Easter Purses

This weekend has been all about purses.  My sister asked me to design a couple of purses for the daughters of her friends that she could give them in place of easter eggs.  As both of them love dance class, she wanted this built into the design.  The designs are based on descriptions of the girls themselves and the applique started with just the outline shapes.

The designs were then applied to the purse fabrics and the embroidery added the real detail and life to the little ballerinas.

New Products

The last couple of months have been quite eventful in the world of Ruby Patch.  I have had to take a lot of time off from sewing due to a particularly nasty stomach virus which was a real blast.  Nausea is really not conducive to creativity.  So the great plans I had for developing new products were badly delayed.

I have felt a lot better in the last week or two and consequently productivity has increased.  In addition, I was invited to become an artisan on Make the Most of, a site which supports the sale of hand made, artisan and designer products.  All in all, I am feeling really positive about developing the business.

The first new products I have been working on are storage boxes and bowls.  Using recycled denim and cotton, I tried a square and round bowl to see which would be quickest to make.  The two trial runs were successful with the square shape being quicker to put together but this one used a lot more fabric.  The bowl with the circular base was quite attractive but fiddly to put together.

After buying some lovely new linens and cotton linings, my next attempt was a square box with handles.  This was quite successful but still used a lot of fabric and interfacing.

I then went onto bowls with circular bases.  I have make three of these and they were all successful.  There were lovely to make until it was time to add the bases.  This became more tedious the more I did.  I am still undecided whether to continue making these as I may end up rushing them in frustration and spoiling the finish.  I cannot see my patience improving if I know I have to make a number of these!

Anyway, here are the three that I made.

Watercolours

Although I haven't done much sewing in the last couple of weeks, I have still been making things.  I decided to try a bit of watercolour painting and, as I have a thing about houses, this is the subject I have concentrated on.

Here are my first few attempts.

Mixed Media Experiment

I've had a really busy few weeks at the day job so I have not had much time for sewing.  I have managed to do a bit more of my Moot Hall picture.  Here is a sneak peek at the progress.

I have done some of the background but it is only part finished so you will have to wait to see it.

Notebooks

Notebook covers are a good way to put a whole picture on an item rather than just a motif.  In an extension to the Highland Cow and Sheep purses, I thought I'd try some other animals in different styles and notebooks covers seemed ideal for this.

Pincushions

A little while ago I had a pincushion-making frenzy and here are the results.

New Kindle / iPad mini Cases

Just wanted to share the newest kindle/ipad mini cases with you.