Day Sixty Seven, Bag Seventy Six

Latte Bubbles Small Susan Bag

A new twist on my Susan bag, this one is done all in brown and tan tones, the base and handles are in deep chocolate brown canvas, and the lining is in dark chocolate cotton.

The ribbon is a grosgrain 7/8" in light tan. This design makes me think of Frappuchinos and Lattes, Yum! A great netral tone bag that will go with everything without being a harsh black. 

Here is  a shot of the inside lining and large pocket. Just like all my bags this is very roomy and durable and can be used for just about anything you need a tote bag for. 

That's my post for today, I am continuing the coupon code 2000views until Midnight Pacific time tomorrow the 19th, so use it while it lasts, it is good for any regular price merchandise in my shop!

Day Sixty Six, Bag Seventy Five

Watermelon Waves and Lime Crystal Bag

My internet has been so spotty lately, I went to work on and post this entry last night and had no connection for hours so I had to just give up and move on to something else. Here is a Crystal Cosmetics bag in the style of my Audrey bags, with the scarf knot on the left side. 

This one has a lime green lining and sides as well as lime for the scarf knot. The zipper has a black satin ribbon to hep it stand out from the bag, the zipper opening measures 10" long, so it is a substantial sized bag, with a generous opening. 

That's my bag for today, I am continuing to honor the 2000views coupon code in my shop until midnight Pacific time on the 19th, so use it while it's there. See you for my next bag later today actually!

2000 Views!

15% coupon

We have hit 2000 views on our blog! To celebrate I am offering a coupon code good for the next 48 hours! It is good for 15% off on everything regular price in the shop, all clearance items are excluded.

The code is 

2000views

Enter this in the coupon code box at checkout, it is good for only 48 hours! Thanks for reading my blog!

Oops! I forgot a link to my Etsy so here is that!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/IvoryTowerDesigns

Day Sixty Five, Bag Seventy Four

Susan Bag Pink Hounds Tooth with White

Here is the companion bag to one of my earlier Crystal bags. This has white ribbon and a pink lining. The size on this bag is small.

Small for one of my bags just means regular purse size not over sized. My large bags are very deep and sized more for a beach tote, or large diaper bag, though they can of course still be used a purse. 

A closeup of the print as well as the ribbon detail. The top edge is over stitched with two rows of stitching for extra strength. The interior pockets also have two rows of stitching, so that they are very durable. I have been trying to get only better quality fabrics and that includes my lining fabrics. I do use regular cottons, and sometimes it is hard to find a durable, heavy cotton, so this is a new color of hot pink that is a little less hot, more purpley pink actually, but a little more durable than the lighter pink I had been using. 

Another closeup of the interior, the large inside pocket and the label shows in this one. The straps are long at 28", the same length as on my large size bags so they remain very versatile even for the smaller size.

See you tomorrow with another great bag, have a good night!

Day Sixty Four, Bag Seventy Three

Black and Blue Crystal Bag

The black and blue version, just like the pink from yesterday this one matches the Susan bags that are in my shop currently. 

A closeup on the ribbon. Using the dark trim and black ribbons changes the look of this bag dramatically. I had a bit of a delay in getting these finished because I ran out of black satin ribbon in the middle of them and had to order more. Apparently my local fabric store was out too. Everyone must be using black double sided 5/8" ribbon this month!

I added this closeup to show thee piece of ribbon on the zipper pull, and to show that the zipper pull is a larger size so it is easy to grasp. 

Thanks for coming back, again we are nearing our 2000th view so I will be putting something special together for that!

Day Sixty Three, Bag Seventy Two

Pink and Black Hounds Tooth, Crystal Bag

A version of the pink hounds tooth Crystal bag with black trim and black ribbon. This matches the Susan bags that are currently available on my web store. The Crystal is a super cute, roomy little cosmetics or accessories pouch.

Here is a closeup on the hounds tooth design and also the black double sided satin ribbon and bow on the front of the bag. 

Here is the back side, just as on my Susan bags the ribbon dos wrap around both sides but the bow is only on the front. 

Sorry my posts are a little behind, I had the hubby help a little with setup and something went screwey with the auto post feature. There will be a couple of days that are back posted but after that they should be fine. Also we are nearly at 2000 views, so I will be offering a coupon code when that happens. See you tomorrow!

Day Sixty Two, Bag Seventy Three

Hot Pink and Hooters, Crystal Bag with Crystals

This is a crystal embellished version of my Crystal bag, made to match my Hot Pink and Hooters Tote. I added heat set crystals to the front of the bag, accenting the flowers and the eyes of the owls. 

The crystals are a little more visible in this second photo. I used different sizes and colors to bring out the different elements in the print. 

