BirdBrain Designs

sewing

jan

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Feedback and ideas come from many sources. There is a great woman at my local bank who always comments on my purses. She wears a small cross-body pouch to hold the various cards she needs for her daily routine. She suggested I try to make one, approximately 6″x 6″. So here is the prototype–Jan–made from a red leather jacket. I have some bright green leather, the sleeve of a batwing jacket, and I am hoping to transform it into a second one. The lining of this one is one of my favourite cotton prints. The pouch has a snap closure, a small pocket and rivet detail.

sunshine tote

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I used the last of the catalan fabric to make this tote along with left over pieces of orange and pink leather.  It is such a puzzle fitting the pieces together! It is 16″x16″x5″ with a long adjustable across body strap that can also be made into a carry handle.  I love the colour play of the leather and the stripes.This is the first time that I have used webbing in a handle, and it works well with the leather.

The bag has two exterior pockets and four interior, two large and two small.  A perfect tote!

blueberry bag

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I made a few small bags last week, but this is my first ‘real’ bag since I returned home.  I love the deep teal colour of this bag and the lovely texture of the leather.  It is made from a remnant which was just enough–the exterior pocket and strap are lined with black leather from a pair of pants.  The lining is a great green and white ticking, screen printed with ‘the bird with attitude’. It measures 13″x11″x3″ and the strap is 38″ long so fits nicely across the body, my favourite way to carry a bag. This is my second bag in this style–Carissa–named because she inspired the first of this series,  the grape bag.

fabric and lemon verbena

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Two of my favourite things. We went to an evening market and I bought some fabric from Benin, Africa. It is 100% cotton and has, of, course birds on it! The second photo is of lemon verbena–we had dinner at a local farm and it was growing in the garden. What a scent!

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The final photo is from our balcony.

update

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Thank you for your response to my post selling the pouches. They are all gone!

Tomorrow I leave for two weeks in the south of France. I hope to post from there, so please do check once and a while. In the meantime here are a couple of things I have made for the trip.

20110721-092704.jpg< A while ago I got some wool felt from Germany. It is thick and durable and very nice to handle--not to mention that it is red! I made a case for my ipad, camera and ipod. They should be great for travelling!

new pouches and wallet

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I am making new pouches to be for sale soon.  I think I enjoy the linings as much as the screen printed exteriors.  This particular lining fabric has the most wonderful birds and dots of colour.

I have been using my pouch now for several months to store the extras like cords and battery charger for my camera and ipad.  It is perfect.

I also needed a new wallet to take on my holiday.  I had a piece of rejected leather with the cattle brand on it.  Since it was 313, the luckiest of numbers for me, I decided to incorporate it into a wallet.  I had to attach a heart to cover a hole from the brand.  The first photo is truer to the colour.

another leather bag

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This is the second all-leather bag.  It is made from a remnant and I had just enough.  The leather is pebbly, like a basketball. I lined the flap with a piece of the bubblegum pink skirt that I have been saving.   I love those two colours together.

Inside I used some great ‘bird’ fabric.

I have been using the red bag that is the same size as this one–the one I posted about a few days ago. I am finding the size to be perfect and am enjoying not being laden down with too much stuff.

all-leather!

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I finished my first all-leather handbag on the weekend.  It is made from two different remnant pieces and the shoulder strap is a rather classy snakeskin belt.  All in all, it came together well.  It is the perfect size I have been looking for–big enough to hold phone, money and notebook, yet comfortably portable.  I’m now working on an orange one and also eyeing the midnight blue for a third.  The interior flap of this one is a red suede skirt.  I have enough bubblegum pink to line the orange one, and some beautiful turquoise to set off the blue.  Now to get down to it!

On the hooking front, I am almost finished the centre of Fireworks–will post this week.  Thinking of the border.

a brand new bag

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This is the new canvas/ recycled leather tote.  At 15″ tall, 16″ across with a wide base, it is made to carry lots of stuff.  I wanted  a large tote that is strong enough for groceries or art supplies, but still manageable enough to carry for a distance.  And with lots of pockets.  I think this may be the ticket.  I must thank my good friend Melanie for helping me make this wonderful text-fabric.

of canvas, screens and bags

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I made some new large totes of recycled leather and canvas on the weekend.  We sourced some #10 and #6 canvas for canoes and bags last week.  I like the strength of this weight of canvas for totes.  The family has had a long love affair with canvas, starting with my husband who made his first sail for his ice boat when he was in Grade 12.  The canvas came from Eaton’s–mail order to a small Ontario town–and his mother’s sewing machine was never the same.

Below is a fid, a sailor’s tool used in making sails, and I find it perfect for inserting into corners of the bags.  This particular fid belonged to Jack Braidwood, a well-known Belleville sailor, and it accompanied him on his sail around the world in the 40’s.  I love the smooth beauty of the conical shape–the wood is lignum vitae, one of the strongest woods available.

I also got some screen printing done on the weekend, linings and pockets.