Vintage brooch from old jewelry

This artist wants to clear off the dining room table and turn the house back into a house, but I still have sewing to finish and pillow covers to make. sigh. The holidays are coming and I would like to be able to invite people over without being embarrassed about the mess in the dining room that has spread to the kitchen and the living room.

Looking forward to getting back into jewelry making and diving into my box of vintage jewelry, watch parts, old charms and findings. (I already have a work area away from the living areas of the house.) Tomorrow I'm taking a little metal smithing class at my local bead store for fun and inspiration. God knows I already have all the supplies here at home... but I like the social aspect of a class and to learn from someone else.

I made this brooch from a bunch of old earrings I picked up at tag sales or inherited. There are a few other doo dads in there that I bought. I think it's kind of fun.

And yet another jeans bag

I'm trying to get these out of my system, but I think I will keep making them until I come up with one I am thrilled with.

This one has some nifty flying hearts and a really long frayed strap so that I can wear it under my coat. There's plenty of room for a small wallet, some keys and other junk.



The back sports a little pocket for maybe the cell phone.

Denim Rose Purse

I got the idea from a designer bag to make a rose out of fabric. Since I am in 'old denim jeans' mode and in to making small bags for when I go out at night, I sewed a denim rose on to a back pocket from some jeans I have ripped up. The rose part makes 2 exterior pockets on the purse which comes in very handy. It's lined in pink cotton.

I used a waistband from a pair of jeans to make the clasp...


... and sewed the waistband to the back.

Works in Progress: scrappy evening bag

Not sure what has possessed me to work on this bag for days and days and days. It's made from hubby's old jeans, my aunt's old lace and ribbons, mom's buttons and some funky brass charms. The strap will be made from the waistband of the jeans. This bag is not fully embellished yet. I think it will be over the top. why not? The next one will be different.

Below is the back of the bag that utilizes some lace that I painted, some brass charms and a weird ribbon I made on the computer.




Below is a closeup of the front of the bag. I don't know where I got the picture, but I printed it onto silk fabric. That lace there must be 50 years old. It's pretty fragile.



As always, click images for larger picture.

On the sewing table: inherited

Bored with the colors of old and new lace, I got out my fabric paints and attempted to change all that.


I inherited a bunch of neat handmade lace from my friend's mom. It's just beautiful and of course, I am dying it when I feel the need.


I inherited my mom's ginormous button tin and there are quite a few adorable buttons for embellishments that I've separated from the rest. I am particularly tickled by anything with rhinestones in it.


My aunt was a dressmaker and made bridal gowns. I was lucky enough to inherit some antique lace and trims from her. The crazy thing about that particular inheritance is that some price tags are still on her sewing supplies and she paid like 19 cents for many beautiful yards of lace. It's quite fragile now though.

When I was going through my mom's sewing basket I was also amazed at how inexpensive notions were 40-50 years ago. Can you imagine spending 10 cents for dozens of snaps? Or 12 cents for a dozen needles? I am using the stuff now. It's pretty cool to dig through what's left of other women's lives of sewing and mending.

I suppose that one day, someone will have my enormous stash. God help them.

Finished red bag

This latest bag features sample fabrics from a home dec swatch book and ready made fringe from the sewing store.

Red patchwork bag in progress

These very sturdy scrap fabrics from home dec sample books are being tested in a simple design I came up with. I think the bag is screaming for a gusset and/or some fringe. So today I'll be taking a trip to my friendly fabric store to see what they have.

We haven't been able to eat at the dining room table in weeks. I wonder why.

Work in Progress:Tapestry bag

This was a practice project because I'm planning to sew a very large tote bag from the same fabrics. I bought a number of home dec sample fabric books from eBay and just love the tapestry samples even though they are tough to sew on my portable sewing machine. This bag is something I've been working on for a couple of days and it uses fabric samples. It still needs a bit of tweaking, but I think I would use this bag over the winter.

Note to self: Cut out the lining before sewing the bag together. Boy it's tough to get it right otherwise.


click for larger image

Dia De Los Muertos

My son and I crammed as much Mexicana we could on this fisher price truck we found at a garage sale for a fabulous Day of The Dead Shrine-mobile.

Happy Halloween!