I'M BACK!

Adjusting to going back to work has been a bit harder then I had anticipated, I didn't even sew at all during the first 3 weeks! Even now that I'm settling in it's a challenge, though I have managed to put a few things together. I've been thinking a lot about the direction that I want RGO to take. I LOVE making bags, but now with summer weather upon us (except for the last few days-gotta love Ohio) I can't stop thinking of all the cute summer dresses I can make! Then my son started getting a little jealous so I figured I might as well try some boy clothes. A lot of my friends have had babies recently and that got me thinking about making some baby stuff-LOTS of possibilities! So many ideas!! I can't really nail it down to just one area right now, especially now that I see fabric all day at work and get ideas from asking customers what they're making. I decided I will just make what I want and figure it out as I go!

First up is a bag that is based on this first bag. I had these changes in my head for a while and I'm really happy with the way it turned out!

I moved the pleats, gave it a longer top panel, and changed from the 2 shoulder straps to a wide adjustable strap. The finished size is 12" wide at the top, 17" at the bottom, 12" tall (without the strap) and the interior can open up to 9" deep. The strap is adjustable from 26"-46". I used  pink piping and pink canvas for the interior top panel and multiple pockets.  It closes with a magnetic closure.

I made another bag, an Isabel bag variation, with a concealed zipper top, but it needs a little tweaking before I'm comfortable with showing it off. I used the orange circles fabric (see it here) and it turned out so cute! I'm hoping to get it ready soon. I also have a new bag that I just drew up the pattern for that I have some great fabric for that I want to get done soon too.

I made a few dresses for my daughter and finally conquered my fear of knits, as well as a few projects I did for my son. I'll be doing posts on these soon.

It's good to be back! I'm going to work hard to keep this going and hopefully you'll enjoy some of the ideas I have!

A Little Bit of Everything

It's been a while since I've posted anything. I've been so busy with my kids, filling orders, working on a few new things and life in general. I thought I'd share some pictures of some recent orders and some of the new things I've  been working on.

A friend ordered this wristlet and matching change purse. I love the fabric she chose, it has such great colors! I lined both bags with the white with black polka dot fabric you can see on the wristlet handle.

She also ordered some crayon roll and tote sets. I really liked the way these 2 fabrics looked together. Jen's fabric choices were so great  I really enjoyed working on her order!

Isabel had been eyeing this pink ruffle fabric for a while, every time we went to the store to buy fabric she asked for it so I finally broke down and bought it for her. I really had no idea what to do with it so I searched the internet for ideas. I chose the ones I liked best then let Izzie choose for herself. We both agreed on this dress from one of my favorite blogs Make It and Love It. There are tons of great tutorials on this blog, she is so creative! This dress literally took me an hour from start to finish! Izzie loves it and I will definitely be making a few more for her.

Here's a new envelope clutch I made. It has a removable purse chain so it can also be used as a wristlet or just taken off completely. I put a few divided pockets inside that can hold your ID, credit cards and cash.

This fabric was chosen by another friend when I was making her an Isabel Bag, it was her second choice. She ended up choosing this

 Lisa presented me with a bit of a challenge since I made the first Isabel Bag small enough to be Izzie size and the second Isabel Bag big enough for me (I'm 5'9") but Lisa is closer to my mom's size so I'm guessing about 5'2". I had to adjust the strap length and make the bag body smaller so it wouldn't look overwhelming on her. I got a picture of her over the weekend wearing her bag in NYC and it looks great on her!

So Lisa's bag made it to New York City and this order went to an old friend in Iowa. Kelli and I traveled together for a year in 1997-1998 with Up With People. It's been a long time since I've seen her! I was so happy to work on her order, the zipper bag and change purse are for her and she got the reusable snack bags for another friend we traveled with. I love the green and black fabrics she chose, Izzie has a dress, skirt and fabric rosette hair clip made with them.

While I was on vacation this week I got a lot of ideas for what I want to work on in the next few weeks and I also have a few big orders on deck. Our family calendar for this month is FULL, almost every day has something on it, but I'm trying to keep myself on track to keep up with my kids' and Jeff's busy schedules, orders that keep coming in, building back up my inventory (it's almost completely wiped out-at the beginning of March I had 46 bags of all sizes, now I'm down to only a few snack and sandwich bags and a clutch!) and working on my new ideas. I am about to have an entire weekend all to myself so I'm hoping to get a lot done! I'll keep you posted!