The zipper pull has a length of white satin ribbon through it. The zipper is 10" long, so the opening is generously sized. This is labelled as a cosmetics pouch but could also be used as a clutch, a pencil case, an electronics case, a jewelry case for travel, or toiletries bag. It is really versatile and roomy. 

Thanks for checking out day 62, we are getting really close to 2000 views on the blog, once we hit that I will be offering a coupon code for my Etsy page, I am not sure what it will be but once we hit 2000 that will be up. 

Day Sixty One, Bag Seventy Two

Crystal Bag,  Pink Audrey Style

A Crystal cosmetics/ accessories pouch made to match the Audrey style bag.This is in the pink shield print. The construction is the same as on any Crystal bag, with the addition of the overhand knot on the side near the zipper. 

Here is the front view. I really like this design, I was able to get in another color as well so that will be showing up sometime soon. 

The hot pink edge really sets off the pink in the main design. The zipper pull has a length of black satin ribbon through it. 

The Crystal bags are pretty simple as far a s the pattern goes, there are 10 pieces in a basic pattern and that 10 includes both the silver charm and the interior label, so in reality there are 8 pieces to each base bag, additional pieces are needed for special designs such as this one and the Susan style bags.

Thanks for checking out the blog today, see you tomorrow! for bag 73.

Day Sixty, Bag Seventy One

Hounds Tooth With Deep Purple Susan, Small

Here is the companion bag to yesterday's blog bag, my full size Susan bag with deep purple lining and ribbon accent. This was a hit at the party, and I'm sure it will be popular when I take it out and about with me. 

The front of the bag, the ribbon looks a little navy colored. It is a very deep purple. The color shows a little better in the second photo. The lining is a perfect match for the ribbon color. 

This style of bag takes me approximately 3-4 hours to make, so in general I do only 2-3 of them a day. I try to shorten the time by doing a dozen all together  I spend an entire work day cutting the fabrics, each bag has 18 total pieces. It takes about a yard and a half of fabric in 3 different weights and prints. Over a yard of interfacing, and the two labels. 

Once I have a dozen or more bags cut I start assembly lining them. I press all of the straps and sew them together. That takes over an hour for 24 straps. I stitch my heavy interfacing in to the bottoms of the bags. Even though interfacing can be heat set i find it holds better when it is stitched in, it also keeps the bag more solid and makes for a sturdier final product. On a large Susan there are 3 seams of stitching in the base, only 2 are needed for a small Susan. To do a dozen bags, this takes over an hour as well. Once the bases are attached I sew on the sides of the bag to the base, once the sides are attached I iron on fusible interfacing, and then sew it down over the seam of the two pieces, I also sew down the interfacing along the side and top seams as well. It holds ok but it does tend to buckle and separate over time. I measure the spacing for the ribbon trim and bow, and I attach those. Then I measure out the spacing for the handles, and sew them down. A side seam, and boxed seam at the bottom finishes off the outside of the bag. I press down the seams and start in on the inside pocket. I stitch that together  turn it and then press it. Measure the spacing on the lining and pin it down. I stitch it on with two layers of stitching for extra strength. I sew together my two lining pieces and press the seam. After I box the bottom seam, I attach the lining to the outside of the bag and stitch it together. 

When doing a dozen bags together, I do every step all as one. I make all of the pockets together, attach all of the ribbons together, and so on. It takes about an hour to do each step. Once I get to the final few steps I sometimes finish off a bag or two and leave the rest for another day. In general it will take me 3 full work days to finish that dozen bags. Which works out to about 4 a day, so that is a little faster than nearly 4 hours to do one bag, I think that makes it closer to 2 1/2 hours on each bag. Either way there are  a lot of steps and the process is long, but the bags are beautiful and they are well made.

 That is my basic tutorial on bag making. See you tomorrow for what will be a surprise to us all, Happy two months of  blogging!

Day Fifty Nine, Bag Seventy

Bea Cosmetics Pouch, Small

A new bag design, made to match my Susan style bags. This Bea cosmetics pouch has a zipper closure on the top and the ribbon styled just like my Susan Totes, I made this one for myself to match my Susan Tote.

I love the black and white hounds tooth design so much I just had to have one for myself, so before I headed out to my friends birthday party on Saturday last weekend, I put together this small accessories and cosmetics pouch just for myself. 

I lined it in a matching deep purple, and added black satin ribbon to the zipper pull. 

Here is the finished product, a matching set and it was done just in time to head off to my party. The Small Susan tote is there for size reference and also to show how the two look together  it will be tomorrow's blog post. The purple ribbon is a deep grosgrain, in 5/8" width. The bow is made and sewn down by hand, and the interior of both bags have a Fleur De Lis label. The cosmetics pouch is 8" wide, and 6" tall with a 2" deep base. 

That's it for today tomorrow will be the full size Susan bag that is the companion piece to this cosmetics pouch, so see you then!

