{Mini Tutorial} - Passport Wallet Lanyard

I just released my first PdF Pattern in Etsy "The family passport Wallet". I made my first Family Passport Wallet 2013 and it was an instant hit in my Etsy shop. The wallet has been going through a lot of redesign. It's my friend Namrata of Bagstock who encouraged me to write the pattern. 

and yes, I was nervous and excited. I will post here in my blog if there is any changes or updates or what improvisation you can do with the pattern. 

And this first post is about the lanyard. I did not include the lanyard tutorial in my pattern as nowadays many people prefer to use leather strap which is really cute and can give a vintage-y look about your wallet. I did few for my etsy customers and they loved it. 

But personally I still like making fabric lanyard for my handmade wallet. So, here's how : 

What you need {this is Lanyard for Passport Wallet}

2.5" x 16" fabric strip

1.5" x 15" woven interfacing

3/4" swivel hook

Let's get started 

 Iron the woven interfacing on the wrong side of the fabric strip. 

I have this 1.5" woven interfacing strips which I simply LOVE. It's my favorite for making bag handles/strap. There is a 3/4" one too. 

Fold the side seam and iron nicely

insert the strip into 3/4" swivel hook

now, fold the strip so the short ends meet and sew with 1/2" seam allowance(like in the picture)

make sure you put it correctly / not twisted ^_^  

Now, fold and clip and sew along the both edges with 1/8" seam allowance

and you can use your decorative stitch too. That will make your strap unique. I love using different kind of decorative stitch but this serpentine is my favorite. 

Now, finish your lanyard by sewing 1/2" under the hook. 

Voila! You have a pretty handmade lanyard to go with your passport wallet.

The Family Passport Wallet Pdf Pattern is available here :

CRAFTSY

ETSY

CHEZVIES 

Thank you for stopping by today

Happy Sewing

{NEW PATTERN} Family Passport Wallet PdF Pattern

I'm so happy to announce my new Pattern, Family Passport Wallet PdF Pattern now on Sale in Etsy and my Shop

The past 3 months have been a huge learning experience for me. 

Thank you for my wonderful friends who helped me testing the patterns. I am really grateful for their feedback and their beautiful creations. 

here are some photos from the testers :

Chera from the famous Phipody made this lovely wallet. Chera is favorite with many bag designers. Her works showed how much love she puts into each creation. I was  very grateful when she said she will test for me. 

 She used leather for strap which make the wallet stands out and looks very smart.

This cute multi color elephant passport holder is made by Prabha Matthew of Quiltaholics. She told me even her son said it's very cute :). Prabha made beautiful quilts. I was very grateful when she was readily said yes to test my pattern.

 I love the blue and grey combination. She used mesh for the ID Card slot which is very clever choice.

This beautiful pink Passport Wallet was made by my dear friend Hernik of Ninu' Handmade.

Mbak Hernik was very excited when I asked her to test for my first pattern in spite of her busy schedule, she managed to make this pretty pink wallet. Thank you so much!!

And this pretty Lavender wallet was made by my bestie, Agnes. She's a sewing enthusiast  who's busy raising her cute daughter. 

When I told her that I wanted her to test my first pattern, she was happily agreed. Thank you so much for putting up with my crazy ideas and for being my sounding board. 

This Family Passport Wallet pattern is a quick sew and will be a great handmade gift for your family and friends, especially for family who loves to travel or moving abroad. 

My family of 4 loves to travel and whenever we travel, we have to carry a lot of documents and passports. And since I'm Indonesian living in India, I have to carry more documents. This travel wallet help us to be organized and not to worry about misplacing any travel documents. 

The pattern is now ON 10% SALE in ETSY 

or you can buy directly from my Shop using the link below: 

(Currency conversion will happen during the check out with PayPal)

Orange is the new black

That's what I read the other day and maybe it's the season that I seem to work with a lot of orange in the past few weeks. 