All Zipped Up

I made some little zipper bags last week for my cousin's friends since they like the one I gave her for Christmas.

They are 7" wide x 5 1/2" high and either have a flat or rounded bottom. They are the perfect size to keep makeup or other small things organized in your purse!

I'm about to be making a ton of these for my upcoming craft shows. They are $5 each.

Since it was my cousin's birthday I made her this wristlet. She loves music and green is her favorite color so I made the piping (first time I made my own piping!) and zipper green  to pop out from the black and white fabrics. The handle has a swivel hook and can be removed if she isn't going to use it.

I have a few ideas for some bigger zipper bags that I'll be working on in the next 2 weeks. With my first craft show right around the corner I'm going to be concentrating on building my inventory, wish me luck!

Crayon Roll and Reversible Tote Sets

Perfect for the little artist in your life, these crayon rolls and reversible tote sets carry their crayons and coloring books while they are on the go!

Each crayon roll holds 16 crayons and has an elastic closure, which is easy for little hands to close.

The matching  reversible tote is roomy enough to hold coloring books and some toys but with sturdy straps the right length for kids. It has a divided pocket both on the inside and outside to stash things too.

Though I don't usually use licensed fabrics (they cost more and there are too many other cute prints to choose from!) I didn't want to leave the boys out! Here is a set I just made for a recent order.

For the toddlers I make the bags a little smaller and the crayon rolls big enough to hold 16 fat crayons.

These can be made in any of my fabric choices (see the end of  my reusable snack bags post) and I sell them for $16 a set or $6 for regular size crayon roll, $8 for fat crayon roll and $12 for tote, $10 for toddler tote. These take a bit of time to complete so allow up to 3 weeks from payment to delivery.

Go Green with Reusable Snack Bags!

I don't know about you, but at my house we use 3 plastic snack bags daily in my son's lunch box and usually at least 2-4 more for random snacks for my daughter through the week. When I bought a new box earlier this week I started thinking about how much waste this adds up to every week-if every kid in his school used 3 bags a day that would be 1,200 bags a day and 6,000 a week just at one elementary school! I came home and did some a LOT of research and found out that rip stop nylon is completely food safe, waterproof, and washable!  Then I made these

If I assume that we use 3 bags a day, 5 days a week that's 120 bags per month and 1,440 a year. I usually buy a box of 100 snack bags for about $3 which means I'll spend $43 a year, and that's if we don't use any extra! By using these I'm helping the environment and saving money, talk about going green!

I'm selling them for $4 a piece. They have a velcro closure and I triple stitched the top edges to keep it sturdy and easy for little hands to open. They can be wiped out after each use or thrown in the washing machine whenever necessary.  They can hold dry snacks or wet snacks,since they lining is waterproof, I used them for apples and pickles (not together,lol!) and the outside stayed dry.

Sandwich size coming soon!

****FABRIC CHOICES****

The Organized Office Bag...a.k.a. Dad's Bag

It's DONE! I worked most of the day Tuesday to finish it, stopping only for the regular daily grind, lol, I even made dinner in the crockpot to give me more time. So in honor of my first really BIG project turning out as well as it did, I am finally going to try to add pictures to my blog! I'm sure in the blogging world it's an easy thing, but I am not very computer savvy, lol, and my loving and supportive CIO has been busy with work and projects of his own. So here we go...

This is the finished product! The Organized Office Bag from The Bag Making Bible by Lisa Lam, or as I have been referring to it "Dad's Bag" as it is my Dad's birthday present.

I had to learn so many new techniques for this bag, starting with working with Home Dec weight fabric, adding the twist locks (during which I shoved my seam ripper into my finger-ouch!)  making the adjustable strap, and attaching gussets (the sides.) The whole bag is lined with fleece and medium weight interfacing to keep it sturdy and protect his laptop.

Inside the bag I learned how to do a flush zip pocket, which was hard but ended up turning out very well. It also has a penholder pocket and an elastic top pocket, I put a water bottle in it for the picture but I'm sure my dad will use it for something else.

On the other side of the interior it has a laptop harness to keep his laptop from moving around. Even with the pockets full and the laptop in there he still has plenty of room to put in files or catalogs or whatever else his heart desires...except his golf clubs, which I know for SURE he carries in his car at all times, lol!