Day Fifty Eight, Bag Sixty Nine

Gray on Gray With Light Teal Susan, Large

This Large Susan Bag has a deep gray lining, on the Gray Dwell Studio "S" Design.The only additional color is in the light teal ribbon and bow accent. I varied from my normal Susan design and used a light gray for both the canvas bottom and the straps. The construction is the same and this bag is just as sturdy as my other bags in this design. 

The gray tones make this bag very neutral so it can go with anything. The combination of geometric designs in neutral tones with a pop of color is very hot right now. I know many of you have probably seen the current chevron craze that s everywhere from diaper bags to suitcases. This takes that same aesthetic but changes it t make it a little more unique.

Here is a shot of the lining, and of course the large double stitched pocket on the inside. This bag is the largest size I make, it is 6" deep on the bottom, 14" across at the bottom and 20" across at the top, the bag is 14" tall and the straps are 28" long, so this can be a great shoulder bag, shopping bag, beach tote, diaper bag, school bag, or a laptop bag. It has so many uses. I really love the versatility of the Susan bags and I am always in awe of every new one I make. If I could keep every single one of them I would!

This is the back side of the tote, you can get a good idea of the scale of the bag against the dress model. It is a very big tote but also very comfortable to carry. Thanks for checking out bag 69, I am almost 2 months in now and I have done almost 70 bags so far. I can't wait to see what I whip up tomorrow!

Day Fifty Seven, Bag Sixty Eight

Pink Diamond Print Susan, Small

This bag is embellished with dusty rose and clear Swarovski crystals on the top front panel. The ribbon is white 5/8" satin, and the print is a new one! I am really enjoying this particular bag style, it is so versatile and it dresses up very nicely with fancier ribbon or crystals. Who doesn't want tons of sparkle!

The second photo, shows the pink lining and diamond pattern pocket. My Fleur De Lis label is visible on the top left side of the interior, These are roomy and sturdy, and really, really cute!

The last photo has a nice closeup of my Tibetan silver Fleur De Lis charm on the front right of the bag. Only my Signature line of bags has the silver charm, these are hand stitched to the front of the bags, and denote that this is a bag that has a heftier weight of fabric, or a little more time involved in the manufacture. I do make ever bag myself and each one takes hours to complete. 

That's it for day 57, see you tomorrow for bag 69, it will be a surprise to all of us because I am not yet sure what I am going to work on yet!

Day Fifty Six, Bag Sixty Seven

Pink and Green Hearts Design Susan, Small

This Susan Bag is embellished with three colors of crystals. The pink and green hearts have matching crystals, and the black hearts have 3 clear crystals dripping down their centers. The green bow and ribbon accent matches with the lime green fabric that lines the bag. A super cute version of this design. 

Here is a closeup of the crystal design and the ribbon band on the bag. It is super bright and summery, a great tote for vacation, or shopping, it will even keep you cheered up as you get ready to go back to school!

This is the bright green lining and the heart design pocket. All of the pockets on my bags are fully lined and have two rows of stitching to keep them firmly attached. This style of bag also has my teal and bronze glitter label inside the bag, and my Tibetan silver charm on the outside. 

That's all for day 56, thanks for checking it out, see you tomorrow for another great handmade bag!

Day Fifty Five, Bag Sixty Six

Susan black and White Hounds Tooth with Teal,Small

Now I am back to other bags for a few days. I cut a dozen Susan patterns earlier this week, so that will be the bag of choice for a few days. 

The ribbon used for this bag is bright teal in a 7/8" width. It matches pretty closely with the lining, the bag measures 11" tall, 3" deep at the base, and 16" across at the base.

The pocket inside is made from the hounds tooth pattern, and the label is on the left rear of the bag. The handles are four layers of heavy duck cloth and very sturdy, they measure 28" long. 

Here is a close up on the bow,it is stitched down so it will not unravel. I really like the combinations of black and white print with a bright lining and bow accent, this will be coming up a lot more in the near future.

Thanks for checking out day 55, see you tomorrow with something that sparkles!

Day Fifty Four, Bag Sixty Four

Kelly Key Fob, Circles

This is the fifth shape in the Kelly key Fob bags. The circles were cut from a slightly larger 6"  base piece so they are a little roomier than the earlier bags but still very compact. This style is large enough to fit an I.D., business cards, credit cards, cash, change and of course keys!

These are the first two in the circle pattern, a blue and brown swirl print for number 64, ans pink hounds tooth for number 65. 

The brown and blue has a light blue lining, and dark stained wood bead. 

The pink hounds tooth has a blonde wood bead and light pink lining.

There are now 18 of this style done and only 17 more to go, don't worry I only have one more day of this design left for now and I will give you all a break and show you something new for tomorrow. These are a very easy little bag, I got the idea from a crafting blog and made my own shapes and adjusted the pattern to make a larger bag, I also added the split ring to accommodate keys. These are approximately 5" across on the center and the zipper opens to just over 4" so there is room to fit your whole hand inside if you need to dig for something! The original design only gave a 2" zipper opening with approximately a 3" bag. 

