bag I've put a zip in, and it was a difficult at times, I know it would have been easier to use a magnetic fastener but I think it looks much better with a zip.

It's lined with a lovely japanese print cotton fabric called Cho Cho Sanpomichi which I've had for a while and it is just perfect for this bag!

Now listed for sale in my Etsy shop 

http://www.etsy.com/listing/98545640/shoulder-bag-squiggle-spot

So I'll count this as a finish for One Project A Month,have a good weekend.

Josie x 

Etsy shop - re-opening this weekend!

Just bought another bag pattern from U-handbag and you are allowed to make them to sell!

So hopefully I will make a start in time for my Etsy shop re-opening this coming weekend!

I've already got some green polka dot fabric to use up from making a shoulder bag recently.

What will be listed? well all the shoulder bags will be listed, the shopping bags and some fabrics left from making items, maybe the lavender hearts I've made, maybe some pegbags and other things as well, not decided yet.

I'm looking forward to opening the Etsy shop again but a bit peeved at the same time, why? well it means paying Etsy fees and considering I have two other websites on the internet, neither of which cost me anything extra in fees.

I'm going to give this making and selling business just one more year and see how I go, still at least I won't have the taxman chasing me! At least I'm learning new skills with the bag patterns I've bought.

I keep asking myself, it is me? is it the shop name? The original website www.sykesssillysite.co.uk didn't have links so you could pay through paypal so I learnt how to insert the coding, so I thought that maybe it was because it wasn't an e-commerce professional looking website.

So in December, the second webshop on the internet opened

www.freestore.org/sykesssillysite but no sales for christmas, valentines day or Mother's day. To generate some interest, I even did a giveaway for a bag I was making from new pattern I bought, I had six entries.

Is it what I make, recyling fabrics but then again other people recycle fabrics and they can't keep up with orders, selling things as quick as they make them, then there is the ongoing question of pricing? Too low and are people thinking I'm just making recycled rubbish, prices too high and then is what I make worth the cost? considering that what I make are one offs.

So I've re-priced everything on the existing websites and have now included time it takes for me to make items as well for fabric etc and also bought some new fabrics and two new bag patterns as well. Thank you to those of you who have bought from me over the last four years, very much appreciated.

As for marketing, well I've got the blog,

I'm on twitter http://twitter.com/#!/sykesssillysite

I have a Flickr page http://www.flickr.com/photos/28631598@N02/

I've also got a Pinterest page http://pinterest.com/sykesssillysite/

and a Facebook too! https://www.facebook.com/sykesssillysite.co.uk

Josie x

10th April - 11.05am

This week's stuff....

Health:

Last week we both had an opticians appointment and I already knew I would need glasses, its been four years since my last check up but now we have the HC3 form we are making the most of it and getting all our health appointments up to date.

Shopping:

Afterwards we went to Sainsburys last week and spent our £50 gift voucher on food, the nearest shop from the opticians was in Huddersfield so we went there, we bought our usual food/cat litter etc, the prices as you would expect are slightly more expensive than other supermarkets especially the 'basics' range which are twice the price of Tesco value goods, the only thing we found to be cheaper was the cat litter at just £1.28 a bag (Tesco is £1.58) and we've earned 100 points on the Nectar card as well. It cost us £1 for parking so a cheap shop really.

Sewing:

I've made another shoulder bag from my favourite pattern, this bag is no7, I posted some photo's on my facebook page the other day and on my twitter page too but if you've not already seen them then here they are, I've took photo's both with and without the flash to get an idea of the true colours, I'm just using the camera on hubby's phone at the moment because the digital camera I have just eats batteries, certainly not the recommended 650 photo's that you are supposed to get and at £6 ish for a pack of four lithium batteries, its cheaper to use the mobile.

The above photo is the best one to get an idea of the colours, the design and fabric is called "Roseberry Sunset". It's only a small shoulder bag but lots of room inside and I've managed to find some lining fabric to match and stitched on some lovely wooden buttercup design buttons to finish it off.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

If you are looking for a one off handmade pressie then there are lots of ideas on my website and

reasonably priced as well. http://www.freewebstore.org/Sykesssillysite

Josie x

Sunday - and another bag...

Well it's sunday, so that means some more sewing, for shoulder Bag no 5, I cut the fabric out the other week but after making four bags in about two weeks I got a bit fed up with making them so I've been working on a patchwork quilt top that I started back in August instead.

Anyway I felt like finishing the bag this afternoon and even managed to put in the lining without too much fuss as well. Here are some photo's.

the fabric is called ' vintage dictionary' ...

and I've made an inside pocket as well

and the lining is a lovely sage green polka dot cotton fabric...

and I've found some wooden heart print buttons to match the fabric as well!

this bag is for sale and will be listed on my website soon, only another six more bags to make!

I'm going to count this as a finish for One Project a Month, so that is seven in total for this month!

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Has anyone noticed? I thought the old template was a bit dull and dark, so I've chosen a new one, green, just perfect for Spring, also it matches my website too!

