Making, Making, Making!

I am currently in the process of making lots of lovely handmade products out of my own patterned digitally printed fabrics!
I am waiting to have all my products made, photographed and uploaded onto my website before I show my new designs...(hopefully not too much longer to wait!)
In the mean time however here are a few pics of the making process.. including my lovely woven name labels!

Mock ups!

As I will be getting my fabric samples printed up soon, this week I have been experimenting with toiles of the products I will be making with my own fabric soon!

I find making mock ups or toiles very useful as they allow me to create paper patterns to use for future products and let me get the sizes and shapes of products correct!

I made my mock ups in plain cotton fabrics, in similar weights to the fabric my patterns will be printed on, to get an idea of how the final pieces will look.

I have mocked up 3 fully lined zipped pouches - one a small coin purse size, one a larger makeup bag/pencil case size and lastly a slightly larger bag with boxed bottom corners for use as a wash bag.

I have also created these two cushion mock ups, one a large square and one a smaller rectangular shape. These cushions both feature envelope closures on the back.

Wash Bags and Purses!

So this week Ive been hiding from the rain in my studio and have had fun making a couple of new product variations.
I have made coin purses before but I wanted to try using my shiny new woven brand labels, along with some gorgeous mustard/goldy coloured cotton lining fabric I bought recently!
I have made a couple of these little coin purses, which are a great size, I use mine for my change, cash and loyalty cards!

Today I started experimenting with large wash bags... I love a box style wash bag as it allows you to open it nice and wide to look at all your girly beautifying products inside!
I first made the faux leather wash bag below, and also included my name label, this time as a tab which you can use to help open the bag! I really love the look of this wash bag .. however I was winging the size and therefore made it a bit too high and a bit too short ...

Next I edited my paper patterns and added a bit there and took away a bit here and voila ... one very boxy, nice and big wash bag!

Name Labels!

I have always loved the idea of using 'brand' labels in my pieces .. whether this be my brand name or logo or combo of both.
I recently started doing lots of research into labels and of course fell in love with woven sew-in tags.

Typically these are the most expensive type of labels...
I have started to have a play with a new logo idea and different colour combos and I haven't fully settled on an idea yet so therefore didn't want to commit to the 'minimum quantity of 300-500' most websites seemed to be offering for this type of 'designer woven label'.

I read a few blogs about making your own labels which I am going to have a go at soon ... all you need is an inkjet printer (with decent ink in it), printable fabric (such as  these PhotoFabric Cotton Twill Fabric Sheets  from amazon) and fray check.  Simply print, cut, fray check any raw edges and sew in.

A friend then told me that she'd recently bought school name tag style labels from  www.wovenlabelsuk.com for her cushions and said they looked great.
I went on the website she got them from to see if there was anything similar to what I was looking for. There are lots of different options on this site, They do a huge range of labels including iron-on, woven, satin and ribbons. Their site states 'Woven Labels UK are suppliers of custom woven clothing labels. We specialise in designer labels, woven name tapes, identification labels, craft labels, care labels and personalised woven celebration ribbon.'
They are UK based which again was something I was looking for as most of the more 'affordable' label manufactures seemed to be based abroad, which could mean I might be waiting a while for delivery, I also like the idea of having everything made in the UK for my brand.

After a look around their site I found that I really liked the look ... and price of their  crafters ' Wide Woven Labels' and although they aren't very customisable (you can't upload your own art work or fonts etc which you can with their designer labels... however these are minimum quantity 500 pieces)  you can pick out of 5 different fonts .. over 30 font colours and 18 label background colours, and include up to 3 lines of text (and also one of their 11 motifs).
I chose a white background for my label, and a 'cognac' colour for my text, which is a mustardy yellow. I love the online editor/ viewer of this label which makes it super easy to see exactly what your label is going to look like.
I selected their smallest quantity which was 30 labels for £14.99 to sample them before I bought a larger quantity.

They arrived in the post very quickly and I absolutely love them! I wasn't sure about how the 'cognac' colour might differ to the screen display but it came out spot on! A really lovely mustard/goldy yellow on a crisp white back ground.
The labels came as 3 strips of 10 which you cut up yourself (pinking shears would be best as they do seem to fray when cut)
I can't wait to use these labels in my products though they are a fab size and would look great inside a zipped purse or folded in half on the edge of a cushion or bag!

Adding My Instagram Feed!

