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

Retro Wallets and New Etsy Advertising

Hello,

I've been busy trying to make sense of the Etsy new advertising this past few weeks. Reading forum posts, FB groups and also YouTube videos. Well, the new Etsy Advertising did hurt small shops! Some big ads spenders are affected too and they even lower their ads budget so low! 

We're filling up the research /feedback forms and hopefully they will bring back the old Etsy ads where we can set our CPC and can control where our money are being spent. In the mean time, I had to switch off Ads in my Fabric Shop and Handmade Shop due to the low ROAS in the last 2 months! Willingly or not, we have to increase the price to cover the cost of Advertisements, Etsy Fees and Paypal Fees. Well, we live and learn, right? Let's hope for the best

In the meantime, I enabled Worldwide Shipping in my Webstore. I'm glad I decided to start the Westore (though it was a bit neglected in between), but now it's all stock up and I'm trying to pay more attention to it. There is a currency converter on the top right of the page as your browse my Webstore. I think the Webstore will be a Win Win solution for buyers and sellers! 

Well, building a small business as a solopreneur is not easy but it is soul satisfying :D. If you just started don't be discouraged! Keep going and like they say in Kdrama, if it's not a happy ending, it's not the end as yet! 

Now let's check out what's new in the shop! 

1. Wonderland Fabric Bifold Wallet. I really really love working on this one. The Wonderland Fabric from Rifle Paper Co is really beautiful. I ordered a few more and got them a few days ago. Yay! 

Women's Wallet | Etsy | Webstore

Wonderland Bifold Wallet

2. Paris Mini Passport Wallet 

One of the popular print for passport holder in my shop is Paris theme. I mean, who wouldn't love la tour Eiffel? For the card slot I used salmon pink fabric with the same theme but in cotton. (the exterior is Japan Linen) and using a wine color polkadots for the rest. If you're a music lover and love Paris, this will be a great gift for yourself. Or check out more Paris theme Passport Holder in the shop. 

Mini Passport Wallet

3. Everyone's fave Mickey Mouse Zipper Pouch with metal double zipper. I got quite a few of Disney licensed fabrics this time from Japan and I think it's high time I start using them. If you want in different Disney print, you can check out my Instagram Page which I created only for fabric options. I mean, it's too much of work if I have to show each client what fabrics I have, right? 

Disney Double Zip Pouch | Etsy | Webstore

Polkadot yellow inside! Love it!

Thank you so much for your support all through this years! I will put the link under this post for resources, in case you decided to sew the wallets yourself ;)

Happy Sewing

- Elvira -

Resources :

Bifold Wallet Pattern

Mini Passport Wallet Pattern

Double Zipper Pouch Pattern

Linking up to:
Handmade Monday
Handmade Tuesday 

Jute Handloom Foldover Tote Bag

Hello 

As an Etsy Seller, my customers are important source of ideas. As they sent me messages on Etsy, we discussed beyond fabric option. Many customers love customized bags and wallets. And thanks to tons of indie bag designers, I can easily find a pattern which my customers may like. Like this foldover tote bag from Sotak Handmade. 

Originally she wanted a foldover clutch and then after few days she sent me another message that she wanted something bigger than a clutch. She even mentioned the size that she wanted. And as it happened I have this Megan Foldover totebag which I bought when Svetlana was having a sale last year. It was like a yay moment for me, cos then I finally can try this pattern. 

I used jute fabric and handloom fabric here. I simply love the jute fabric! It's thicker than the burlap I have in my shop, it's a home decor weight. I bought it from Shillong 2 years ago. 

The bag came together rather quickly. On the interior, there is one slip pocket. There is one exterior zipper pocket too which is very handy to keep important stuff secured. I used a matching blue poplin cotton fabric and the bag is closed with magnetic snap button. 

Bag Stats : 11" W x 13" H x 4" D

I guess I am going to make another one for my self with a different combination. What say? 

Related links :

Megan Foldover Tote

Jute Fabrics

Handloom Fabrics

Handmade Bags & Purse

Thank you for stopping by,

Have a nice day!

~ Elvira ~

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

The finished quilts

Hello,

My quilts have come back from Tsala Quilting Studio, Bangelore and I finished the binding last week. I'm so happy with how it turned out. Thank you Vatsala and team! The quilts finished just in time for my elder son's birthday and he chose the blue and yellow marble star  quilt one! 

Now, we have several long arm quilter here in India and Tsala Studio is one of them. I was speaking on the phone with Ranjana Ma'am and discussing about quilts and bag making in general. And we wished we had one long arm quilter here in Guwahati, which is from climate point of view, we should have one, since we have quite cold winter. But I have not seen a quilting culture so much in here. Most people will do knitting or weaving woolen blanket. Hopefully one day!! 

Back to my quilts, the star quilt one, as I mentioned in my previous post, is from the Desi Quilter Quilting bee. I used yellow block print mulmul fabric for the backing. Why mulmul ? Because it's soft!

Here another shot on the sofa :D. I hope you can see the quilting details.

I really love the Batik Double Star Quilt! I did a wide binding, inspired by Laurie on Instagram. I cut the binding 5" wide, double fold it and stitch a scant 1/2" on the back. Deciding which color for the binding was tough! But everyone at home voted for blue. And it looks lovely, IMO! :)

As for backing, I used this ikat print glace cotton fabric. The fabric is also soft. It has a smooth sheen finished. I guess we can use it as a reversible quilt :D

I have 2 more quilt tops, I am yet to decide the backing though. I plan to send it to Tsala Studio by next month so it will be in time for my younger son's birthday! 

Thank you for stopping by!

Happy Crafting!

- Elvira-