On my crazy Priscilla

Honestly, Priscilla is not for the feint-hearted.

She is bright, bold and certainly not a conformist.

The brigth spiral I appliqued on the front was sold to me as an African wax print.  I really doubt that it is, but nevermind....

The back of her is patchwork and spiral quilted - same as the front, with a variegated green topstitch cotton.

I continued the craziness on the interior with a bright stripey fabric and roomy pockets.

 Priscilla really is zany, but I do love her.

Are you brave enough to walk down the street with Priscilla on your arm?

On Miriam and Vashti

And here we go, all about Miriam and Vashti today.

Miriam is a simple tote, made unique by the bright colourful stripe she was made with.

Continuing the stripe on the inside, but a bright green one:

I put her handles on the outside and stitched them down in a rectangle.  They should last forever.

I didn't put any type of closure on her, as I really didn't think she needed it.  She'll be a trusty workhorse for anyone who owns her.

Vashti was made from a print I totally fell in love with.

However, what I didn't realise is that this particular synthetic would be extremely hard to work with.  It does not crease easily, even with an iron, but once the crease is there, almost impossible to get rid of.  

Which is why the tiny hems on the ruffled was really hard to do.  Also, the fabric frays like nobody's business. Which made it even harder!

I lined her with a grey/blue fabric that I suspect might be a silk, it's really gorgeous - again found on the off-cuts table.  Unfortunately none of the millions of pictures I took really shows the true colour of the lining.

I used the same fabric on her handle, as the body fabric really just isn't strong enough to hold up under the wear a handle goes through on its own.

I used the co-ordinating stripe on the back.  I must just say that although the prints are really pretty and all, there are TONS of flaws in them all.  I did try to work around most of them, hopefully I didn't miss any major misprints.

Overall, I quite like the look of her, I think she might just be a very witty girl once one gets to know her better.

Well, what do you think so far?  Did you read any of the other design stories?

On how Elisabeth came to be

Here is the next installment of the design stories behind my new products.

Today I’m going to tell you all about Elisabeth.

Now if you never heard the name William Morris before, you will most certainly recognise at least some of his designs.

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This fabric is an imported quilting cotton, released some few years ago to celebrate the birthday (if I recall correctly) of the person regarded as the “father” of the Arts and Crafts movement.

Being a William Morris fan-for-life, I could not resist buying the fat quarter pack containing these prints.  As the prints totally speak for themselves in my opinion, I kept the patchwork as simple as possible, not adding anything or taking anything away.

Originally Elisabeth had wooden handles, purchased at my local fabric store.  Unfortunately – as with most things found in South Africa these days (or what feels like it), the quality was sadly lacking.  My daughter accidentally bumped the bag off my work table and the one wooden handle broke.  Yeah. The wood BROKE.  For the longest time I could not for the life of me figure out what to do with this bag that was made to have those specific handles.  Then, lo! and behold! I found a similar shape set in resin.  I bought them – doubtful that they would fit or even look nice on the bag.  

To say that I was relieved and grateful that not only did the handles fit, they actually looked real good on the bag, is a total understatement.

So, what do you think? Do you think the handles go with the bag or not?

On Joanna’s design story

As I told you previously, I’m sharing the design stories behind my new products, you can read so far about Athaliah, Phoebe and Delilah.  

Today I’ll be sharing the design story of Joanna.

Now this fabric has been going around everywhere on everything.

As I have a daughter at university now, I came to realise that she needs a bag for her books and stuff, a big one, but not an unwieldy one, and as she and all her friends use tablets and pads, there should be room for that too.  And she’s probably not the only student who needs a nice bag.

The bag must be easy to open and close, but secure at the same time – there’s all types of kids (unfortunately) around university, therefore the flap with the magnetic closure.