As I have previously mentioned I absolutely love Instagram and try to upload photos to it very regularly.
I then realised that, although I do also use a lot of my Instagrammed photos on my blog I don't have any link or feed to it on my page!
I therefore did a search and found that it is super easy to add an Instagram 'widget' on to my blogger blog! (for anyone also wanting to do this- this is the website I found and followed their very clear instructions) http://helplogger.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/how-to-add-instagram-widget-in-blogger.html.

...and VOILA! I now have a lovely Instagram feed to the right of the page...

Sewing Colour Inspiration!

I'm spending endless days in the studio at the end of my garden at the moment drawing, editing, repeating and creating surface patterns for my brand Elizabeth Pinn. I intend on bringing out a new season/ range of patterns fairly soon ... hopefully by the end of summer this year!
Whilst I am still in the designing stage however I am constantly getting inspired by all the sewing and craft related bits and pieces I have collected that live in various places in my studio!

These are a few threads, ribbons and trimmings that I have been loving recently! ...

A very tidy and organised small snapshot of my desk in my studio below...

Retro Coin Purse!

Ive caught the zipped purse bug at the moment and have been practising yet again by making this cute coin purse made in a striking retro print fabric with a gorgeous deep brown faux leather back!
I love the size of this purse and its perfect for parking change but can also fit your card and phone if needed! ✂️

Handmade Coasters!

I have lots of scrap fabric lying around my studio left over from other projects as I never like to throw any away, today I used these small monochrome graphic print fabric scraps to make some fun and practical coasters!
As the base of this fabric is white I thought it would be a sensible idea to make them wipe-able by using an iron on vinyl which I have enjoyed using before!
As these are going to be used as coasters I realised I would need to make them as flat as possible to avoid any tea spillages in the future! I therefore haven't used any wadding on these but have used a fusible interlining to just lift them very slightly.
These are a very quick and simple craft project for anyone to have a go at and is a great way of using up those left over fabrics!

Instagram

I've used Instagram for a while now and still absolutely love it as its the perfect way of showing the new products, fabrics and designs Ive been spending my time on and also lots of bits that I find inspiriting and want to share with my followers!
I also love Instagram as it enables me to see what is inspiring other designers, artists and customers and be inspired myself by the work of others!

I would highly recommend getting on the Instagram bus and promise you wont regret it!

 Here are a few of my Instagram pictures from my profile ....

 

Please follow my Instagram @elizabethpinn ! (https://instagram.com/elizabethpinn/ ) 

Experimenting...

Whilst I am still designing surface patterns I am also experimenting with making products and trying new features!
I have been experimenting with magnetic poppers ... a smart and functional way to close bags and pouches!
I have also been trying out different shapes of zipped bags such as the image below with a boxed style bottom!

Fold Over Clutch Purses

I recently purchased some gorgeous dark brown faux leather or leatherette fabric and was desperate to get sewing with it!
So today I took a break from pattern designing and I made these two fun and practical folded clutch purses, with a cotton fabric on one side and the faux leather on the other!
I really enjoyed making these and am really pleased with how they came out ... this is definitely a product I will be making with my own printed fabric once I have finished designing!

Looking at Colours...

I have started to design patterns again and as part of this process I have been looking at different colours to incorporate into my designs.

Here are a few of the colours Ive been looking at ...

Floristry Evening Course Weeks 3-10!

I have now completed my floristry evening course I started earlier in the year.
This was a really fun and interesting course in a subject I had never attempted before!
I wouldn't call my self any kind of florist - however I now have an understanding of basic elements of floristry which I am sure I'll be able to use in the future!
I would highly recommend an evening course like this one and trying to step out of your comfort zone!

Below are the pieces I created in weeks 3- 10 of the course!

New Designs This Year!

My favourite part of making homewares is designing repeat surface patterns to be digitally printed onto fabrics for the home. Up until recently I have only been able to have my designs printed occasionally as I was sourcing from Overseas which took time and was expensive.
I have recently however found a UK digital printer who deals in short runs ... perfect for me!
I am SO happy with the quick production and quality of this printer and I will be having lots of new designs printed this year!
Here is one of my new designs that I made from an original lino print, which I then turned into a repeat and had digitally printed onto a medium weight cotton canvas fabric!

An introduction to Floristy evening course

This year I decided to try something new so I have enrolled on an evening course called 'An Introduction to all aspects of Floristry'
So far I have been to 2 classes and have learnt how to make a Button Hole and a Corsage, as a complete beginner I am learning a lot and cant wait to practise my new skills!
Next week is Hand Tied Bouquets ...

A Belated Post!

Just before Christmas I had a stall at The Preston Candover School Christmas Fair, the school was full of various gifts, chocolates, games and more and was a pleasure to be at!
Here is a little snap of my stall!