Hello December

my home studio where all the sewing happens

My December started with a lot of blessings. First, Tina Katwal came to my city and she visited me! I was so excited when she told me a few weeks ago. Finally, I get to meet the leader in our Desi Quilters (the biggest Quilt Guild in India). We've known each other for almost a decade on Facebook. She's an accomplished quilter and entrepreneur. Her studio, the Square Inch in Chennai is literally our go-to shop for anything related to quilting or sewing! Online and Offline. It was really an honor to meet her and hopefully, I can visit her in the near future. 

We talked about quilts and more quilts and a lot of plans for the Desi Quilters activities. I really admire her passion to take Indian Quilter society to the next level, from managing the group to organizing the India Quilt Festival. The first Quilt Festival in India and also showcasing Indian Quilts in several cities in India. Kudos to her! Do check out her Facebook Page or visit her Website to see more. 

Thank you Tina for the beautiful gifts!

The second thing is I woke up to an email from Etsy that I'm a star seller for the month of December. Wow, I really did not expect this! There are a lot of opinions when Etsy first launch the star seller badge and honestly, I still have a mixed feeling about it. Especially as a handmade seller who creates the product from scratch by myself. It's really a nice surprise and a good feeling as the badge is a validation and recognition of your hard work and services. Thank you for all your supports! I would not be able to achieve it without your love and supports! 

Sewing wise, in the last couple of days, I finished quite a few wallets, for orders and stock. This family passport wallet in world map print is pretty popular and from these two wallets, only one is available now in the shop now. I still have a little bit of map print fabrics, but I think I'm going to make a new family passport wallet for myself. We need a new one anyway! 

Map print family travel wallet

Don't you love these cute zipper ends?

I love this linen floral print wallet so much and I am using one myself. It's also available in Blue with the same beige combination. Nowadays I made more zipper closure wallets and I love it too. Especially I love using a single tape zipper.  You can check the tutorial HERE (for the family passport wallet) or HERE for the mall wallet.

Linen Wallet

Lavender Wallet

Bifold Wallet

Snoopy Wallet

Zip Around Wallet

I am still following the time blocking plan and frankly, it makes me more focused and relaxed, especially with a lot of things are going on right now. I still have a basket full of WIPS but I am working on it slowly, as time permits. With the combination of time blocking and batching, I am sure we can be more productive. 

The lake near my sons' school

Thank you for stopping by!

Happy Sewing,

Elvira

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Linking up to these wonderful BLOGS

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Etsy India : Sharing and Autumn Sewing

Sharing

I've been pretty busy last week as I was asked by the Etsy India team to share my experience as an Etsy seller. Radhika from Etsy India has been a great help during the full week preparation. I had to send photos and video clips for the social media promo, etc. It was a great learning experience for me and also great fun. I truly hope more Indian crafters would take a leap and start their own business. If you want to catch up on the event it's on Etsy Facebook Page. 

Virtual Selfie with Etsy India Team

Open your Etsy Shop & get 40 Free Listing

Thank you to those who personally message me and told me that they learned a lot from the session. I hope I can share more in the future. Maybe on this blog if you like or a video on my Youtube Channel, Insha Allah.

Sewing

On the sewing front, I was busy making these Mini Travel Wallets for a custom order.  I do love how they turned out esp the Panda! I had the fabric for quite sometimes. It's Linen I bought from my trip to Indonesia and wondering what should I make. I actually cut one for a zipper pouch and it's still waiting to be finished. Insha Allah by next week.

This time I tried to batch sewing the wallet and finish hand sewing the binding in one sitting and a few episodes of Kdrama :D. I really do enjoy the hand sewing part of my wallet. I took a couple of photos and will put them up on my Etsy Shop for a custom order. I am preparing for ready to ship items more now, so if you're looking for one of a kind gift, be sure to favorite the shop! Well, maybe not so many, as I am working solo, but I'll try to add a few products at a time. Wish me luck!!

Also, I do upgrade to express shipping via FedEx for certain products! 

Mini Wallet Pattern | Handmade Travel Wallets

Autumn

Although we don't have the color-changing tree moments during Autumn, it still is my favorite season. The sun shines brightly but milder. The humidity is going down which makes the afternoon more pleasant. Here are a few shots from our compound. 

Olive tree

Thank you for reading my blog, I hope you enjoy your visit :)

Until next time,

Stay safe!

- Elvira_

Quirky Passport Wallets

Hello,

October is my fave month, because the weather is just perfect. A perfect sewing weather! 

I recently finished these two travel wallets from my own Pattern (you can get it HERE). This yellow one below with quirky travel theme print is  really cute. I saw this print on Nomura Tailor Instagram page and luckily when we went to Kyoto in January they still have it! I picked up 3 colors of the same print. I am wondering what to make next, since I only purchased half yard each. 

Quirky Travel Wallet

I used blue checked shot cotton (handloom) fabric for combination and a stripe shot cotton fabric for binding! 

The second one this this pink and brown combo. I call it Catman in NYC print. Salmon pink & brown always go really well together, right? The polkadot fabric for the flap is from my stash. (I seriously need to sew from my stash only!) 

Couple Passport Holder

This passport wallet is very popular with travelers. Either couple traveler or small family. The passport slot can easily store up to 3 passports, plus there are 2 slip pockets and 1 zipper pocket along with 6 card slots. I always this travel wallet when I travel alone. That way, I don't need to carry extra purse with me. 

