Drawing More

I do hope to draw more in 2010... Because I don't have anything else going on. =) I do draw quite a bit, but I don't always post my pictures on the bloggy blog. Today, however, I have a sketch for you.

I love it when super skinny cartoon-y fashion models tell me they'd love to carry one of my bags with their outfit. I mean, really, flattery from imaginary characters is quite unbeatable. I do think, though she should carry some FOOD in that bag, so she can fatten up again before she comes back to my blog.

Speaking of food, I asked my 4yo son if he liked this fashion sketch picture.

Him: No.
Me: Not even the big bag?
Him: No.
Me: Not even if the big bag was filled with candy?"
Him: "Only if you draw me the candy."

So... you know... I did.

More sewing posts coming soon...

~jen~

Drawing More

They call it Mellow Yellow

I'm so thrilled with this next commission. Its based on my original Army Cube bag design, which is made from recycled uniforms, but this one (obviously) doesn't use any military BDU/ACU fabrics. Another interesting custom bit- this bag is 14" square. ITS HUGE. {and fabulous!} Its actually bigger than the Military Monster bag.




My client picked out the cotton webbing for the straps and we needed to wow-them-up a bit with fabric. The straps are just as punchy as the yellow and black bag. The matching fabric strips were made in the "bias bars" method of making an applique strip.

I love the scrappy look of mixing the fabrics on each side of the purse. This definitely opens some doors. I could see many a fat quarter bundle turning into a fabulous new bag.

See that welt pocket right there on the bag, with the big yellow Anna Maria Horner Good Folks yellow fabric flap? It closes with velcro and conceals a mega drop-in type pocket. I wanted the flap to have a little more zing, so I added this LARGE button and super-cute dotted swiss black ribbon to the design.

So this little baby is hoppin in the mail tomorrow. Its on its way to a wonderful beach vacation. I think at 14" it might even be able to hold the umbrella. The pictures really do not to its size justice. Thanks for looking at my (not my, but you know, my) little HUGE Mellow Yellow bag.

~jen~

They call it Mellow Yellow

Finally- The NEW Gathered Bag

Ok, I've worked out the sizes and the construction details for my final product. I made it match my sketch to my liking. Whoohooo. I'm so happy to show you the Gathered Bag, new to the Recycled Uniforms line of bags. All my bags are made with actual military uniforms, not camo off-the-bolt.



My grommets were bigger than represented in the sketch, so I added half the illustrated amount. My design was inspired by the yellow ribbon support associated with our service members who are deployed & actively fighting. I wanted a flash bag, lots of room, a little bit of uniform and a lot of yellow ribbon. In fact, I might make the yellow scarf-tie bigger on future bags, to give a nice full bow on the side of the bag.


Here's the entire bag:


The bag has one zippered pocket inside the gathered bag. The fabric on the bottom could easily hold everything for baby, even a change of clothes for the toddlers. In fact, its safe to say that this purse could be your "movie theater purse". Its 13" across and about 15" deep. The straps are about 26" long, also. The purse carries under your arm and hangs about to your hip.

Thanks for checking it out!

Finally- The NEW Gathered Bag

The Recycled Uniforms Catalog

Because its Valentine's Day weekend & because I LOVE ReannaLily Designs...

I've been working on putting together a virtual catalog for my Recycled Uniforms Designs. It is absolutely current and is in a nice tidy pdf form. You can find it by clicking on this image:

The image will live in my blog side bar and will always be there when you need it. =) I will be adding my new Gathered Bag to the Recycled Uniform Line-up very soon.

And in an effort to be oh-so 21st Century, I started a Facebook fan page for ReannaLily Designs.

I'll try to post on the Facebook page often. I'll have class info and product info over there. Its nice also, because all of the photos for the designs are hosted right there ON the page. I have a handful of images up- Its only been a day, though. Feel free to drive on over to your Facebook account and become a FAN of ReannaLily Designs.

Have a super great lovey-love Valentine's Day weekend!

The Recycled Uniforms Catalog

SALE! SALE! SALE!

In my Etsy shop- I'm offering FREE PRIORITY SHIPPING (to the USA & APO/FPO's) on all military bags!

Some of the bags pictured in this post have already sold- but there are still others available. Can't beat that shipping price! I do also have Seamingly Accurate in stock again- so please "add to cart" this holiday season. And if you head on over to Etsy, do a search for Homefront Team and find military spouses & shops, many of which are having big-time sales.