Thanks for checking out day 54, see you tomorrow!

Day Fifty Three, Bag Sixty

Kelly Key Fobs, Football

So, football is totally patriotic right? It is in my family anyway, I don't remember many holidays without some sport playing in one room while food was being cooked in another. So this is my football shape, I am actually pretty happy with it even though I was not sure how I would feel once I had all of these cut and waiting to be assembled. It is not wide enough to hold anything substantial, but it is still totally functional as a coin purse or small wallet. 

It also looks like my husband was a little lazy and photographed this bunch with their show tags on them. 

Bag 60 is in the pink hounds tooth, with a pink cotton lining. 

Bag 61, is in Latte Circles, with a dark grey lining.

Bag 62 Is the Paris and Poodles, chartreuse print, this bag has a lime green cotton lining. 

Bag 63 is the Watermelon Waves with a Hot Pink lining.

The zipper pulls for all of the Kelly Key Fobs has a length of satin ribbon and a wooden bead for a decorative touch. Some of the beads are stained a dark wood stain and some are a blonde wood that looks nearly white. The football shape was made from a 4" square. That was the original size before the shape was cut and it was cut on the diagonal so this bag is very long for a small coin purse. The split rings on top are great to make this a key chain or for attaching it to the front or strap of a bag. This particular bag was a pretty fun design to make, there was a lot of variability in it because of the different shapes and fabrics combinations. I have 36 of these to make for my show but the 20 I have done so far will be it for at least a couple of weeks, I need some new fabric scraps to work with. Because these are small enough I have not been cutting fresh fabric to make them, I have only been working with pieces that are too small for my full size bags but not small enough to discard, so I have to wait until I cut in to all my new fabric to gt at the new designs!

Thanks for checking out day 53, see you tomorrow for day 54! I have some really cute stuff coming up soon made from my new fabrics and new colors!

Day Fifty Three, Bag Fifty Eight

Kelly Key Fob, Hearts

Here is design number three in the Kelly Key Fobs. Hearts. I started with only two to ,make sure the pattern had no major glitches, and I would say they came out great!

Here are bags number 58 and 59! Bag 58 is the hearts with hearts bag, here is a closeup of the inside lining, done in lime green with my new labels attached!

Bag 59 with it's bright blue lining and new label exposed!, I am super in love with my new labels, teal with copper glitter Fleur De Lis on them. I am throwing my logo on everything in my housed that will stand still right now!

The zippers came to me through a friend about 7 years ago, she had a huge box full of hundreds of small zippers. I have been holding on to them hoping to have a project for them and these are a perfect use for the zippers, they are metal teeth which is sometimes harder to work with because they cannot be re sized easily, though brass teeth zippers are super durable!

Thanks for checking out day 53, see you tomorrow, 4th of July with something patriotic!

Day Fifty, Bag Fifty Two

Kelly Key Fob, Octagon

I will not always have multiple items in a blog but since I will be making so many of these little things for the show I thought I would combine them in order to keep from having key fobs every day for the next month and a half. This is pattern number 2 the Octagon, it is cut from the same size piece originally but it does seem to be quite a bit smaller than the square so I may increase the size of the piece just a bit in the future to gt a full 4" in the finished design. 

Here is an assortment of 6 Kelly key fobs. There is a wide variety of colors and prints. I am trying to match my bags though I will not be able to match all of them, some of my fabrics such as the navy celestial print, are completely gone, so there will be a little bit of a limited quantity of these. Here are some individual photos to show each print and color combination.

Watermelon Waves with Lime Green lining. Bag 52

Grey S Print with Cherry Red lining. Bag 53

Blue Paisley with light blue lining. Bag 54

Pink Bow Skulls with pink and black lining. Bag 55

Blue Hounds Tooth with white lining. Bag 56

Black and White Hounds Tooth with Lime Green lining. Bag 57

I have gotten some feedback lately that ther is no link to my Etsy store in my blog. I did originally set my blog to have a tag line at the end that was my web store link, I am not sure why that is not showing up so I will try to remember to include the link myself. I will say that the last two weeks worth of bags have not yet been listed, I have been really busy with work, making bags, and family obligations and doing listings takes a lot of time. I will try to get those up some time this week before I have my nieces and nephew for a few days again. If there is something you like you can always message me here on the blog or through my Etsy, if you don't see a listing that does not mean it is not for sale it just means I haven't got one up yet, and I can get one up for you if there is something you would like. 

Thanks for checking out day 50, I am almost to 2 months so that is pretty good! See you tomorrow for Football shaped Kelly Key Fobs!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/IvoryTowerDesigns