I was cutting fabric for a client  and  I suddenly had this 'AHA" moment. I wanted to make this cute bag from Sewsweetness free pattern "Baker Street Bag". So after sending my orders of the day, I went ahead and sewed away. 

And look how cute is this bag?

Ikat & Denim Bag

The pattern is surprisingly very easy to follow. It's a good size for you who love to go "minimalist" . Ehm I tend to carry many stuff  like doraemon ^^. 

See, it fits my notebook, kindle, and wallet. It also has small zipper pocket and quite spacious slip pocket for your phone, pen and maybe tissue or your specs. 

Isn't it smart? I think it's going to be a perfect gift for your mom, girlfriend, niece or daughter..or your self?? :D

I know I am going to make more in the future, I am thinking of quilted one. What do you think?

Until then,

Happy Sewing

The bag is available for purchase in my ETSY shop as of now. 

More Mobile Phone Pouches

I've been having fun sewing these cell phone pouches in the past few days. 

I love gifting mobile phone pouch for my friends. Everyone need one, after all your phone is your best buddy :D

Beige Blockprint & Linen

Like this Halloween theme one. I love this riley blake fabric I picked up on my last trip.

Cute Halloween Pouch 

or this Indigo and Red. Oh I love indigo blue, who doesn't? and with indigo blue you can match it with almost all colors. Pink, green, red, name it and it always looks great. 

Indigo Red Pouch

This handmade phone pouch may look similar, but they are different. Like this Japanese doll one. It looks cute with red , green or pink. 

Japanese Doll Pouch 

Please visit my SHOP for details of each. and if you don't find what you're looking for, just send me message. 

So, what are you sewing these days? 

Until then,

Happy Sewing

{SHOP UPDATE} Halloween Theme

It's time to stock up the shop for the festive season. I'm currently making Halloween theme which include this cute trick or treat candy bag 

This candy tote bag is fun to make. I got a couple of Fat Quarters with halloween them on my trip to Seoul last year. The Korean cotton is a dream to work on. The fabric is just fab!!

Read my story about my shopping trip in South Korea

From the left over fabric, I made this cute mobile phone sleeve.

isn't that cute? 

The mobile phone pouch is quite popular in my Etsy shop and I've been making lunch bags and phone pouches for my local customers in the past few weeks. 

so many yummy fabrics, so little time to sew 

So,make sure you check the SHOP for newest updates and ready to ship items. 

Until then,

Happy Sewing

Branching out from Etsy

The past few weeks, I've been busy setting up new platform for my shop. I've been selling in Etsy for a couple of years but with the ever changing Etsy policy it is getting tougher for sellers outside USA to get (even) a view unless we pay for Etsy Promoted Ads. 

Etsy promoted ads gives benefits, but I see that you should have a higher budget (which I can't afford) which bring your shop to the first search pages.

Well, there are SEO thingy and keywords, etc which turned out to be a little help (or no help at all) if you don't use promoted ads.

And also the "shop local" policy really have impact on Seller outside US.

Another reason was I've been waiting for Etsy to introduce INR in their default currency but don't see that coming. While I get many inquiries from India, the USD price tag deter them from Etsy. Indian shoppers feel more comfortable shopping in their own currency and using Bank Transfer as mode of payment. 

I really wish Etsy take a hint from Amazon. 

There are many Etsy-like platform coming up in India, the problem with these marketplace is they withhold the payment to seller. For big player, a couple of bucks won't hurt them, but for us who make one product at a time and getting the money weekly or three quarterly is too much. 

With that in mind, I decided to sign up with Ecwid  and have my shop everywhere. You can shop from Facebook or from  my new shop blog. What I like most is it's user friendly and it has a FREE plan. I started with free plan then decide to upgrade. 

I will still be selling in Etsy. Ecwid is easier for me to connect with local shoppers and also with Ecwid I can offer a less price since I don't have to pay for the fees that Etsy charges. 

Please come and visit my SHOP and wish me a lot of good luck ^^. 

