Last month, I made a few Rosie Wallet orders. This time the customer wanted a flap closure. This is one quick wallet that you can make over the weekends. The original pattern has a hidden button closure.
This year I promise myself I won't buy new fabrics and will only sew from my stash! and these are some of them. Last month I was busy sorting out my fabric stash, organizing my bag-making supplies and organising my WIPs. I found this metal button which matches perfectly for the wallet! Metal buttons, especially the antique color, give out rustic vibes, which I love.
I use handloom or hand-woven cotton fabric from my stash for the fabric combo. I have always been fond of Indian handloom - its multi-hued colour looks very nice for my projects to use as an accent or combo. It's also easy to work with.
The Rosie wallet is small and compact, it's just perfect to carry around every day. I love to carry one when I use a smaller handbag or crossbody bag. Nowadays, with mobile payment becoming more common, I hardly have to carry my credit or debit cards although I can literally fit in 10 cards in this small wallet.
You can check out my latest wallets in my ETSY shop or on my WEBSITE.
And if you want to make your own Rosie Wallet, it's available on my ETSY SHOP and SEW MODERN BAG
Finally, the video tutorial for the Safari Travel Wallet is up on my YouTube Channel. I hope the video can help to visualize how to make the wallet from the beginning. I am trying to get a better angle as I recorded the video and also try not to skip the process. The video is sped up 2 to 3 times from the original. If you want to watch it at a slower speed, you can do so by clicking the setting on your YouTube screen.
The original pattern only has instructions for flap closure which is pretty easy, but as many customers like zip-around closure more, I decided to make the video for the zip-around version. If anyone wants to see the flap closure version, I will record one when I make my next wallet. Do let me know in the comment.
I really enjoy recording the video and I really hope to share more sewing tutorials in the future. If you heard some funny noise in between the videos, that's because my son was watching a football match, or sometimes, someone came and asked something in the middle of the recording. Maybe I should put a sign like "recording in progress, do not disturb" LOL
I hope you find the video useful and you can understand the process of making the wallet. I'm looking forward to your feedback!
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.
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!
It's already mid of September and we're still staying home as much as we can! Thank God for the internet, at least I can video call my family back home in Indonesia. I really miss my 4 years old nephew who is now a big fan of BTS, yes, he's our little "Army".
I am still getting used to working with wrist splint. Since last month my carpal tunnel syndrome has gotten a little worse. So now I am batching my work and taking frequent breaks to do stretching. Sometimes I rest for 2 days if the pain is too much. I don't want to exert myself at this point. But the brace does help. I ordered gloves too actually from amazon but the only sent me this and refunded the gloves.
Last week, I went to meet my Indonesia friend Eva to drop avocadoes for her. It was the first weekend after the lockdown was lifted in my city. We had a lot of avocadoes this summer. And in the afternoon, Plabita came and collect a few avocados. Well, visiting is not advisable right not with cases seems to be going up day by day. We only met outside in the garden, maintaining our distance, and wearing a mask. But it's really lovely to meet friends in the real world :D. She said she's never seen an avocado tree in her life! Well, avocados are not easily available here and recently gaining popularity that the price can go up to INR 500 for one. That's crazy!
From the sewing room, I made this cute matryoshka travel wallet back in June in between sewing masks. Mask wearing is going to stay now and I'm glad that many people are wearing it now. I almost forgot how I enjoyed creating wallets right from choosing the color combo to finishing the binding by hand. If you asked me, why the binding? for me because I have a weak wrist and turning wallets or bag really painful process for me :D. Also, I love the look of the wallet with binding. It gives the one of kind handmade look!
This is another one I completed and sold. This Wonderland from Rifle Paper co is really popular with my customers and I think I am going to keep one for my self before I run out of fabrics:). Well, getting fabrics from abroad is not an easy affair right now, especially in India.
It's almost end of April. So many things going on in the last 3 weeks or so. For one, my younger son was hospitalized for typhoid. In the beginning the doctor suspected to be dengue, but Alhamdulillah it was ruled out the next day after the second blood test. And then the LS General election which happened on 18th and 23rd. Of course I don't have a voting rights but still the excitement caught on. I mostly followed the news on twitter. I also followed the Indonesian Election news which was quite "entertaining". I don't usually follow political news, but then nowadays being ignorant is no longer cool, right?! Anyway, I hope you're all made a smart choice and who ever win will fight for the people!
