Blue...

This little (or should I say large) beauty has been dominating my make time over the last couple of weeks.

I made it especially for my Nephews wife who was expecting my Great Nephew Elijah who arrived last week.

As always very roomy with lots of internal pockets for bottles, wipes or anything else you need to stuff in :)

Wider strap for comfort when carrying it and an adjustable strap to be worn across the body or on the back of your pushchair/pram.

Huge front and back external pockets for yes, more stuff!!! :D

These bags can even be used as travel bags/overnight bags.

£50 + postage.....you pick the fabric and I turn it into one of these.....nice huh?

A bag for Sarah

A big, big thank you to Sarah from Blooming Felt who commissioned a custom Saddle bag and chose this gorgeous duo of fabrics. This is the largest polka dot I think I've ever seen!! It took me a while to find a spot big enough (Sarah was very patient with me) but we got there in the end. I was so pleased that Sarah suggested this huge red button for the front of the bag, thats what custom orders are all about. Making something personal to the customer.

Sarah was very pleased with her new bag....

"Thank you SO much. I immediately tipped out my other bag straight into my new bag and then headed out to the shops !!! Lots of admiring glances I noticed. Thanks again lovely xxxx" - Sarah

OK, now dont all rush at once to place your order ;) please form an orderly queue. x

Custom baby/changing bag - apples and pears

Another one of my pencil sketches came to life when I made this custom baby/changing bag commissioned by a lady called Emma (what a bloody fantastic name ;) ha ha) for her friend Alison.

I love how it turned out, and I'm already working on a smaller version of the pattern to make it into a handbag for myself.

At the moment these bags are made to order but I'm hoping over the next month or so I will get a couple made and added to the website as ready made - ready to buy.

This Scandinavian print is so gorgeous, they still have it on Fabric Rehab if anyone is interested. 

Check out all that room!!! Definitely my kind of bag :D

The bag has a nice thick across the body strap which is adjustable, really comfy for when you've packed your bag full of essentials.

This tiny framed mannequin make the bag look huge, I should have take a photo of me wearing it. This mannequin is a size 8-10......totally not the same size as me lol!

As always a cute little bow and rhinestone flower button.

Really pleased with this bag and can really see it in lots of different fabrics, cant wait to make another! 

Moving forward...

When I've been missing in action, this little sketch explains where I've been hiding. Another custom order request but this time it was for a baby/changing bag. I've made baby bags in the past, 2 designs from a similar base pattern which looked a little like a messenger bag but the second design had external pockets. I've been wanting to design a new style baby bag more in keeping with my style and one that would be multi purpose to be used as an everyday bag once baby has grown up. So after quite a lot of sketching I came up with this.....

It has 2 huge pockets on either side with magnetic fasteners, a lovely curved boxed seam base, 4 pockets inside with a cavernous space for all those things you need to carry for your baby and an adjustable across the body/shoulder strap that can be shortened to go on your pram/buggy or lengthened for you to carry. Oh yes and one of my signature bows on the front :)

Progress status: all pieces are cut, the pockets are sewn together and pinned to the front pieces, the internal pockets are sewn together and sewn to the internal lining, the lining is complete and I'm ready to sew the main bag front and back pieces together.....so that just leaves the strap to complete and sew to the main bag, pop in the lining and sew in. Photos to follow very soon!

Elephant brief

I've been so busy I've not had a chance to show you what I've been making. Last week I got the chance to make another custom order :) yipppeee. You all know these are my favourite types of order (although any type is pretty awesome too).

For this one the brief was 'elephant fabric'....the fabric was picked after some online searches by the lovely lady that placed the order, which for one of her friends. After rummaging around in my stash I found this gorgeous yellow polka dot cotton and some pink polka dot ribbon. I think its very cheery and made me smile as I was packaging it up.

My worktable is full to the brim at the moment, lots of mid progress projects, cant wait to show you what I've been making.

Custom shoulder/lap top bag

Back in Feb a lovely fellow designer/maker Fi Mehra asked me if I would design and maker a lap top bag that was big enough to carry her lap top, ipad and other bits and bobs. She loved the design of my saddle bag so I offered to sketch her a design and once agreed set about constructing the pattern pieces. 

This was the sketch we agreed on.....

 ...and this was the final bag, what do you think?

It has box corners which are on a curve, something that I hadn't tried before, I think it worked a treat.

I used these gorgeous nickle O rings, I bought them quite some time ago and wanted to use them on a bag and thought they would be perfect for this commission.

Fi picked two of my favourite fabrics out of my stash, don't they look great together, I teamed these up with a gorgeous Klona cotton from here. 

Plenty of room with one large pocket especially for Fi's ipad and two medium pockets for bits and bobs (big enough for a note book, mobile phone, purse, keys.....and lots of other knick-knacks (love that word).