In other SALE! SALE! SALE! news-

Kathy Mack over at Pink Chalk Fabrics is having a BIG sale! Tons of stuff is on sale. I just have to tell you about the patterns- 30% off, including the 3D Sampler Quilt pattern, designed by yours truly. Make a sampler in a matter of hours- all 9 blocks are made using one size half-square triangle unit. You can cut it out in record time.

So do enjoy your crafty Christmas shopping spree! Have a great afternoon. ~jen~

SALE! SALE! SALE!

Thank you Treasury!

My Etsy shop was closed from June, through pretty much yesterday. There was the packing and the moving and the shipping and all the other things mixed in with our move... so I had to close shop just for a bit 'til everything was re-unpacked.

I'm happy to report the shop is full and has hand made/designed things by me and a whole host of fabric yardages in there. I'll be adding more later.

In the meantime, CapeCodConsignments made a treasury over on Etsy and featured me in it! It is very flattering to be chosen, especially on my Welcome Back week. Or Grand Re-opening Week, or whatever you want to call it.

She featured my Military Monster bag using Heather Bailey fabrics. Here's the photo:

Thanks for checking it out. ~TheJen~

Thank you Treasury!

The Contest

My mom found a contest online sponsored by Robert Kaufman Fabrics. Its a contest for quilted minis and purses. I thought that might be fun to try. I thought about making a Military Monster for the contest, but it would bust the contest rules, as ALL the fabric has to be Robert Kaufman. I, instead kept that military monster for myself. Instead, I was inspired by the Amy Bulter Frenchy Bag and decided to make my own little purse for the contest. My bag is a fraction of the size of that Frenchy bag. I really like how it turned out and I really enjoy the fact that if your kids turn the purse upside down and wear it on their heads, it looks like a chef hat. =) The top is only 8" across and when its worn (not on your head) it sits right under your arm. I'm dropping it in the mail this weekend. Wish me luck, or at the very least- wish that I get it returned in the mail after the contest is over. ~jen~

The Contest

I'm seeing CAMMO

As you know, I'm moving soon. Actually I'm moving in 3 weeks. I've officially stopped taking custom jobs and I'm finishing up what's on my plate. Its going well. Today I blocked out the morning for SEWING and nothing else. What a morning!!! I worked on two bags.

First up, the Army Cube Style Purse. I'm proud to report that this one is a USAF Cube and will be living in Japan very soon. Check out the fabrics!



I love them. I have this combination in green too. I'm sure you were wondering if I had them in green. Well, I do. =)



So let me show you how well the pinks work with the BDU uniform fabric-



Of course, if you'd like your own Cube Style bag, please email me or check out the three I have left in my Etsy shop. I will be open for custom orders again in July.

And this morning yeilded one Military Monster. Thats not entirely true. I have been putting the pieces and blocking together for this one, and I only FINISHED it up this morning. It turned out well. I suppose whenever I'm completely energized by fabric, it makes the project go so much more smoothly for me. Its safe to say that I'm a Michael Miller fabric addict. The Cube is both Michael Miller inside and out, and the Monster uses the pink/white Michael Miller damask. Their stuff is very bright and very funky. Well, they have a wide range, but I like their bright and funkies. I digress...

Back to the big Military Monster-



My client opt'd for personalized name tape. I think it looks excellent. The bag is designed to express a little personality, what better way to finish it all off than with a catchy HOT PINK name tape. Sweet.

The green fabric in this Monster is Korean. Its beautiful and bright and works very well with pink. Very fun bag. And of course, I do have one listed in my store, but if you like one custom made- I'll be open for orders again in July.

Thanks for checking out my bloggy-blog! Have a great afternoon. ~jen~

I'm seeing CAMMO

Ok, finally a Monster on Etsy!

I've been working on commission work alot lately, but things have started to slow down a bit with the big move pending. Sooooo... I got to work on my new Military Monster for Etsy. This bag was introduced almost a month ago and now, its finally heading over to the shop. Its absolutely huge and has 9 big pockets. Perfect for baby items, beach items, purse items, over night items. ... Heck, I'm pretty sure you could pack a picnic for a family of 5 in there!... Anyway, I'm already thinking about possibly writing a pattern for it. The construction is fat quarter friendly, and who doesn't love fat quarter bundles??

