Playing with leather

While still waiting for my industrial sewing machine to be up and running, I spent most of my weekend playing with leather. I had a couple of pieces of 3-4oz glazed cow leather that I thought would make nice everyday totes. The totes turned out well and are listed in the shop. The brown tote seems to be more popular than the burgundy one, according to shop stats.

Burgundy

Brown

Both colors (brown tote in foreground, burgundy behind it)

I am off to the leather store to purchase a couple of hides and some new tools- I LOVE having my own set of tools...
The next tote will be hand stitched- hence the new tools...Another adventure in the studio.
Cheers!

New things

I finally got my new sewing machine. YAY!
It was shipped while I was on vacation, so we opened the boxes on Sunday and, slowly but surely, Joe started putting it together. This is no small job; the directions are sketchy, the pictures dark, and  some steps are missing altogether. However, I have a very smart husband and he managed to figure things out, working on the assembly a little bit every night after work. Some nights, the air was blue...
I won't be able to use the machine just yet, as we found out that the belt is too long and we will have to order another one. Bummer...

Three of the four boxes

The top

Almost finished

What are those extra parts?

While Joe was assembling the machine, I designed a new bag for my brand new line of recycled denim/vintage fabric and leather totes. I love denim and the way it ages in different shades of blue.  

It is a pretty big bag with a square base (10"x10"), 15" high, and 20" at the top.

I hope you'll like it too.

Lap desk

While browsing at a nearby department store earlier this week, I spotted a lap desk. Ooooo, I needed to get one. Sadly, all were either scratched or chipped, and for $15.00 plus tax, I did not feel that I should re-do the top. I searched the internet and came upon this great tutorial : http://pleasedaspunch-rh.blogspot.com/2011/08/tutorial-diy-lap-desk.html
After exploring the possibilities for a top in the garage - I even considered a skim board...waaayyyy too big-, I headed out to the dime store. I spend about 30 minutes searching up and down the aisles for a suitable top for my lap desk. Finally, I found it: a 12"x16" picture frame!

Next, I chose the fabrics...always the fun part.

I decided to make the pillow out of the striped fabric and use the floral under the glass.
I popped the glass and wrapped the fabric around a piece of heavy paper the same size as the image insert.
I then followed the directions from Pleased as Punch to make the bottom pillow. Very easy. The only modification I made was the addition of a handle at the top to make the lap desk easier to grab, or perhaps to store on a peg. I stitched the handle at the same time as the piping.
Here are the results:

I like the little edge on the frame which will keep a notebook or a pencil from sliding off.

The bottom- love, love, love the fabric...

My next project is a big one: a dress from an Amy Butler pattern in the same fabrics as the ones I used for the lap desk... Will I be brave enough to wear it in public?
Cheers,
Genevieve