To zip or not to zip

It's just so lovely today--high 70s. I am 10 minutes away from the beach --maybe one of these days I can swing by there! Not today though I have some sewing to do.
Ever since I started making purses I had a lot of requests for zipper closure but I couldn't quite figure out how to do it. I mean a recessed zipper closure where the zipper is a couple of inches down not at the very top like my wristlets. The reason I like the recessed is it retains the purse's shape and it doesn't look funny at the top.
A year or so I go I had a request from a friend for a zippered closure tote. It took me forever to figure it out  but unfortunately I didn't make any notes! Fast forward a few months back I was back to square one. There are a lot of tutorials online but it is not what I wanted. To cut the story short I finally figured out and confident enough to add it as a closure option on the site. Yeah baby!Here are some custom ones that I made:

For my niece Kristen who loves animals and hearts.

For my sister-law's mom. I was surprised she likes zebra prints. I do.

 

 

These are custom orders.

 

The stripes one is for my mom and the other one is for me.

 

Close up view.

Have a nice weekend everyone.

Meet Yvette--Cell Phone/Gadget Case

My 12-year old daughter had been asking for a pouch to put in her most precious possessions--camera,cell phone and iPod. Even during my craft shows last year people were asking. After numerous drafts and 5-6 sample pouches it is finally ready (well almost as I still have to put them on the site). I love pockets and this is a great add on as well as a decorative element. It can be hooked to a purse strap or through a belt loop.

One of the sample pouches. It was too small for the other gadgets. This one is sized for a Razr.

It was such a beautiful day I had time to catch up on my reading and took pictures.
Presenting----Yvette, named after my sister-in-laws's sister. I am still preparing the images and hopefully be ready on the site by this weekend.

Our Spring freebie is still on. You have till the 15th to leave a comment before the drawing. Check it out here.

Hassle Free Holiday Shopping

Hello everybody. I just popped in for a quick hello and some updates. This is my best Holiday season yet! I have finally added Lisa, our convertible wristlet and it's been a hit. I named it after my 2-year old niece whom I just met for the first time last Thanksgiving. You will notice some cute imported Japanese prints that are so popular. I have more but will slowly add them since I have to fill in some orders and send them out as soon as I can.Wear it three ways--as a wristlet, mini purse and belt pouch.

I just added some itsy bitsy zipper pouches. I remember as I child I had a lot of mini pouches that I used to stash my treasures in.

I got my live Christmas Tree but haven't had a chance to do anything yet. My Holiday purse party is this next Sunday so it will be a whirlwind week for me--Oh and my Christmas village too I have to start on that soon. That is another thing to do. I hope I survive this week!

New convertible wristlet

I have finally finished a couple of my new convertible wristlet, Lisa named after my 2 year old niece. My daughter had been asking for a "hip" wristlet that she can use when she's out shopping. This would be great for moms too especially with a baby and a toddler in tow when doing errands. I will hopefully have them on the site this weekend. I am preparing for a craft show this Friday and Saturday and trying to make more belts and mother and daughter handbags which are very popular.

After drafting a couple of patterns I finally decided on this--even if matching the top seams can be tricky. Knowing myself, if they don't match I will undo and resew it! I have seen some high end bags where seams are so off and it bugs me. I hope you like it.

Wear it three ways--as a wristlet, belt bag and a mini purse! Pretty cool, huh? Okay off to my sewing room. Have a fabulous week!

Bedroom Redo

I have finally added my newest style, Joan, convertible messenger bag. I have also added some wristlets and will be adding more.

Finally my room and my daughter's are finally done! The wood floors are in and we are ready to paint and decorate. I have decided to do mine first. I have been so busy since Babycakes Boutique opened a year ago that I haven't gotten around to doing stuff for myself.

This is where my old closet was and I kept a little portion of it as an additional what else?? Fabric closet! To the right is the door to my studio, across it is my bed. To the left of the wall and further back is my new walk in closet. I haven't decided what color to paint my room yet but it would be lighter or the same than that of the studio.

I have always used white or light sheets but I am ready for some color. This would be my color palette. Just love Amy Butler's prints. They work so well together. I love pillows and it would be awesome to showcase these prints. I might be brave enough to tackle a patchwork duvet cover!

Just bought some pillow patterns and I am planning to put them where the blank wall is. It looks complicated but after reading the instructions it turned out to be pretty easy. Time consuming, maybe because of all the petals you have to cut, interface and hand sew.

Just love it. It was even featured in In Style magazine a few years back.

Gum drop pillows. I could just picture them on my floor in a couple of different prints. Ooh I can't wait! This is pretty easy too but requires a lot of stuffing.

That lady is going to be me in a few weeks! Stay tuned for updates. Have a productive day.

Joan-Convertible Messenger Bag

I hope everybody had a wonderful 4th of July. It was such a beautiful day until about 4:30 when it rained cats and dogs. I was so looking forward to grilling some fish and chicken that I have marinated the night before but it wasn't meant to be. We needed the rain though--well I guess I will be grilling for lunch today!

I have a some Joan (a feminine version of my eldest brother's name, Jonathan) messenger bags made a couple of months ago and had put a preview on my site. I did some test drive and had to make some minor changes. There were a couple of inquiries about when they are available for sale and I actually sold two to a very good but impatient customer. I am happy to say I am ready to unveil them this week, pictures are ready and will be adding them before the end of the week. It can be converted into a backpack or a stroller bag and it comes with 3 straps and a matching storage pouch--isn't that great?

I can't stay long I have to make a Genny and Raina set that came in yesterday morning.

Ribbon Handbags

My studio had been overrun by ribbons! My daughter and I have been having so much fun designing our ribbon handbags which will be named after my mother.

Just a few of the ribbon shipments I got a few weeks ago.

Ribbons, ribbons and more ribbons!! I have to start organizing them or it will definitely get out of control. There are about 15 plastic boxes like this all over the place.

I just love the blue and brown with just a touch of pink. My 12 year old did these but we can't decided which one would it be.

A couple of finished handbags. I will probably put them on the site sometime next week.

New Style--New Products

I haven't posted in awhile. It's been crazy lately---good crazy, that is. I have been doing background removal on the images and I am almost done. It is quite tedious but it's worth it. I have added some new stuff since my last post. I have added fabric belts Beth and Sally named after my two cousins and a bangle wristlet, Tory, named after my niece's daughter. Finally I finished the Laurie bag I talked about last month. Actually I add New Items all the time. I don't like to launch my collection for the season and then wait until the next season. I like to keep it fresh--release a little at a time--so when somebody checks my site she sees new things all the time. It keeps me on my toes and I like to do different bags/fabrics since it takes out the humdrum of cutting, sewing and pressing seams! I don't stock up on a lot yardage of the same fabric either--there's too many fabulous fabrics out there and I don't want to keep using the same fabrics over and over again. When a fabric is sold out I seldom reorder unless I really really love it or a lot of customers are asking for it.

Okay I have to go--I smell Chinese food---I didn't have time to cook so we just ordered!