off to the Navy?

my babies

Here are all the mini bags that I currently have in stock photographed together. These were so much fun to make. I'm going to let the sewing machine and hand stitching needles rest for today while I spend the next 24 hrs. photographing each of them individually and writing some enticing (hopefully :D ) descriptions on Etsy.

feeling mousy

feeling mousy, originally uploaded by m patrizio.

May sampling

may sampling, originally uploaded by m patrizio.

Here's a sample of some of the items I've been working on for the May update.

MAY shop update

The next shop update is this Saturday the 28th at 2PM Eastern Standard Time. I will be uploading about 20 items, mostly mini bags and backpacks. Hopefully the sun will shine again so I can take some pictures in natural light by the window. NYC is so dreary right now.

a post-doomsday post

Yay! We get some more time to try to make the most of our lives! I spent the day yesterday strolling and window shopping on sunny Smith st. in Brooklyn, eating as much ice cream as possible (some pistachio from Van Leeuwen and some spumoni ices from L&B) and stuffing my face with half a sandwich from Stinky Bklyn, a hot dog from Ikea, and a doughy pizza from L&B . I wanted to make sure I was well fed before the Rapture, ya know, no one wants to be judged on an empty stomach.

I finally purchased a dining table while I was at Ikea, a simple wooden one:
I feel 10% more dignified now that I can use place mats, woohoo. I have a couple sets of linen ones from Lotta Jansdotter that I had stored away. The brush on top of the table is from the Home Depot, someone I know dragged me there in a paranoid frenzy. I don't think the flashlights and extra batteries are going to save us from the END OF DAYS, dude. I'm proud, though, that everything we purchased at the Home Depot that night was made in the U.S. of A.. One of my hopes is that manufacturing will return here someday.

pre-doomsday shopping

bought some adorable thread on wooden spools from Steinlauf and Stoller in the garment district and Japanese magazines from Kinokuniya to keep me occupied till the end of days.

5th time is a charm? Hopefully.

Here are all my attempts so far at making a mini duffel bag.

1. Total bomb because I used thick fabric (Happy Bears Take Note) that I had vinylized and interfaced. I struggled to turn it inside out and the vinyl became all wrinkled and disgusting.

2. Ok, let's try some nylon fabric now. At first I was trying to eyeball the diameters of the sides and length of straps. I miscalculated.

3. I then realized to get the right size of the side circles I need to divide the length of the body by π ... 3.14159265 and account for seam allowances. I should have paid more attention in math class for sure!!! This one is almost good but I don't like that I can see the inside seam stitching.

4. Pretty good, but some visible fabric puckering, tsk..tsk.., but from this one I learned I want to use the thick top stitching thread with matching aqua blue zipper.

I will try one more time for the perfect mini duffel bag and then it is time to move onto something new.

still need to work on it. That hat needs a matching accessory, maybe a jacket? But then he might look like a postman. Sadly the blues don't match. I've been playing around with custom coloring fabrics around here.

khaki satchel

This bag is made with organic cotton canvas and leather straps. I will be updating the shop with the bag-stravaganza soonish. Right now I have 6 in stock. I want to attempt a duffel bag, and make 3 more out of some organic cotton canvas I just bought. Do you think it is better for customers to do shop updates on the weekends or a night during the week?

The blues

The blues, originally uploaded by m patrizio.

Rattus Petite V.1

(click image to enlarge)

Here is my first attempt at making a mini Rattus. The goal is to have him be able to share the Timmie gear I've been making. Right now he can fit into the sweaters, but not the hoodies. I plan on working on another version with a smaller head and small aqua blue eyes (swoon).

Also, I want to thank Carrie for featuring my Stitch Wars Luke and Yoda and Timmie T. on her blog - Old Soul Handmade!