{kickin' with kokopelli}

My friend, K, in Nevada sent me a message a LONG time ago (sorry, girl!) asking me if I could make her a bag with Kokopellis because she has really been into them lately. I immediately said, "Yes!" and then thought, "What is a Kokopelli? Maybe I can't." Hmmmm, so like we do in this time and age I googled "Kokopelli" and learned something new.

"Kokopelli is a fertility deity, usually depicted as a humpbacked flute player (often with a huge phallus and feathers and antenna-like protrusions on his head), who has been venerated by some Native American cultures in the Southwestern United States. Like most fertility deities, Kokopelli presides over both childbirth and agriculture. He is also a trickster god and represents the spirit of music." ~Wikipedia

This little guy wasn't really new to me, but I just didn't realize he was called a Kokopelli. So, if you were wondering . . . now you know!! :) After some craziness finding and ordering the fabric this bag was so fun to make. I love making a bag out of a style of fabric that I have never used before. This is my first Southwestern bag and I thought pretty fitting that I shipped it to the Nevada desert yesterday. Not quite Southwestern, but if a Southwestern bag is going to live anywhere other than the Southwest it should be Nevada. So take a peek at my friend, Kokopelli, and lets hope those fertility vibes didn't stay in my house! ;)

{something new and a zipper to boot}

Something new to sew! My friend, J, wanted something similar to the Amy Butler Birdie Sling, but, in a smaller purse size AND she wanted a zipper. Yikes! I have always been terrified of zippers and did everything I could to avoid making anything with one. But, not wanting to disappoint my girlfriend I ventured out for such a purse and found a great pattern that would fit the bill. This little sweetheart is "Fiona" by Jenna Lou Designs. It is such a great little purse. Since I had never used the pattern I had to give it a trial run so J's purse wasn't the maiden voyage with this pattern. My first run turned out perfect and the zipper was SO easy. I forgot to take pics of the first purse when she was all crisp and new, but she is now mine! I never have time to sew for myself so I was very happy to keep this for myself. I added a couple pockets to the pattern because what woman doesn't need a couple extra pockets? And yes, one is a cell phone pocket because anybody who knows me knows I rarely make a bag without a cellphone pocket! There is no purpose in life if you don't have a cellphone! ;)

The beautiful purse you see below is the one I made for J. She found the black and red fabric on an online store that I frequently purchase from and then chose the coordinating yoke from my fabric stash via picture texts. The results were perfect, she loves it and THAT makes me happy!!! :)

{one latte = one happy mama}

Buried alive. Maybe not REALLY buried alive, but do you know that feeling fellow moms? How about you fellow stay-at-home moms trying to run a little business from your home? (I have to confess here that my "little business" may be no more than a means to hoard gorgeous fabric that I want to roll in when it comes home from the store or arrives in the mail, but, please don't tell my husband!) Okay, back to that buried alive feeling. (btw, that latte I mentioned in the blog title . . . wait for it . . .) Between packing lunches, having three kids in three different schools, the gym, the grocery store, Target, Costco, appointments, piano lessons, etc. I have to say "buried alive" may come close to describing my "holy moly" life. On top of all of this I am trying with all my superwoman might to catch up on sewing orders and get a little business feeling back in my little business. Thankfully, most of my orders are from friends, friends of friends and fellow moms and they understand that "sooner or later" is a good timeframe when they place an order. :) I'm getting there and when I get there it will be a grand day because then I get to start playing with some of my new patterns and I'm going to design a couple new bags to add to my "collection". (HeeHee. Collection. Do I have a "collection"? That's a fun little thought!) In the mean time I am going to catch up on my blog with some pics of a few new projects.

Here is where that latte makes it's entrance. One of my happiest places is cozied up to a hot latte from EspressWay, a great local place owned by a friend. They know my order before I even speak it, 16 oz., vanilla bean latte, double shot, 1/2 the flavor. Mmmmm, I can almost smell the espresso now, calling to me and begging me to stop in every chance I get. :) One of my favorite parts of drinking my latte, besides the warm fuzzies it gives me, is slipping my handmade java jacket onto my cup. I know we should "go green" and I really do sometimes AND I recycle my cups, but there is nothing like walking around with a coffee cup with my favorite java jacket that expresses MY style. So yes, it may be a simple pleasure, but in my life of chaos I embrace every simple pleasure I can get my hands on. Everybody should do this more. Find your simple pleasure and run with it. Well, walk with it because running is a bit more chaotic than walking and we are going for less chaos with your simple pleasures. :)

In honor of my "happy mama simple pleasure" I am sharing a couple pics of a few java jackets I have made for friends recently. Enjoy and if you are interested in one please contact me! I'd love to hear from you! They are $8 ea.

