Bag binge!

Not me! My beloved customers! :)

I've been on a bag-making binge these past few weeks (and I'm still not done!) for my dear friends, and I just wanted to share some of the pics with you...

Don't they all look great together??

I love the practicality of the dark outer layer, countered by the vibrant lining... and if you feel like it, you can always turn the bag inside out for the colorful experience (yep, these are totally reversible!)

This one went to Niza...

This one's for Bie...

and this one's Eleaka's...

Hope you like them as much as I've enjoyed making them, ladies! :)

A little something for a girlie girl...

I wish I still had a little girl to dress up... my girl is now more into jeans & tops... dresses, not so much anymore... so sadly, I've lost a muse & model for our dresses hehehe....

My mom & I tried out a new pattern, which we named the Mia dress... its simple, uncluttered design is easy to wear and has a really long shelf life, since the cut is for a 6-12-month-old but can be worn up to 2 years old (or even older!) thanks to the adjustable shoulder ties. It starts out as an ankle-length dress, gradually progressing to a knee-length dress and finally a frilly top. My 6+ year-old daughter can wear it too! I think it looks so cute with a pair of tights/jeans and a cardigan or inner top...

Sunshiny florals, 100% American cotton - RM36

Periwinkle blue Mia, 100% cotton - RM 30


Floral vines Mia, 100% American cotton - RM 36

They're in the shop now! More are in progress :)

More bag love - red, black & white...

An old friend placed her bag orders some time back, and I managed to get them all done before she travels... these were the gorgeous baggies she wanted...

The black & white leaf print bag is for her friend, and the black & red hearts bag is for herself, complete with a matching wristlet :)

I teamed up the black & white print with the vibrant multi-color stripes....

... whereas the black & red hearts were coupled with more hearts (in various colors) as the lining fabric.

Isn't this just so cute??? I was saving this fabric for a special project (for myself, to be honest hehehe) but as it was perfect for my friend, here it is... this is a larger bag than the B&W one (which was 17"x15"x4") cos my friend is a lot taller & can obviously carry off a bigger bag heheh...

As always, these bags are reversible (hence the pretty & vibrant lining fabrics used), and are now safely with the new owner...

Glad you liked them Rox! :)

I just love bright, colorful bags...

There's something about these bright and breezy prints that my mom & I like so much... to me, they add a splash of fun & color to life, counter-balancing the stress of daily work...

SOLD

SOLD

These 2 are identical in size... 12" in width x 15" height x 4" depth, with a large external pocket on an entire side of the bag plus smaller internal pockets... very suitable for work, quick shopping trips, multi-purpose carrying & what-have-you...

Price? Very affordable :)

Only RM63 each...

I'm still working on the pre-ordered bags... at last count I now have 5 (not that many compared to the other crafters I know, but that's still a nice number for me, alhamdulillah :) ) I'm also hoping to be able to make extras while I'm at it, so we'll see how it goes... 3 of the bags are also a rush order... need to complete them before my customer goes overseas...

Bag orders completed!

After weeks of cutting & prep-work, I finally got these bags done... it's really tricky trying to sew when you have 3 kids, and one is a 4-month-old baby... Saturdays are the only day I get to work on my sewing, hence the backlog (and I still have a couple of bag orders to do!)

This one's for Ajan...

This smaller handbag size is for Ila...

The one with the multicolor stripe lining is Shara's, and Ajan booked the other bag... These are wider and deeper than my usual document bags, measuring 18x16" before construction. I made one for my baby's nursery/diaper bag, and the size can accommodate a laptop & documents/files plus random stuff (if you're using it for work). Now to make at least 3 more... Never seem to have any to spare, alhamdulillah...

Pretty in pink...

I wondered why I never made more bags of this particular color combo... to me, it's strikingly pretty & sweet, and so far my dear daughter's the only one with this bag... I think maybe cos I have really limited amounts of the yellow fabric, sayang nak pakai hehehe...

