New additions!

No I am not expanding my house or my family. But I am expanding the store. There are bunch of new purse additions over in the TrilliumShoppe so feel free to go and shop there if you are in the mood for a new purse. Or you can shoppe - it's up to you.

Here is newest addition:
The Kari Shopper
The Kari shopper comes in two sizes to suit everyone's shopping tote needs. Named after my favorite shopper! This one has plenty of stunning detail in the hardware (said in my best salesperson voice).

Stay tuned!

Purse Primer: Interfacing

I wanted to share some wisdom ~ or whatever you want to call what trickles from my brain ~ on the subject of Purse interfacing. All snickering aside (ahem I know there are a few of you) I have tried just about every kind of interfacing over the last few months (US based anyway) as I have entered the world of purse production, and there are a few do's and dont's I thought it prudent to share.

This primer is for solid or tote style bags - like these:

This will not work for bags which require some drape or gathering to the fabric like these:


So keep that in mind.

1. The best thing to line the main outside fabric of the purse is fusible fleece. I personally prefer HTC fleece as it is a bit denser than pellon and thus gives a nicer and more even feel to the outside of the bag but pellon fusible fleece will work as well if that is all you can find. Fuse this to the back of the outer purse fabric according to the manufacturer's recommendations. Fusible fleece doesn't give you alot of stiffness though so you need to use more interfacing to avoid the purse floppies. Purse floppies are a no-no in my book. I need my purse to stand-up at the checkout counter while i'm digging through it and all it's contents while frantically searching for my wallet. It is difficult to find anything in a purse that is suffering from the floppies. So I avoid them at all costs.

2. Next step is to add a layer of fusible heavy-weight interfacing to the lining of the purse. This will avoid the floppies, makes the lining lie nice and flat inside the purse and avoids pull-ups. Pull-ups are not a training pant. They are when you are attempting to remove something from your purse and you end up bringing up the entire lining and the purse contents to boot - not a good thing - again very annoying in the check-out line when you are trying to pay and simultaneously retrieve the contents of your purse from the floor.

The best heavy weight fusible is decor bond 809 from Pellon but craft fuse 508 will work also. You might find however that you get some of what I call the crunchies with craft fuse - this is those little crinkles that appear when you work with the fabric - as in when you are sewing it - and crunchies are also not allowed in my book. They are unsightly and since i'm all about appearances (apparently) they are not allowed either. You can get rid of crunchies with pressing but they will continue to return as the bag is used. However, since it is lining and you might not be able to see the crunchies anyway, go for it if you aren't a perfectionist like me. Decor bond comes in 54" widths and craft fuse in 22" widths and both are available at most chain retailers.

3. This step is optional - it really depends on how much stiffness you want in your purse. You can add a layer of Peltex into the bottom of the bag - this is really just to give you more support but isn't really necessary unless you have a larger size purse bottom where more support is needed for example in a large tote bag. You can cut a piece of peltex the size of the bottom of the bag and just insert it prior to closing up the lining. If you cut it just to the finished size of the bag, it won't move around on you during use.

That's it! A three-step interfacing primer - it doesn't get any easier than that. Now go sew and have fun.

Weekly update

You know the thing about blogs, is once you have one you then feel compelled to write something in them ~ regularly. And as time goes along and you don't write anything, you really feel a sense of urgency to do some sort of update ~ Lest people forget about you entirely and your readership disappears, your sense of self worth is gone.... Ok not really, for me it's just about the passage of time and my need to continuously accomplish something. Blog posts are like little checkmarks on your life and I'm all about the checkmarks. I'm not sure where that trait came from, probably requires therapy but I'm happy with it like that.

When I started this blog, I really planned to only post about sewing. But heck life is about more than sewing, or it should be so occassionally you might find a tidbit of my life thrown into the mix here and there . Then again, it's pretty tough to have a blog about sewing if you aren't sewing. Well ok I have been sewing just a bit, but I'm not ready to post about that just yet. Meanwhile we have come to that point in the year when it's time to clear out the old and move in the new. In this case I have to clear out my kids old outgrown clothing. My particular brand of kids grow like weeds - I personally think mine are weedier than the rest, but perhaps my perception is skewed. Late July is about the month when it's time to start selling those outgrown fall and winter clothes on ebay. Well, ok I realize it isn't July yet, but I hate sitting in front of my computer on those warm sunny days of summer, so I have quit selling clothes entirely and shuffled the job off to someone else. My lovely and helpful Trading Assistant ~ that's what she calls herself ~ I like to call her Jen. But she does all the hard work for me which is fabulous because I just mentioned my lack of fondness for the job right? Unlike me however, she is very organized and prepared and wants to get the job started before July, hence my need to ship them off to her now. So that is what I have been doing for the last few nights, sorting through the clothes and packing them up. I really despise this job. Thank goodness for Jen. Alas, this requires me to box it up and ship it to her as she is probably about 3000 miles from me. Yeah that's really cost effective I know but sometimes time is worth more than money. Anyway, so off it goes and the sooner the better so I can get back to my sewing machine. Jen sells for lots of people so if you want to check out her auctions you can do so here in the next few months.

Ok I promise, I will post again soon. I have a big purse launch in the works and it will go up in the Etsy shop as soon as I can get some nice photographs in the daylight.

Cheers

Open for Business

You asked for - and you got it! That's right - I have finally opened up the Trillium Shoppe. After weeks of tireless work and planning (ok maybe i'm exaggerating a bit), we now have inventory in stock and it's ready to ship out. Purses and card wallets for now - full sized wallets and messenger bags are coming soon. Keep an eye on it because I'll be adding new stock to it daily.

Here's a sampling of the goodies:

Aviary Purse

Aviary Purse
Originally uploaded by trilliumdesign

A new edition to the line-up. This was a challenge to put together to say the least. It has front and back side pockets. The front pocket has a magnetic tab closure and about 14 layers of fabric/interfacing, I kid you not, on the final seam to be sewn through. Phew it was a toughy, but I'm pleased with the results. Fabrics are mostly Joel Dewberry.

Short and sweet for today.