Lesson Learned Purse

During the last month I have been approached by a couple of projects that looked simple on the surface, but ended up taking more time than expected. This purse was one of them. I have at least 5 hours in it. A client presented a purse she found at a craft show and said she would like me to make something like it. The original purse had handles, fabric flowers, and ruffles. The client asked for a clutch version. The purse I made has two interior pockets, is fully lined and has a zipper closure. It is embellished with ruffles after which I stopped working. If I continued on, the handmade flowers would have taking even more hours. The customer settled on crystal beads for embellishment along the ruffle, thank goodness.





Hoped for, lesson learned......"Reproducing only one of someone else's commericial or craft line takes more time than the original you are copying. There is a learning curve, a discovery process, as you figure out how the thing was made and then how you will attempt to reproduce it. It takes making something at least 50 times inorder to fine tune its production, its efficiency. Making one of something is never cost effective.", quote to self, from self. Hopefully, I have learned this lesson.


To learn more about my sewing visit my website, www.sewingbymaudy.com and thanks for looking.

Tweeking of the Scarves

As I make more and more faux chenille scarves, I am learning their nuances. For instance, I have abandoned the traditional notion of only using cotton homespun (yarn dyed) fabrics for faux chenille. I have experimented with yarn dyed rayon suiting blends which gives me a softer effect. I am looking for a loose weave fabric but not too loose as you will see in the pics. The grey scarves are ideal but the blue one is pushing the boundry of the loose weave. I also have gone to three layer scarves instead of five because the inner contrasting layer is more visible this way. The inner layer has also changed to organza. A sheer fabric produces a lighter weight more fashion oriented scarf. However I will still use flannel middles as well. It gives me a variety of looks. To learn more about my sewing visit my website, www.sewingbymaudy.com and thanks for looking.

Fabric Flower Hair Clips

As I prepare for an upcoming craft show, I have added a new product to my line. I discovered a vendor on etsy who makes partially completed fabric flowers at a reasonable price. They come as two parts, the petals and the covered button. Then I hand stitch these parts together to form the flower and add a clip finding. I just received a hundred pieces parts and am starting to assemble. To learn more about my sewing visit my website, www.sewingbymaudy.com and thanks for looking.