Elizabeth Chandler Designs » Accessories

The Great Tote Bag Challenge: Final Post

Beth — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 23:42:19 +0000

It took several months, but I’m finally finished with The Great Tote Bag Challenge! I now have 9 super cute bags to sell in my Etsy shop and I learned so much in the process. My sewing speed has increased as well. Maybe I’ll try the challenge again on some other patterns, as it seems like that’s the only way i’ll get motivated enough to build up an inventory.

Anyway… check out my progress through this challenge by clicking on my other blog entries here, here, here, and here. If you want to buy these bags but want them in a different color pallet contact me and we’ll see what we can come up with.

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The Great Tote Bag Challenge: Part 4

Beth — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 00:10:11 +0000

The orange color pallet is finished, and I only have three more bags to go in The Great Tote Bag Challenge! If you would like to buy these bags check out my Etsy Shop by clicking the link or the tab above. I made one of these bags for me and I absolutely love it for weekend trips. The fabric is super cute too!

More pictures after the fold.

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Knitted Coin Purses

Beth — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 10:16:34 +0000

I mentioned before that I’m learning to knit – not that I need another hobby, but I just wanted to learn the tecniques. I finally finished my first two projects but I’m not too sure I like the finished product. Learning to knit from a pattern more complicated than a scarf allowed me to practice several “advanced” tecniques like buttonholes, changing colors, decreasing, and hand sewing the seams. Knitting is a lot of fun in cold weather, but now that it’s hot I can’t seem to get motivated to start another project.

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Upcycling & Repurposing Clothes

Beth — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 10:36:46 +0000

The trend over the past few years is to “go green” with just about anything and everything. There have been famous sculptors that turn trash into art and the latest thing is to take old clothes and change them into something new and modern. There’s even a tv show using that same theme. I have to admit that I started this blog on that same premise, but it seems like we’ve taken things to the extreme. I mean, if we are going to recycle something shouldn’t it be made out of something we already own instead of using gas in our cars to go buy something at the thrift store?

Anyway…enough of my rant. Here’s a few pictures of my repurposing a tank top that was too big and a skirt that was too small.

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The Great Tote Bag Challenge, part 2

Beth — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 23:34:59 +0000

A few weeks ago I embarked on “The Great Tote Bag Challenge.” This was an effort to have an inventory for my soon to be new Etsy shop. It’s been a slow process, but I’m getting through these totes and duffels. Here’s a picture of my latest bags.

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Unfinished Projects

Beth — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 13:23:00 +0000

Like many other crafters out there I have several unfinished projects. I tried with good intentions to follow along with Colette Pattern’s Spring Palette Challenge, but I haven’t even bought the fabric yet. Not to mention all the fabric I have stashed under my bed with aspirations. One day I will get to it all and then maybe I won’t feel guilty for buying more craft supplies.

Adding pottery to the mix wasn’t the best idea, as I have shelves of bone dry clay just waiting to be fired. Recently I enlisted my husband to make several wood forms for pottery molds. I love the square form he made, hopefully the finished product will turn out like my expectations.

I made several beaded earrings for Christmas gifts last year, so I wanted to try to make a necklace from one of the tecniques. After working on this for several hours, I realized this may take me years to finish.

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2 Large Totes

Beth — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 02:00:13 +0000

2 Totes Finished! I’m working my way through The Great Tote Bag Challenge and here are pictures of my finished projects. Only 7 more bags to go.

I don’t know what I was thinking, but I decided to quilt these two bags. Love the look, hate the process. I’ve quilted this same bag pattern before, click here to see how its done.

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The Great Tote Bag Challenge!

Beth — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 18:37:37 +0000

Lately I’ve been thinking about taking Elizabeth Chandler Designs in a new direction. I haven’t quite put all the pieces together in my mind, but I do know it involves more inventory. The first step to acquiring more inventory is to make it! So…I’ve embarked on The Great Tote Bag Challenge! My goal is to make 9 bags, 6 totes and 3 duffel bags. I found some really great Robert Kaufman and M’Liss fabric and set to work.

Here’s a picture of my stash after cutting but before sewing. I may have bitten off more than I can chew.

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Sew, Mama, Sew! Pillow Month

Beth — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 01:23:39 +0000

I’ve recently fallen in love with the Sew, Mama, Sew! website and blog. Their shop contains the latest fabric, patterns, and notions to keep any sewing enthusiast “window shopping” for hours. Multiple contributors bring fresh ideas and easy to follow sewing tutorials to their blog. In December several well known sewing bloggers posted their predictions for 2011. I loved reading their visions about what “Will Be Hot” and can completely see some of these ideas coming true! I especially enjoyed reading about the up and coming sewers, and hope my name will be on their short list one day. February was pillow month! Followers could post pictures of their pillow creations and there were also several tutorials on pillow making techniques and pillow embellishing. See Below for a few of my favorites. Click on the image to visit each source.

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Beaded Earrings

Beth — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 13:34:12 +0000

To go along with my earlier post about the teacup candles, I also made some beaded earrings. I always imagined beading would be difficult, but to my dismay, it was really simple. This may be my new hobby! I bought all the supplies at Michael’s Art’s and Crafts store, including pink pliers! Take a look at a few of my creations.

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Mood Fabrics & Leather Impact

Beth — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 17:38:56 +0000

A few weeks ago, my mom took me to New York City for a girls’ weekend. We had so much fun shopping, watching Broadway shows, and eating tons of great food. While in New York I wanted to go to the garment district to shop for fabric. Here in Greenville we don’t have much opportunity to buy really nice fabric, so I wanted to check out the local New York designer fabric shops. The Garment district is filled with stores to create all types of fabric arts. They have shops specifically for buttons, trims, spandex and anything else you need to make purses, clothes, and home accents. Due to time constraints we could only choose a few places to shop so my mom and I went to Mood Fabrics and Leather Impact. We could have spent hours walking around the 25,000 square feet of fabric in Mood Fabrics, but I was on a mission for only two things. I really wanted to find some pretty wool tweed to make a winter weather skirt and also some cashmere. It’s very hard to find good quality wool except on the internet, but then you don’t have the option to touch it before your purchase. I also wanted to find good quality leather, and by leather I mean 100% real leather, not synthetic or leather looking vinyl. Leather Impact has a wide variety of good quality leather and suede. They also have pre-made leather straps for bags and purses. Here are a few pictures of Mood and Leather Impact.

Mood Fabrics

Inside Mood Fabrics

Leather Impact

Inside Leather Impact

My Fabric Stash – it’s not much but I spent a small fortune.

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Toddler Backpack

Beth — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 16:51:46 +0000

One of my co-workers has been looking for a child’s backpack for her little girl. Since I don’t know much about making a bag for a child, I turned to the internet for help. I found several different designs that I liked, but none were exactly what I was looking for. I liked one design feature from one backpack and then another one on a completely different bag. As usual, I started drafting and combined all the aspects I liked. Here is a picture of the bag I made.

I found some really cute polka-dot canvas fabric and some bright red straps. I used D-rings to make the straps adjustable.

Even though only a few people will see the bottom of the bag, the quilting adds a little something extra.

The back of the bag is even cute.

My friend specifically asked for a sippy cup holder on the side.

To make the backpack easy to clean, I lined it with clear vinyl. Only warm soapy water is needed to clean the inside.

Now it’s toddler-proof!

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