On creative side, in between completing custom orders, I made a few wallets for the shop. I really this simple slim wallet. I don't carry a lot of cards besides debit card, credit card and ID Card. Most of the shops I frequented usually have the membership record by phone number, so we don't necessarily have to present the cards. I love this system!
In the above wallet, I combined linen and handloom fabric because it matched nicely! Handloom is one fabric I always love and frequently buy. I love handloom tunics/dress too.
Next one, I made this super cute ellie wallet! As usual I tidy up my stash from time to time whenever I feel uninspired and I found this print. I thought of combine it with green one but I love the grey star fabric too.
Maybe next time I can make it with a green combo? What do you think?
And then I saw this cute snoopy fabric in my stash and of course I had to make another wallet!
The best thing about being bag maker is that you can make your dream bag! You can decide every details of the bag, whether you're using your self draft pattern or bought pattern from indie designers. In my case, I finally found the bag that is perfect for me. The Luisa bag pattern from Sotak Handmade. I made the indigo block print bag last week, you can see it HERE and yesterday, I made this Kaleidoscope patchwork version.
I am so in love with this one that I parade it around the house. Today the weather was nice and bright just the perfect time to click few pictures. This patchwork version has different design on each side.
My BFF Winda gave me the kaleidoscope block kit, I made this pouch earlier and have lots of fabrics left enough to make few more blocks.
The kaleidoscope pocket is slightly higher than the original pattern but it turned out to be a perfect depth.
As for the front of the bag, I have this panel fat quarter fabric. I forgot where I got it from but the color is just perfect for it. I must say, this bag is the fastest bag I made, in terms of choosing the fabrics. The grey fabric was also from Winda and the contrast red fabric was a gift from Mbak Tia when she went to Seoul last year. Thank you, girls <3
And of course I have to make a matching wallet, right?
A slim and minimalist wallet with 8 card slots and 4 slip pockets. It's based on the Passport Cover Pattern. No zipper pocket though. Now, both are ready for the trip and I better finish my packing! Japan, bring it on!!
PS: Follow my Instagram for behind the scene stories ;)
The last few weeks I was quite busy. The boys were having inter school cricket match one after the other. The elder one's under 16 Team won runner up trophy, while the younger one's under 13 Team came up 4th. A good performance for 1st timer on a competitive match! It was a huge learning experience for the younger team . We are very proud of them!
Fielding
Under 13 Team - SBGJ Guwahati
Well done!
I've learnt quite a few cricket terms in those 2 weeks ! LOL .
******
On creative side, I'd like to thank all of you who came and purchased few items during the Cyber Week Sale!
I'm still working on few orders right now and added two bifold wallets in the shop. I really had fun making these wallets.
I'm a huge fan of Riley Blake fabrics and collected quite a few. Most of them I bought from Etsy and some from my trip to Seoul. This green wallet was from the FQ bundle
I really love the cute fox and owl print. FQ bundle works best when we get stuck in mix matching! The polkadot don't come from the bundle though. The wallet is rather spacious with 6 card slots and zipper pocket. It can fit in your phone too!!
The second one is this sewing theme wallet. Sewing or quilting theme is another print that I tend to purchase more. I was browsing my fabric stash and saw the fabrics which I got from my trip to Indonesia.
Taking photo of these two were rather challenging. Somehow I could not get the best shot! Maybe I will try again when I get a good natural lights. December is always a bit cloudy here.
I have few more wallets cut and ready to sew and also have a couple of quilting projects that I need to finish!
Meanwhile, the boys are having unit test until next week. Wish us luck!!
What about you? What are you working on this week?
Just pop in for a little shop updates! If you follow me in Instagram, you probably have seen my latest wallet collections. I've been making bifold wallets almost everyday in between working on Passport holder orders.
I'm currently finished 3 out of 6 wallets that I am planning to make. The floral fabrics are just too pretty to just sitting in my cupboard, right?
The second one is this peach bifold wallet. The background color is so pretty, I was in two minds whether to use teal blue combination or peach, and decided to do the latter.
Maybe I will use teal blue or green combination next time!
And here is the Floral Pink Wallet. The powder pink polkadot looks very lovely. I've been saving the fabric for the right project! And this women's wallet is just perfect!
These pretty wallets are slightly wider than the previous wallet, so that it can double up as travel wallet or phone wallet.
I used medium weight woven interfacing and a stiff poly batting which is a great combination. It's study yet soft to hold. These bifold wallets will be a great gift for your loved ones!
They are now available in my ETSY SHOP and it's Free Worldwide Shipping.
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