This fabric is similar to a cotton canvas (or cotton duck). It’s actually machine washable and can be tumble dried.  But since the bag has synthetic batting in to make it sturdy, I do not recommend the tumble dry part, as I think the batting will probably shrink in the heat of a tumble drier, if it doesn’t burst into flames or something.  So I recommend the bag to be washed in a machine, on cold setting.

Now, I don’t know how you feel about energy saving and stuff, but I do try to do my part.  I wash my clothes in cold water – in fact the warm water inlet on my washing machine isn’t even connected.  Not only does it save energy, it also saves your clothes, as there is less wear on the fibres in cold water.  Think that cold water doesn’t wash clean?  I’ve found that if I use the washing powder recommended by the manufacturer my clothes come out perfectly clean.  Whites white and all that.

So, Joanna can be washed in a machine, dried in the sun and ironed on a warm setting, since we all know how careless students can be and how they chuck their bags down any old where.

What is your opinion on Joanna?  Would you wear her if you were a student?

On how Delilah came to be

Here is the next installment of the design stories behind the new products, now available here too.

Delilah’s fabric is also an African wax print. 

 However, looking at the fabric, it called to mind something art-deco-ish to me.  Don’t you see it too?

Well, I’ve had this pattern in mind for a while, but never came across just the “right” fabric until I saw this.

This shape is odd, I grant you.  

But look, why have something ordinary all the time?

I found the inspiration from what is called a “chatelaine” from earlier times, like this one

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However, for a modern woman a little purse like this is totally impractical.  And I must confess, although Delilah is much bigger, I suspect she might not be the most practical bag I’ve ever made.

I added a few gold coloured beads to the flap, which works with a magnetic snap, just to add that little bit of interest. 

At first I wanted to add a whole lot of gold beads, but I changed my mind, as I thought it would be a sort of over-kill, with the odd shape, the strange strap placement etcetera.  Do you think I made the right decision?

Delilah is also lined in the cream bridal satin I used for Athaliah, as this lady deserves something glam!

I called her Delilah because – just like the lady in the Bible, she steals your heart without you meaning to have it happen.

“Whyyy why whyyyy Delilah….” (admit it: you sang that)

On the design story of Phoebe

As I told you last time, I’m sharing the design stories behind the new products, available here as well.

Today I’d like to tell you about Phoebe.

Again the same basic shape as Athaliah’s and also in African wax print.

I really like this fabric.  It has an almost “formal” feel to it and the colours of black, brown and green reminds me of Africa on so many levels.

To accentuate the “formalness” of the fabric I’ve again used a button flap as closure, this time a more square one.

The button I found in an antique shop.  

If it’s an antique one, I really can’t say, but doesn’t the antelope remind you strongly of a Bushman rock painting too?

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On design stories

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but there’s a few new items available in my shop.

Over the next few weeks I would like to share the design story behind these new items, I hope you like to read about the adventures that I have with my products.

I’ll start off with Athaliah.

She’s made with African wax print.  As I’ve told you before, I’ve discovered that these African wax prints are actually not from Africa at all.  Some places call them “London wax prints”, and I’ve seen other names for them as well, which involves brands, so I won’t mention them.

Anyway, the African wax prints do originate from Africa originally, so I’ll continue to use them.  I must also just mention here that these prints have tons of flaws in them, so if you buy anything made from African wax prints, be sure that there will be flaws in the prints.  It’s not the fault of the maker of the item - although I must say I try to work around the flaws myself.

The fabric for Athaliah has a cream base with oval shapes in brown, teal and purple with yellow lines. 

I chose this basic shape for her and Phoebe, Rahab and Priscilla.  You will find out why at a later stage – stay tuned ;-)

For her closure I wanted to do a button as I loved these purple buttons with their hint of glitter – a girl’s gotta have glitter at some point.  

To emphasise the oval shapes of the print, I made the flap oval too, and put two buttons on.  Only the bottom one does the work of closing however.