Yes, I had to pick which fabric bin I was going to keep out, for the big move. It ended up being the Heather Bailey fabric bin. So yes, the new Monster is one pair of military BDU pants and 3 different Heather Bailey prints from her Fresh Cut line for Free Spirit.

I also used a buttery ivory grosgrain ribbon on the nylon handles. Boy, I hope I can find more of that nylon handle stuff when I get back to America. I bought a bunch here, but his bag uses close to 3.5 yds, for each bag. I was inspired to do a bottoms-up photo by a lady over on flickr. The photo on flickr by the other person was much better than mine, but still a nice idea so I thought I'd add it.

Ok, tell all your military family supporter friends about the new listing. Click on the photos to go straight to the listing. Thanks for checking it out! ~jen~

Ok, finally a Monster on Etsy!

My Military Monster

Ok, I made a big fancy Military Monster for myself! And I love it!!!

We are moving in 5 weeks, and all of our household items have already been shipped. I saved out two Robert Kaufman prints I had, and was planning on entering a bag in this contest. I thought I might make the Military Monster style bag, but in all RK fabrics, as per the rules. After a bit of thought I decided I just loved the fabric and if I made a big bag, I wouldn't be willing to part with it (since you have to mail it off for judging). So I went ahead and used 1 whole pair of BDU pants and made myself a big bag. Now, I get to keep it and love it. Thats not saying I won't make something for the contest...

Let me show you it, in all its loveliness-

Yes, I'm rockin' the orange. Wanna see the inside? Sure you do. Its black and white and still with the Japanese RK print on the interior pockets.

I'm getting much recycling done with these bags. They really do require alot of BDU fabric and BDU deconstruction. In fact, if you're looking to get rid of your old BDU's because he says "No honey, don't trash those. I'll wear them for hunting someday." but then you realize he only hunts every 8 years... Feel free to email me. I'd gladly take your donations.

My Military Monster

Who can resist this adorable kiddo???

I wanted to take a picture of the new Military Monster bag to illustrate how big it is. Its got SO much room in it. Lucky for me, I have a wonderful neighbor with wonderfully adorable kids. She let me photo her youngest sitting IN the bag.

This bag will hold everything for your little monster, but its NOT intended to carry the monster him/herself. {You know, safety disclaimer and all.}

My *model* is about 11 months old, I believe. Don't you just want to hug her??? She's too cute. I only took 5 pictures and these were two of them. Thats good, by any photo standard, much less photo'ing kids. What a happy smile.

I'm working on some pre-fab bags to list in my Etsy shop sometime soon. If you'd like one personalized with your spouse's uniforms, this big 'ole bag requires one shirt, and two yards of fabric (one of each color, if you're wanting a contrasting lining).

Ok- thanks for checking out my bloggy blog. ~jen~

Who can resist this adorable kiddo???

Introducing- The Military Monster

Wow, let me show you the chaos that was my sewing table, where I allow my family to eat every night... In fact, some would call it a dining room table- but lets be real here, it gets more time with fabric than food. So, let me show you my sewing table:

Oh my sweet goodness, it was a mess everywhere. I think I managed to cover every square inch of the tabletop at some point or the other. I was working on a new design for my BDU Recycled collection. My clients have been going crazy over the Army Cube purse, but many of them wanted a zipper closure top and more space. Well... ok... You got it. And so, the Military Monster was born.

This purse is a MONSTER. And it can hold everything for your little monster, too. Its about 22" across the top and about 12" tall. It has a total of 8 deep drop-in pockets. Its pretty sturdy with the inner construction and rugged BDU fabric. Wanna see inside?

Your looking down into the 6 drop-in pockets. The inside is soft and comfy with a removable (fabric covered) plastic card to shape the bottom edge.

The design was inspired and loosely based on a Vera Bradley bag. My sizes are different, and unlike the Vera, there's no way I'm quilting that whole bag, then sewing it all together.

I hope to be offering these in my shop soon, or if you'd like one for yourself, please leave a message, or email me. This bag requires 2 full yards of fabric (one yard of each color) and one BDU shirt. I think, although I haven't tried it, I think I could also use one pair of uniform pants instead and still have enough fabric.



The fabric used on this bag is Ginger Blossom by Sandi Henderson, for Michael Miller.

Ok, well, thanks for checking out my new bag. Well, its not mine, this one is sold- but thanks for checking it out all the same. Another big thanks to Sygnet Creations for featuring my halter on her blog. THANKS! Have a great day! ~jen~

Introducing- The Military Monster