Well, not anymore! I made another one, and it's up for grabs!

It measures 8" in width x 13" in height x 3" in depth, the same size as my daughter's. It's perfect for books and small files (too snug for A4 document files tho, so probably not advisable for that purpose). Easily washable (I've tried it on my other bags and they're not spoiled yet heheh...), just soak in gentle soapy water (preferably those lingerie/silk detergents) and rinse off (please don't wring it!!) and hang to dry...

The pocket's big enough to fit an iPhone or any similar-sized object. It's made from 100% cotton (heavy cotton on the outside, regular cotton inside).

Price: RM 35 only :)

New - Banana bags!

I'm pretty much self-taught from books when it comes to bag-making, so at this point I've been focused more on making totes compared to other types of bags. My mom, being the more experienced sewist (is there such a word?), is more adventurous... hence the following bags :)

These two were made using 100% designer American cotton, inside & out, and are really quite large (those who are used to carrying big bags will appreciate them, I'm sure...)

Measurements: 21" x 7" x 7"

Materials: 100% designer American cotton

Price: RM 140 each

Both are available! Get a truly unique piece right now :)

Sewing dreams...

With the new baby around, I'm having less and less time to sew :( I can't even sew when he's asleep, cos he sleeps only with me beside him... so of course la mama pun tumbang then hehehe...

The only guaranteed time I have to do that, is on Saturdays when I go to the shop with my mom... there, I'll have a few hours to cut fabrics, dream of projects to work on, sew, and play with fabrics... bliss... :) So far over 2 Saturdays, I've only managed to cut pieces for 2 bags on 1 day, and sew them up the next Saturday... at this rate, it'll take me forever to start & finish all the projects I have in mind...

I'm looking forward to creating my own sewing corner in our house soon... imagining the perfect sewing/cutting table, plus shelves/cabinets for fabrics and notions... and hopefully by then I can slip away for short periods away from sleeping baby and do some creating... A woman can dream, can't she? :)

Sandcastles Quilt

Something bright and cheerful (aren't most baby quilts like that? :) )... sandcastles on the seashore... I had fun (as usual) doing the hand-quilting around the main design... simple machine-quilting as well around the panel borders...

Simple yellow batik border and binding

Material: 100% American cotton
Size: 33" x 44"
Price: RM 180 only
Status: Available :)

p/s. It's also up on our shop (Beverly Collection)... you can hop on over or even drop by the bricks-and-mortar shop and check out our other stuff too!

Patchwork Strips - #5

I really like this improvised patchwork strips... this bag's embellished with the customer's own buttons...

Patchwork Attempt - Disappearing Nine-Patch Blocks

I first saw a Disappearing Nine-Patch tutorial while bloghopping, and I thought the technique was really cool (I liked the end result, and before I saw the tute, I thought it involved a lot of piecing! Turns out there was a neat trick to creating the blocks heheh). I thought I had the link saved, but couldn't find it again later... eventually I found Rachel's tute for it, which was pretty similar to the one I first read, so I gave it a shot...

This is my first ever patchwork piece made from scratch!!! My mom tells me adding borders to panels don't really count as patchwork, so that means I've only been doing quilting je hehehe... this is my 9-patch block, made out of strips cut from several fat quarters.

I ended up with 16 blocks made using the Disappearing Nine-Patch Block tute, and after lots of staring at the blocks and moving them around, this is the arrangement I came up with. It took me ages, cos the limited no of fabrics I used meant that many times the blocks I arranged faced the exact same fabric, so I had to rearrange the blocks again & again...

Looking at this arrangement, I think I can get a decent-sized baby quilt out of it, once I put in the sashings and borders... the blocks are now stacked nicely on our notions table, put aside for now while I focus on finishing the hand quilting on our other baby quilts... I promise, this will get made! :)

Do you see a pinwheel?

Somehow I think of pinwheels when I look at this...

Crazy-quilt bag #4...

