A few cutesy projects

I have been a bit behind on blogging. And sewing.

I have made a few cute things for the Warehouse Fabrics Inc. blog recently. One is this gadget case (for cell phones, iPods, etc.), requested by a co-worker.



It has a little clasp so you can open up the strap and hook it around something, and it's fully lined.

The other is a reversible, gathered apron. I love the fabrics for this one.



On the back, it's the opposite of what you see here.

Both have full tutorials, if anybody is interested in a weekend project or two!

What I've been up to

I have been working on a few custom orders. Here are pictures:

Plaid tie-strap handbag, a custom request:



A chocolate and pink rose apron:



Eiffel Tower handbag. This was a request for something I had made and sold before.



I've also been working on these socks, but my wrist started to hurt. I think because it's tiny and tight, but my wrist is better, so I'm ready to start again.



And the Brea Bag I wrote about below is nearly finished. I'm sewing the gusset in and then I'm going to make a strap and line it with fabric.



Here's what it will look like eventually:

I'm dyeing over here

I recently finished my yarn spinning class. I learned to make finer yarns, but I like textured, chunky, uneven yarns, so I made this one. I also dyed it in blues and browns:



For class, I spun this one:



Here are some that I dyed, but didn't spin:



And, I finally finished another apron. It's reversible. Available at Burst of Happiness:

Feeling hostessy?

Here's what's been keeping me so busy: aprons.

My mom has been suggesting for a year that I add them to my shop. I didn't feel I had time. She recently was inspired when she saw some really fancy hostess aprons at a boutique that were selling like hotcakes at quite a hefty price. She started pushing the aprons again, but this time she wanted to go into business together.

Although it will be part of Burst of Happiness, the aprons will be under the label Babycakes Aprons. Babycakes was going to be the name of her bakery, but life got into the way.
Here's the logo. It's very basic:


The difference will be that while I make all my handbags myself, the aprons will be manufactured for us. This is very scary to me, but we have already started looking into it. There's a place here in Albuquerque called Southwest Creations Collaborative that seems great. It's mission is "to create jobs with dignity for low-income women" and it offers them benefits such as on-site child care.

Getting started on this is going to be pricey, so we may start with just hiring home sewers and working on a smaller scale for a while. Right now, my mom and I are making samples and playing around with ideas. Here are a few of our first ones:







When the business gets going, which could take a while, the items will be available at Burst of Happiness. Before things are manufactured, we may have a few "limited edition" versions for sale on there, too. We have ideas for great gift sets and more!