I’ve lined her with a cream bridal satin.  I’ve found the bridal satin to be surprisingly sturdy and since I found this bridal satin rather cheaply on the off-cuts table, I don’t have any qualms in using it for a lining.

Do you like Athaliah?  Let me know what you think!

On Nine New bags

It does indeed give me great pleasure to present the nine NEW bags in my summer release.

 I might also just mention in case you did not know that you can purchase any of my bags in one of three ways:  madeinza, my “website” and now also on HelloPretty.  If you’re reading this and don’t know about my Facebook page, you can find it over here.

Dorcas and Tabitha are two names of the same person in the Bible, we find her in Acts 9, and she seems to have made clothes!  These two ladies were made from the same piece of African wax print, but on two ends of the print, so they turn out looking quite different.  Yet they are the same.  

Dorcas has only a little bit of beading and sequins added on the front to complement the beautiful print.  

Tabitha is a bit more sultry with her darker look and line of hand-sewn sequins all around.

Anna was a difficult one.  I had this gorgeous piece of extreeemly expensive designer white-on-black print, and was very hesitant to cut into it.  I had asked permission form the incomparable Ms Emma Brennan to use some of her handbag patterns to make bags for sale.  She kindly granted it, but I was at a loss as to what to use on her vintage-style patterns.  I was really worried about making a hash out of her patterns with anything but perfect fabric.  Well then, the two conundrums called to each other and thus Anna was born.  I adore the way the print and the bag-design just complete this whole look.  I hope Ms Brennan will like it too!

Iscah is one of those “I’m not sure I like it” ones.  I like the fabric, which is an upholstery fabric which looks like a loose-weave hemp, but is soft and smooth to the touch. 

I like the handles – they are quite hard to find now.  I like the pink chiffon ribbon around the top edge, giving an almost tutu effect and I like the little ribbon rose that completes the look….oh, look at that…I do like Iscah after all!

Keziah and Jemima were two of Job’s daughters – lovely names!  These two sisters just might be my favourite bags ever.  All summery,  breezy,  happy and lazy.  The straps on both are slightly rouched (or ruffled) and they came out looking brilliant! 

Keziah’s outer layer is a lime green printed chiffon and 

Jemima’s is a polka-dot crêpe georgette with a slight self-pleat in the fabric.  These girls are all about lazing around – they’re soft-soft and won’t stand on their own.  I can just see a girl with white linen pants and white cotton shirt walking down a sunny sidewalk with either one over her shoulder. 

Salome, Salome, Salome.  Did she ever give me headaches!  I found this piece of black-on-white print (I’m pretty sure it’s cotton canvas) on the off-cuts table.  I nearly had a heart-attack when told what it costs, but I HAD to have it.  Only to discover at home that the piece was exactly 1cm too narrow for what I wanted to do.  So I changed a bit here, changed a lot there; rearranged, rearranged and rearranged again, and there I had the sly girl!  Hence her name, see?  I don’t think this is the most original pattern ever, but it works!  Although, I must admit, I suspect the strap ended op a tad too wide….but it sure looks good!

Abigail might look very familiar to you.  Yes, she’s the sister to Ruth and Esther.  I hadn’t quite finished her when we released Ruth and Esther, so I kept her over until now.  

She’s a practical girl.  She looks nice, but she doesn’t take flak from anyone, she’s efficient, but fun!

Basemeth is made from another off-cut of upholstery/curtaining fabric.  The damask-style weave is totally enchanting.  I’m not all that big on shiny-shiny, so for me this muted gold-colour is ideal.  I think Basemeth is one of those staples that you’ll always be able to grab at a moment’s notice if you can’t decide what goes with your outfit, but you don’t feel like a boring black bag.  Gold - like black and white, goes with almost everything.

So that’s the summer release.  Let me also take this moment to wish anybody good enough to read here a very blessed celebration of the Birth of Jesus Christ and may 2013 bring you all the things that make your heart happy!

Much love

Cecilia