Handmade Gifts for Men and Cute Gifts for Girls

Handmade Wallets for Men

 

My FB friend sent me a message that she wanted 2 handmade wallets for her husband and son. After discussing fabric option, we agreed on the herringbone tweed and black jute fabrics. The wallet should be minimalist with only 4 card slots and one is without flap. 

Working with tweed and jute is pretty tricky. I used  all purpose interfacing for both wallets which turned out better than I expected. The fabrics are also fray a lot, so I usually cut it bigger than the actual intended size just to be on the safe side. 

Herringbone Tweed Wallet

Black Jute Wallet

For the measurement and construction, I basically  follow the Nuno Wallet Pattern, I reduced the size a little bit since it's only 2 card slots on each side. 

After receiving her wallet, she messaged me  on Whatsapp again and wanted 2 more of the same wallets but with divider for the bill compartment. Sometimes, the best ideas are from your customers!! 

Behind The Scenes Video

With the second order she also wanted the mini backpacks! She wanted in pink floral and after she chose her fabrics, I got to work immediately as I have to finish the order before Monday as Tuesday I was leaving for Delhi to see off my boys! 

The viola mini backpack is very easy and quick to make. And I love making these cute little backpacks!! I carried one myself to keep my air buds and chap stick, very practical and cute accessories for everyday. 

Mini Backpack

Cute and practical bag accessories 

You can fit in so many things in this tiny backpack

Thank God all orders finished on time! Thank you so much Priya for your trust and support!! 

The wallets and mini backpacks are now available for custom orders in my WEBSITE and ETSY. 

Speaking about Etsy, there are so many changes recently from fee structures, algorithm to SEO. I am wondering if I should reopen international shipping from my Website as it will be more affordable. Sometimes, we have to pay fees which goes up to almost  $10 for less than $30 orders. Please let me know what do you think? Would you likely to buy from a website or from Etsy? 

Thank you so much for reading my blog. 

Have a nice day!

Elvira

Linking up to these wonderful BLOGS

Few Small Wallets and new Etsy Search Algorithm

Black Cat Wallet!

I've been having a lot of fun making a few bi-fold wallets! I tried out different fabrics, from quilting cotton to linen and denim.

It feels good to finally sewing wallets and stuff after so many months making face masks. I'm still making a few for family and friends and also offer face masks in my Etsy Shop. The Trio Spacious Face Masks is quite popular and it feels good to get nice feedback from buyers! Thank you !!

Besides that, last month I was busy with getting my tax ID done. Lucky me, my dear hubby is a CA so he's been a great help. I am totally blank when it comes to tax! Finally, all those are done and there's a couple of things I need to do regarding my small business. After getting my GSTIN done, I feel like I'm doing a real business. It's scary at the same time! I need to learn more and get all my papers organized! Wish me luck!

Back to the wallet, I'm working on the pattern right now. It's progressing quite slow, I am about 70% done with the editing, I just need to edit a couple of photos and add them in the pattern! There will be a zipper version and a flap version. I'm so excited to share the pattern. It's super easy! Once I'm done with a few custom orders, I'll be able to sit and finish the pattern.  Hopefully, I can release it within this month. 

 Small Bifold Wallet

The above photo is a few of the flap versions that I made and they are available in the SHOP now. And here's the zipper version:

ETSY NEW SEARCH POLICY

By the way, last week in the Etsy Q3 report, they said they are going to implement Personalized search. WHich means Etsy is doing what Google and others are doing. What does this mean? This mean:

1. Etsy is showing potential buyers search results based on their search history. 

2. Every buyer will see a different result even if they search using the same keywords.

3. Etsy is showing more local shops. But if you sold one item to a buyer from a particular city, state, or country, your products might be shown in the search result of that particular city, state, or country. This happened to me several times last month, where I sold a few items to people in the same state in the USA within a week. 

If you want more in-depth analysis you can tune in to Kara Buntin Youtube Channel. She's the best! I learned a lot from her video series and her class! 

Now, what can we do as an Etsy Seller in India?

1. Do not change your keywords right now. Instead, observe your Etsy stats more and start working on your social media marketing. I shared about Basic Pinterest Marketing with Etsy India Sellers at our Monthly community meet last month. 

2. Optimize your listing, especially those which don't get enough views or visit. Etsy search trend changes every week or so. Optimizing old listing or almost expired listing, do help in boosting in search placement. 

3. If you're using Etsy ads, make sure to optimize the listing before put them in Ads!

I hope these little tips help! Competition is tough everywhere, but if you learn how to do it properly and hold on to your dreams, you will make it!

Thank you for stopping by today!

Have a nice day!

Elvira

~ Linking up to these wonderful BLOGS~

Small Handmade Gifts

Hello October!

In the past few weeks we have so much of rain which make the weather very pleasant! I took this Slow Motion video yesterday just for fun! 

The last two weeks I was busy with custom orders, Alhamdulillah. Also busy working on my Etsy Shops. Etsy is changing it's advertising policy and now the Etsy Promoted Ads and Google Ads are merged. This makes many sellers very disappointed, because suddenly our visits and views dropped drastically since August. Even my stores! With the new system, we don't have any control over the CPC and our daily budget is quickly spent! For bigger shops maybe they are not much affected but for smaller shops like mine, this changing really affect us. 

I'm still working on my Etsy shops to adjust with the new changes! and it takes up a LOT of time!! Meanwhile, here's a few things I finished.

I finished this Pink Floral Double Zip Pouch last week. I decided to go with grey polkadots as an accent fabric. Well, if nothing works, go for polkadots! :D 

Nowadays I love using metal zipper, since I learned how to sew with metal zipper without breaking your needle! It looks good also. I ordered more yardage for metal zips and still waiting. I hope I will get it after the Durga Puja Holiday.

I also made these cute pocket tissue holders. They make a great gift, right? I am using my Indian fabric scraps and simply love how they turned out. These tissue holders are available in my Etsy Shop as well as on my Webshop! 

Blue or Yellow

Small Floral Tissue Holder

I also made these cute  Tissue holder  and Mini Zipper Tissue Pouch

That's all for today. I still have a few orders to finish this week and also huge homework of working on my Etsy SEO. With Etsy changing, I think it's time for me to revise my prices on Etsy too. However you can also check out my WEBSHOP too. I ship internationally from my webshop too! 

I will list few links below in case you need.

Thank you for stopping by,

Have a nice day!

~ Elvira ~

Resources :

Double Zip Pattern

Tissue Zipper Pouch Pattern

Pocket Tissue Holder Tutorial

Etsy Ads /SEO Tutorial