{multi-tasking}

Well, being a mother of three I try to be the queen of multi-tasking. Otherwise, how would I ever get anything done? So beings that multi-taking is always on my mind I was a little intrigued by this pattern when I saw it, Multi-Tasker Tote. I have had this pattern laying around with my growing collection of patterns since the beginning of the year. When a friend said she was going to have to order a new big bag I decided it was a great time to give this baby a test drive. Lucky for her it was right around her birthday! Lucky for her I happened to have some awesome Amy Butler fabric on hand. Lucky for her Anna Maria is an amazing designer. I'm not a great designer when it strays too far from the basics so I greatly appreciate an amazing design job. The great thing is that it sews together pretty quickly so instant gratification of sorts comes into play. So, since I like me some instant gratification I busted out some more Amy Butler Daisy Chain and made my cousin a diaper bag for the upcoming birth of baby #4! Yikes, four kiddos definitely calls for more pockets so I redid the pockets. I added some great pleated pockets big enough for diapers and wipes and then added my favorite little pocket of all time, a cellphone pocket! My favorite, because, I don't believe life would go on if cellphones ceased to exist!

So onto the Anna Maria Multi-Tasker Tote. To me "tote" screams "big enough to carry everything you need for the day, you busy super woman of a mom!" and this tote does not disappoint! The finished bag is 18" wide, 14.5" tall and 4" deep with nice long straps that automatically cinch the bag up a bit when you sling it on your shoulder. It's AWWWWWWWWWWWWESOME! It has four exterior pockets (but, I found if you don't follow the directions correctly it can have two larger exterior pockets and I kind of like that as an option) and I make it with the wonderful pockets I described above.

So, feast your eyes on the Multi-Tasker Tote. Get ready to get many things done at lightening speed when you step out of your house with this bag on your shoulder! I'm pretty sure the universe works like this! :-)

{so chic}

chic (sheek)

adj. 1. Conforming to the current fashion; stylish

n. 1. The quality of state of being stylish; fashionableness

This is the first word that I thought of when I finished this bag. How can you not like black and hot pink?! When my friend, K, saw another friend carrying her bag that I made several years ago she said she HAD to have one! So I jumped at the chance to create something different from the few bags I have been making almost exclusively for a couple years. When I asked her if she knew what kind of fabric she would like she immediately said black with a hot pink lining. So this is what I came up with. Her reaction was the best one I have ever received when delivering an order. There were OMGs, oohing and aahing and showing it off to the other gym members. :) That is the best compliment I could receive!

So, it is my great pleasure to introduce you to a new bag that I happily refer to as, "Colette" after my girlfriend that received the first bag I made of this style. It has a great A-line shape, but the most fantastic thing about this bag is the sash bow. It can be a fun embellishment on your bag, a belt around your waist or a scarf around your neck or in your hair. How fun is that? It has a coordinating topstitching that adds a little bit of stability and strength. I included my favorite feature of a purse or bag, pockets! Four of them to be exact, one of them being a cell phone pocket.

To add to the shrieks from "K", I included a matching Java Jacket. :) Shop and enjoy your coffee in style. Why would you do it any other way?

I can't tie a pretty bow to save my life!

{old jeans? presto! new skirt!}

I tried my hand at this nifty little project about a year ago and the results are so much fun! Jeans to a skirt, baby! Do you have an old pair of jeans that you just don't like anymore, but they fit? Try recycling them into something totally different. This isn't really going to be a tutorial because I didn't take near enough pictures to walk you through the steps. This is more of a before, during and after pic. Sometime in the future maybe I will try a tutorial, I've never done that!

This is a skirt I made for my friend, C. She delivered two pair of jeans to me. One for her and one for me to make myself a skirt!! Yay! I still haven't gotten to that project, but what else is new??? lol

So take a peek and see how the before turned into the after. I hope to someday post some pics of little girl skirts from my girl's "tore up knee" jeans. The embroidery is just to cute to just throw them away! Enjoy!

Regular 'ole jeans just waiting to be transformed

Use a seam ripper to rip out the inseam. You actually end up ripping further up toward the zipper so the denim will lie flat.


Ta-Da! Cute skirt! I use the lower section of the pant leg to make the insert so you use a lot of the denim from the jeans. Not a huge amount of waste. This part always seems to be the most troublesome for me. Not being a clothing seamstress I have to take more time to make this right. There is a lot of adjusting the insert when on the model to make it hang just right.

I like leaving the skirts with a raw edge so they fray when washed. Just a fun detail!