Ribbon Flowers on a Ready Made Clutch

Since I showed my clutch collection here, some friends gave me questions. Like, "Did you make the ribbon embroidery (re) on a ready made clutch?" My answer was, no, I made it on a piece of fabric and sent it to a clutch maker.
Another question was, "But is it possible to make it on a ready made clutch?" The answer was, yes, it's possible, but I haven't try it yet.
So to satisfy me & my friend's curiosity, below was my first attempt to make a ribbon embroidery on a ready made clutch.

1. I bought a ready made clutch.

2. I prepared a ribbon flower with the gathering technique. I used a gold colored ribbon 1 inch wide, rolled it 3-4 times and work a running stitches along the selvedge.
3. Pull the thread carefully to gather the ribbon so it will shaped like a flower. Secured the shape with a couple of stitches.
4. Prepare the leaf by folding an 1 inch wide green organdy ribbon so it shaped like pyramid and make a running stitches along the selvedge. Again pull the thread, gather it to shape it like a leaf, secured with a few stitches.
5. Carefully stick the flowers and leaves onto the clutch with some stitches.
6. Voila! My clutch is ready...

Sweet dream...

Gigi, the little tooth, likes the Sweets.
But she knew that she can't meet them as often as she wanted to, because though they are nice looking and taste good, they can turned to be quite malicious, in time they will strip Gigi's email layers, make her prone to be damaged, especially if Gigi's owner forgot to clean her in the evening.
So, she can only dream of them, dream of playing happily with them and that they won't do her any harm

See Gigi on Calyx Multifunction backpack here

Meet Hans, the adventurous hedgehog!

Hans is a special hedgehog.
He's so active, couldn't sit still.
He's adventurous too, likes to try new things to do.
The other hedgehogs mostly don't understand (or maybe misunderstand) Hans.
But his mother do, so she channels Hans huge energy by signing him to various activities.
One day, she signed Hans up for parachuting lesson and he got hooked!
He loves it and do it regularly since then

See Hans on Calyx Multifunction backpack here .
He's one of my favorite, can't wait to show Hans' other adventures soon

My newest project; what do you think?

Remember the multi looks bag I posted previously?
I made another one, similar to that on the post, but it reversible, so even more looks I can get from only 1 bag .
But because it's reversible, I made it without any embroidery/embellishment, I'm afraid if I do, when it's on the inside part, it will ruined because it flattened or tangled with the things I put inside.
Instead, I just put my magnetic corsage on, so it can be detached or moved from 1 side to another.

Look no.1: Denim clutch.

My Very First Craft Swap

It was started when I was expressing my admiration on a craft swap made by mbak Ina Kusumastuti for another crafter.

When mbak Ina asked me to do a craft swap as well, I was so excited. It's an honor to be asked by a fine seamstress and talented crafter, an artist like her. I was also a bit nervous, because I'm afraid my creation wouldn't met her expectation, it's my first craft swap after all. So it took quite a while for me to finish it, because I kept changing my project.

Anyway, it's done now, alhamdulillah .

The theme of our craft swap is "something that tells story".
Everyone who knows me, knows that I have a thing with fairy tales and double (or multi) functions bag. So this time, I was inspired by one of my favourite fairy tales, which is Alice in the Wonderland. I took the character of Queen of Hearts to represents it.

Why her?
Despite of her being mean, I find her funny, a bit gothy and the most glamorous character (she's a queen, obviously ). And I thought her colors, black, white and red, was a very good color combination. Thus, she likes roses, which I thought a popular flower and will be very pretty on ribbon embroidery. The roses also were telling a hope, that my friendship with mb Ina will blooming like the pretty flowers, that our silaturrahim will last forever, insha Allah .

So, I drew The Queen of Hearts on fabric, cut it and stitched it to the bag, embellished it with beads and ribbon embroidery roses. The bag itself is a simple tote, which can be worn as a sling bag or a clutch.

You can wear it like this...

How to wear Calyx's Multi Function Backpack

Now, I'd like to show you how to wear Calyx's Multi Function Backpack ...

1. From backpack to messenger bag:
- Unattached the backpack handles and put them inside the back zipped pocket provided.
- Fold the backpack.
- Attach the messenger bag's handle provided.

Calyx's Multi Function Backpack

These are Calyx's newest product, The Multi Function Backpacks.
This bag can be worn as backpack, messenger bag or over sized clutch.
Measured 43cm in length, 28,5cm wide (as backpack), 24cm wide (as messenger bag/clutch).

Made from canvas, combined with faux suede, velvet or cotton fabric at the front pocket.
To learn how to wear this backpack in 3 ways, please read this blog.

Batik Hedgehog

Kiki's Chameleon

So, I needed some ideas for Calyx's newest product.
To meet Calyx's concept of "for the young & young at hearts", I needed a design which is kinda "childish".
Then, I asked my son Kiki, to draw a sketch of a chameleon.



From Kiki's basic sketch, I made hand stitches of it and add an imported novelty button to complete it.
Voila, I present you, Kiki's Chameleon multi function backpack (it can be wore as backpack, messenger bag or oversized clutch).



Available in orange, blue & dusty pink...can be seen at Inacraft 2010, JCC Plenary Hall, booth no. 62.