Josie x

Saturday Sewing

Just finished sewing some more bags, shopping bags this time, the first bag is a lovely black and white floral fabric.

Just the right size to fold up and keep in your handbag for any 'must have' bargains while you are out shopping.

The bag is 15" x 17" with a pocket on the front, the handles and the edge of the bag are top-stitched.

The second bag is made from a lovely bird print (Michael Miller cotton fabric)

I will be adding them to my website shortly.

Josie x

One Project A Month - February

One Project A Month:

For this month's OPAM, I've finished the second shoulder bag I started a few weeks ago, not without difficulties to make as I've used up some Sanderson Linen I had left from shortening some curtains so it was hard to stitch through at times and the lining didn't fit right, again! So I kept leaving it and made another bag in the meantime ( the cat fabric shoulder bag- see last post) anyway I finished it last night and if you follow me on facebook, twitter or Pinterest you will already have seen some photo's but here are some more...

I changed the colour of the trim from green to burgundy fabric as I think this looks better....

and the lovely floral lining really matches the fabric...

and I found some vintage brown velvet buttons from my button tin...

and all finished! I'm really pleased with this bag, it has turned out better than I thought it would.

I'm hoping that by the time I've made up the other seven bags, that I've got the lining problem sorted! It is now listed for sale on my website.

Blogging:

Today is also my 4 year blogaversay! Where has four years just gone? thanks to some of you who have been here from the beginning, others have come and gone and hello to any new followers!

Anyway the other week was 300 posts and now I've got 51 followers too! So to say 'thanks for reading' I did a giveaway for the first shoulder bag I made (yellow floral) and the closing date is today.

There were six comments from the blog, none from facebook or twitter, so thank you to Scarlet, Becky, Indigo Blue, Mad Hatter, Smilernpb and the Crafty Trundler for taking the time to leave a comment ....

...so I did the random generator thing and Indigo Blue is the winner!

If you can e-mail me your address, I'll send off the bag, I hope you like it!

If you didn't win then there will be a chance to buy one as I'm making another in these colours which will be for sale on the website soon.

Josie x

Shoulder Bag no 3 and other stuff

The weather:

Well it snowed this weekend as predicted, so we stayed in, you've probably seen lots of 'snow' photo's by now so here is just one more...

Sewing : shoulder bag no 3

Because we stayed in, I managed to finish shoulder bag no 3, the cute kittens/teddy bear/bunny fabric, I only cut this out on friday so that's pretty good for me to finish it so quickly, especially with this pattern! But it was just such lovely fabric and I couldn't wait to see it finished! anyway here are some pics and it will be listed for sale on my website at the weekend when I've had chance to try and finish the other seven bags!

The cats:

Millie snuggled up next to me on the settee and later......both of them of our bed.

Bus Strike:

Day 8,9,10 and 11 this week, yes that's four days in one week, but it's not affecting hubby as he is off work with a trapped nerve in his neck/shoulder, still it won't make any difference money wise, sick pay or strike pay, it will still be low wages.

Edit: just been looking on the internet for the rate of stat sick pay : £81.60 a week but as it seems as hubby is on strike, we won't even get that!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statutory_sick_pay

If you want to know whats going on you can read it here http://sheffieldswp.blogspot.com/2012/01/bus-drivers-fight-on.html

and here

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=27445

and here

http://union-news.co.uk/2012/02/video-stagecoach-drivers-strike-to-stamp-out-scab-buses/

have a good week

Josie x

Fabric Friday

Last weekend I sold two peg-bags and a shopping bag on the website which means I've been able to buy some new fabric for a change. I am really loving making the shoulder bag pattern and I'm planning to make some more bags, this time to sell. Here are some pics of the fabric I've bought this week.

Michael Miller - Beau Bird Paris, lovely blue print fabric

Alexander Henry - floral

Daisy Letter Bird Script fabric

and I think this one is my favourite "Vintage Dictionary" I can't wait to make this into a bag!

.................................

Edit: I've made a start on the front of shoulder bag no 3.

I've finished the first bag and here are some pics. 

The fabric is a pretty floral linen print 'Lily' and is lined with a lovely deep yellow fabric with a pocket inside this surprisingly roomy bag...

The straps are just the perfect length for a shoulder bag and finished off with some lovely wooden buttercup design buttons. Just perfect for Springtime.

I'm really pleased with how it's turned out, I think it looks great! 

ps) the pattern I've used is the Pretty Pinafore Purse Pattern from here

http://u-handbag.typepad.com/uhandblog/buy-pdf-download-sewing-patterns-by-uhandbag-.html

Josie x

One Project A Month - January

Well I've joined in the One Project A Month again this year

and I've just finished two custom orders from the website, so I will count these as finishes this month. I was hoping to have finished the yellow floral shoulder bag for the giveaway as well, maybe I might get that finished tomorrow.

Anyway here are the pics...

Rose Print fabric shopping bag....

and green fabric peg bag.

Edit-10.00pm - the giveaway shoulder bag is now finished!

Josie x