These wallets and the pattern are available on both my Etsy Shop and Webstore. As I mentioned in my previous post about new Etsy advertising policy, I did increase the price in Etsy after I sat down with hubby and did a serious calculation which turned out I was in the red for a couple of months! But if you want to save some extra bucks, do check out my Webstore and let me know what you think about it!

If you're running a handmade business, especially if you're selling in Etsy, do your calculation properly! Well, having your own website is much cheaper, but Etsy has the crowd. Change is never easy, hopefully we all will be back to track again soon! Thank you so much for always supporting handmade artists _/\_

That's all for today! Happy Crafting!!

Elvira

Resources :

Travel Wallet Pattern

Quirky Yellow Travel Wallet

Catman in NYC Passport Wallet

A New Batch of Small Bifold Wallets

Hello,

I made a few small bifold wallets last month but two of them have been claimed. I love using small wallet especially when I take my mini sling bag. Since the boys are grown up, I mostly take sling bag when I go out, that's why I need a small purse which I can just slip it into my small purse. 

I am quite a minimalist that way, because normally I only take 3 cards and cash/changes. And I somehow my wallet always full of receipts which I often forgot to throw away. Bin is not something that easily available near the cashier counter in here. Maybe they should start one.

Features:

1 main compartment

3 card slots

1 slip pocket

1 coin compartment 

snap button closure

hand sewn binding 

So here is some of them. They are now available for purchase and/or custom order in my WEBSHOP and ETSY

Kawaii Cat Wallet 

Pink and Blue - a Perfect combination

Red and Black Alice in Wonderland

Alice Small Bifold Wallet 

Denim is always in fashion

Minimal Wallet Minimal Design

I ship worldwide from my webshop too. I am trying to regularly update it, but if you don't see any update you can always email me. 

 I'm still on holiday mood after came back from Indonesia last week LOL but slowly getting back to my old routine. So many things I want to sew!

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Happy Sunday!

Elvira

Personalized Family Passport Wallet

"Denim is a love that never fades - Elio Fiorucci"

Denim Travel Wallet

Well, I guess the quote is right! I always love working with denim and collected quite a few of blue and black denim from my local fabric shop. I've been meaning to make Denim Passport Holder and finally I did it. 

I thought it will be difficult to hand stitch the binding, but surprisingly it was not the case. I used a light denim of course. I have a thicker one which I use to make this Cross Body Bag and this tote bag.

Choosing the combo fabrics took a bit of time since denim will look good with anything! I decided to use the linen London theme fabric and red lining. Red is always a good idea! 

London Denim Passport Wallet

At the same time I was working on a custom order of the same style of passport holder. The one with passport slots and card holder. She wanted to gift the wallet and wanted me to add personalization. Nowadays personalization using leather or faux leather is popular but personally I prefer hand embroidered one. 

I used running stitch since the label is pretty small. I printed the names from my computer including the border lines and later trace it on linen.  It's about 3/4 inch wide and just perfect to add to the passport slot.

Personalized Travel Wallet

The buyer messaged me that she loved it and that made my day!! 

If you'd like a personalized wallet with hand embroidered letters, simply go to my Etsy Shop. I'd be happy to assist you!

By the way, Insha Allah, I will be away for holiday in the first week of July,  however the shop will remain open but I will process the orders after I come back.

Thank your from dropping by! 

Have a nice day!

- Elvira-

Double Zip Wallet and Travel Wallet

Hello,

It's almost the end of the year and December has been a busy month for me. Thank you so much for always supporting my small business.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by C.H.E.Z.V.I.E.S by Elvira (@chezvies_shop) on Dec 28, 2018 at 8:45pm PST

In between working on orders, last week I went for a photography workshop held by Sony for Sony Alpha Camera Users.

Though it turned out to be more of marketing presentation but I enjoyed it nevertheless.  Especially looking at all those high end cameras and lenses

here are few things that's been happening

I made a green polka dot passport wallet  while working on orders and also made a camera strap sleeve. Isn’t that cool? I am thinking of add this in my shop. But I need to make a few more first! What do you think?

So about the double zip wallet (pattern by Noodlehead)  I finally cut this green apple denim fabric. Nowadays I am trying to make few pieces of one product.   This is one of my way to increase ready to ship stocks in my Etsy shop and of course to use my fabric stash ^^ . I hope with more ready to ship items, I will be driving more sales! 
Besides, it makes me more creative. It's way more effective to do it this way that just scrolling Pinterest or Instagram.

I posted the above photo in Instagram a few days ago. I know posting on social media is easier and faster but I want to write a blog post about it too for my personal reference. It's easier to let the buyers know on my blog then scrolling endless Instagram Photos. 

I love this simple wallet. It has all the necessary slots and pockets for your daily needs like slots for multiple cards, bills, mobile phone and of course the double zip pockets are very handy. Especially if you like to keep all those shop receipts like me ^__^. 

I made a  little changes from the pattern, that is the way of attaching zipper. I used zipper tabs which I find easier for me. Though the top stitching part is a bit struggling. But I am happy with the result and I hope you too.

I have a few double zip wallet in the making right now which hopefully will be ready after New year! If you're in Instagram, feel free to follow my behind the scene stories. That's all for today, I better get back to my sewing table and finish up a couple of orders before the New year roll in.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Elvira Threeyama (@chezvies) on Dec 25, 2018 at 11:53pm PST

Until then,

Happy Holidays!!

~ Elvira~ 

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