Newly-commissioned Bags

One of my dear sisters-in-law requested several bags for her to use at work... She chose the fabrics from what I had in hand, and these were the results...

I love the shocking pink lining... it's got teeny-tiny white polka dots on it, and is soft and shiny...
This one's got a dark brown lining... similar to the pink, it's also got tiny white polka dots against the dark brown...

Her daughter also wanted a bag, so I chose this bright cheerful print for her (I like this print!). Hers is the usual size, while my SIL's bag is bigger and wider to accommodate the numerous files and books she carries every day.

Now they're all ready to be delivered to their new owners - next balik kampung trip! :)

My first quilting attempts

Ever since my mom & I officially ran Beverly Collection, I've wanted to start making quilts on my own. My mom is, and has been, the one with the skills (not to mention she's the instructor for all lessons we provide), and I figured I should add to mine too :)

These were my first attempts at quilting. As owner of the label, what I produce for myself still counts as producing for an (internal) customer, right? ;)

This blue and yellow baby quilt is for my newborn baby... started off with a quilt panel, added a border, then had it hand-bound and machine+hand-quilted...

This was also a panel quilt... added the sweet pink floral border and hand-bound the quilt. I really like doing hand-binding... there's a calming rhythm to it once you get started. Also machine-quilted along the borders and frames, and handquilted the picture elements.

These two were made from the ever-so-cheerful-and-cute-I-like IKEA fabric, with two simple borders and hand-quilting around the bigger motifs...

I started making all these before my delivery, and managed to complete all these as gifts. I loved doing hand-quilting so much, I ended up buying the quilting frame to make my work neater... it really made a big difference in the quilting (well, that's my own rough comparison anyway, looking at the panel quilts done pre-frame usage, and the IKEA ones post-frame).

Now I'm trying to be more ambitious, and just started on a patchwork quilt next... will post the pics and progress later... I've already had to unpick the seams several times cos my edges didn't line up... argh... wish me luck!

Another Crazy-crazy Bag!

*Sigh*...

When am I gonna get me one of these?? The thing is, going through fabric scraps and thinking up the design of the patchwork alone take up a lot of time... so it's better spent on making these panels for customers rather than for personal use...

This was the 3rd order... it basically followed the first one... a friend of the first bag owner saw it and wanted one, then someone else wanted one too... we just finished another bag (which I'll put up soon)...

Oh well, soon... hopefully soon...

Crazy-quilt Patchwork Bag #2

Our second order for the crazy-quilt patchwork bag... once again, the fabric for the bag body was chosen by the customer... the general color scheme for the crazy-quilt is as per her request too...

I'm thinking of making one for myself... argh... every time we make a bag for someone, I'm tempted to make something similar for myself too... but then, a girl can never have too many bags right? :)

Crazy-quilt Patchwork Bag

How pretty is that? :)

Our first order for a crazy-quilt patchwork bag... totally unique, one-of-a kind!

It's roomy, practical (with 1 large & 2 smaller inner pockets), gorgeous & totally unique! Tell us what you think of the bag! :)

We have a few more of these ordered...will put the pics up soon!

Another bag completed...

Another bag order completed...

I love this vibrant color combo! Am tempted to make a similar one for myself... gotta check if I still have enough fabbies heheh...

More Completed Tudungs!! T057 & T051

2 more completed fabric designs up for grabs...

T057

Shantung Silk awning, regular cutting

1 piece left

RM 55

T051

Shantung Silk awning

SOLD

Completed Regular Tudungs up for Grabs!

T054 - completed finally :)

2 pieces available, shantung silk awning

Size can be adjusted to M or L based on request (please indicate when placing your order)

RM 55 each

T055
1 piece left, 1 sold

Shantung silk awning

RM 55

T059

Awning using shiny thick cotton, very nice and sturdy

1 piece available, 1 sold

RM 55

You know the drill... drop us a line!

More tudungs coming soon... stay tuned!