Happy Sewing

photo credits : from various source in the internet

{ New in the Shop} 241 Batik Sling Bag

I have this orange batik for a long time. It's one of those modern batik depicting Jakarta's landmarks and cultures. I always wanted to make bag with it but could not find a perfect pattern for it, until last week!

Well, Noodlehead pattern is always my favorite and this 241 tote was on my wishlist. I am glad I finally made it. 

It's perfect to carry around while you're on the go

2 pockets on the sides is very handy to keep your sunglasses or those brochures you pick up on the road

the slanted exterior zipper pocket is so cute and perfect to keep your bus/train card or small changes or even your hotel card when you travel.

I will definitely take this sling bag on my next trip. 

So, when you're planning your next holiday, don't forget to grab one of this bag. 

Now this bag is available for custom order in my ETSY shop 

{psst.. you like a customized bag. I have more fabric options} 

or you can just click this button below to buy:

Almost Holiday

Summer holiday is almost here! It's time to pack my bags and make few handmade for my family and friends in Indonesia. 

I always prefer to give handmade stuff even if it's small.

two of my sisters already told me to make them passport wallets :D

Mickey Mouse Family Travel Wallet

 and I already order one Bag from my fave bag-maker bestie, BagStock . My mom loves her Saddle bag that I gave last year. 

****************

Black and white is always favorite. Last weekends, hubby's cousin came to visit me and she wanted  wallet and pouch set in black and white and Blue. I showed her my photos from my previous custom order and she wanted same combo. 

I really love this combo. I thought black, white and red is perfect but this linen blue and this chevron really look classic. 

If you notice that stone car, it's my current fave photo props. I collected that stone when we went to Umngot River in Meghalaya few months ago. Hubby was laughing when I collected stones to take as souvenirs.

What is your fave photo props? 

Personalized your Wallet with Hand Embroidered Names

Photo props is really important, I feel, esp when you are selling online. But not too much. You have to make props that visually appealing yet not crowding your product that it takes away the focus. 

I love my canvas board white background. And always try to take photos before noon in a room which does not have direct sunlight. 

Ethnic Traveling Vanity Pouch

I have screen door in my sewing room that facing the front porch. I recently put an off-white lace curtain to block the direct afternoon sunlight. And that's my fave photo spot now. Since I got my new 50 mm lens, I love taking photos here. 

Ballerina Small Pouch

As much as you can do not take photos with auto setting. Try to tweak the setting a bit and you will get  perfect photos. Do take a look at your camera setting and try to search for online tutorial. YouTube is a great source of information. 

Here, I give you sneak peek on how I did it. The photo below was  taken using my Sony Pocket Camera. I put my canvas board near the screen door and I put a white card stock paper (it was  bed sheet wrapper or whatever you call it). 

The paper is a bit shiny so it gives perfect reflection. The white paper will sort of block the light from the door/window and reflect it back. It reduces the shades that you normally get when you take photos without one. 

by the way, my handmade shop in Etsy will be closed from next week until end of July since I will be going for holiday. So until then do check my READY to SHOP section in my shop. 

Thank for dropping bye

Until then,

The City Tote Bags

I bought the fabrics without knowing what I'm going to do about it. All I know is that I MUST buy it. Don't you all fabric hoarders lovers do that sometimes? 

When in dilemma whether "to buy" or "not to buy" I always chose the first. Someday in the future it will come of use . Believe me! :D

Isn't this cute? Even at my age, I still love buying (and using) anything kawaii, just like this tote bag!!

CITY GIRL TOTEBAG

and who doesn't like to use tote bag? Simple one, stylish one, fancy one....you just need more than one TOTEBAG for one occasion. Right?

If you like navy blue, you can opt for this one below .

THE CITY TOTEBAG 

it's simply perfect to tote around the town. 

Let me know if you need one cos I only have enough fabric to make 2 more bags! 

Head to the SHOP to choose yours!

Until then,

Happy Sewing