And of course it was....made in England :)

I will be adding these to my website (once I get round to making some more). 

Blooming Felt - logo cushion

Remember a little while ago I showed you a sneak peek of something I was working on? 

Well now I can reveal what I was making, admittedly I am a little behind showing you my recent makes but the main thing is that I'm here now :)

My lovely friend Sarah who is 'Blooming Felt' was planning on moving into a new 'Shedquarters' and I thought that one of my felt cushions would make a very appropriate moving in gift. So I nipped over to Sarah's website and borrowed her logo.

I then made some templates and began cutting out the felt letters and flower.

The smaller letters were quite fiddly, probably the smallest text I've attempted with felt. As you can see from the photo above I've just about managed to use pins to keep them in place.

In no time at all (as I love hand sewing) its was all ready to have the back sewn on and a Bagladee tag popped in place.

I waited until I went to the Knitting and Stitching show at the Birmingham NEC to give Sarah her cushion in person as we planned to meet for some lunch. I'm pleased to say that she loved it :)

I couldn't resist taking some photos of it against my favourite chair.

If anyone would like a felt cushion with their company logo on it please do shout up, not expensive at £15 (incl p+p) I have a mini grey one with my 'B' logo on it in my studio.

Woooooossshhhh

That was the sound of the last 2 weeks whizzing past me. I have no idea where February has gone let alone the last 6 months, which is how long we're been living in our beautiful 'new' home. 

I finally feel settled and content now and there are so many to do lists I'm almost making a to do list about the to do lists :D ha ha! A lovely friend of mine is coming to stay this weekend (waves at Andrea) so I'm planning on chattering lots, relaxing, drink some vino, maybe more that just some ;) and enjoying a tasty meal on Saturday. 

There has been lots of sewing going on here at Bagladee's new HQ's so I'm planning on another website session next week. Oh yes and I've received another custom order for a completely new style of bag, which is very exciting, the sketch is lovely just hope I can transfer that into constructing the pattern too. 

this afternoon

I've been working on something special for a very lovely lady called Sarah. I love sitting with a bit of hand sewing and a cuppa perfect way to spend an afternoon.

A special order

For the past few weeks I've been working on a special order of Gingerbread Men Decorations. There are 50 of them and them and they are special because they will be wearing the 'Theo' inspired glasses that i created for Theo Paphitis himself.

Where are these ones going? Well they will be adorning the Christmas Tree at the Ryman Stationary HQ 's I'm so excited and hoping that I can get a photo of Theo standing next to the tree once its decorated.

So far they have eyes (50 pairs of brads) and as you can see I hand folded 50 bows, which can be quite fiddly as each one is only about 3cm (folded).

This morning I've been busy sewing the bows on and adding a smile to each of them.

I've spent most of this weekend watching the Olympic events, wasn't the opening ceremony amazing!! I felt so proud to be British. Go team GB!!!!

Mission Acomplished - Collaboration Completed

Now that Maya has received her custom baby bag I can show you (lots of) photos. Some of you already know that I have a base pattern for a changing/baby bag that I adapt and change depending on the specifications of the customer. Maya supplied the fabric which she hand printed especially for this project.

Its the first time I have taken on a collaboration project. I couldn't think of anything better than working with a textile artist. I was a little nervous and I was as precious with Maya's beautiful fabric as I am with my own creations. I had to make sure it was perfect.

The bag has an adjustable strap which can be worn over the shoulder, across the body or can be hung on the buggy.

I love these chrome buckles and sliders, clean and simple.

I decided to add two heights of magnetic fasteners, which means the bag can be compact for short journeys or expanded when you want to pack loads in. An addition to the original pattern I added two pockets to the front of the bag, well you can never have too many pockets when you're carrying the kit you need in your baby bag. I used the lining fabric that Maya chose to add a little detail to the pockets.

Inside there is a central divider with 3 medium pockets at the back for bottles and two large ones on the inside front of the bag for nappies etc. Plenty of room for everything.

Of course there had to be somewhere to put my signature Bagladee tag!

I also made a matching wet bag to pop inside when needed, which has a waterproof lining.

We discussed 'buggy' handles/straps and after quite a lot of sketches and sleepless nights (yes really, cant switch off when I'm trying to solve a sewing conundrum) I came up with these nifty little straps. Now they may not look that clever or exciting but.....

When you shorten the bag strap to the shortest length and hang over the handles of the buggy (these were designed for the type of Urban Buggy Maya was having)....

.....the straps then go around the straps and the buggy handles keeping the bag safely in place. So no sliding down the side of the buggy!

So there you go, from fabric to a complete changing bag set. Custom made for Maya and her baby, Luca. Congratulations to you and Marc on the birth of your beautiful baby boy!! xxx

Right off to get on with my next project!

**If you are interested in a custom changing/baby bag why not pop me an email (emma@bagladee.com)**