Observer fabrics, what can I say?! I love it and April totally nailed it. The colors are subdued and earthy and the textures in each print are right up my alley. When I first spotted them I knew they’d make an excellent wallet – a Double Zip Wallet (project from my book Handmade Style) of course. Because we all know, wallets take some serious abuse. At least mine do.

I did a little modification with the closure and took inspiration from my friend Krista’s version of the Rainbow Clutch (a project from my book) and made the tab from leather and used a brass snap for the closure. The leather is just so dreamy looking with Observer, it made for an easy choice. I left the raw edge of the leather instead of turning it as you would for woven fabric, I love the rugged feel it gives.

It’s really a quick project overall. And if you’ve made a zippered pouch or two before, you’ll be all set. I might just have to make a bunch for friends and teachers and Christmas presents, thinking of doing an assembly line. I don’t normally love churning out multiples, but I think I’d make an exception if I made each one unique with different details. Or maybe I’ll even make one with leather on the outside like my friend Deedee (she upcycled the leather from a pair of leather pants, woah)! Always feel inspired when I see what everyone is making, the fun creative twists you add are amazing! And looking through the #handmadestylebook in Instagram is always a good time.

That’s all for now! I’m excited to get my hands on some of the knits from this collection, too. A lot of the time I fall in love with a print but then it’s something that I don’t actually end up wearing, but I think Observer has a great selection of knits I can see myself wearing like crazy, especially this fall!

Thanks April for letting me join in on the Observer Tour! Be sure to stop by tomorrow’s stop: Finch Knitting + Sewing Studio (Instagam @finchknittingandsewingstudio). I can’t wait! And did you see the cute Petal Pouches my friend Shannon made? Drool worthy. Or have fun checking out the other stops on the tour on April’s Observer Tour page. #OBSERVERfabrictour #observerfabrics

Pattern: Double Zip Wallet (from my book Handmade Style)
Fabrics: Observer by April Rhodes for Art Gallery Fabrics
Leather tab: from scrap
Zippers: 7″ zippers available in my shop, zipper pulls available, too

Have a great Monday!

This year seems to be starting out a little slow and a lot cold. I’ve been working on a few behind the scenes type projects and am looking forward to at least getting to be outside without windchill warnings. Lucky for me I get to go hang out at a retreat at the new Stitch Supply Co. this weekend (yay for planning ahead!). Of course I have stage fright about which projects I should bring along, but hopefully I’ll get my act together sooner than later. If you’re local to the Eau Claire area, Jeni and I are each doing a little book signing and trunk show as part of Ann’s Grand Opening Ceremony on Thursday afternoon. Stop by if you’re around!

So for now I’m sharing another fun sample made using Leah Duncan’s upcoming fabric collection, Lore. I made this Zip Top Tote along with the Market Bag. It’s been fun to sew with her new collection, those greens always looks so appealing this time of year! It’s always a pleasure to play around with fabrics and patterns. So many possibilities to explore.

I’ve been toying around with making a sort of must-sew list for me this year. I had previously thrown away a list that I used to have, it was way too long and kind of made me feel like I wasn’t accomplishing much. So I threw it and it’s been great ever since. But maybe a mini list or monthly lists might be fun?

How’s your January going? Do you feel ambitious, too? or maybe you’d rather crawl back under the covers? I think I’d like to pick both!

Pattern: Zip Top Tote (from my book, Handmade Style)
Fabrics: Lore by Leah Duncan
Zipper: Wawak.com
Leather Handles: find similar in my shop

Happy Friday everyone! It’s always fun to end the week with a fun finish. This is the Market Bag (pattern in my book Handmade Style) that I made a while back for Cloud9 fabrics. It’s made using Leah Duncan‘s beautiful upcoming collection with Cloud9 called Lore. It’ll be shipping to stores in March, which actually feels like it’s just around the corner crazily enough. And there’s also a separate voile collection called Yucca (coming in April) – cannot wait to nab some!

I’ve been a huge fan of Leah‘s work for a long time. I still am hoarding her first collection with Anthology fabrics – Maya. I have managed to use some bits and pieces, but it’s so pretty on my shelf – in due time I suppose. I wish I could remember how I found her work originally, but I do remember seeing her pictures on Flickr back in the day.

Anyway, now that I’m done drooling over fabric! The Market Bag is such a pretty fit for these fabrics and colors. It’s always fun to see how fabrics transform when quilted and I love the texture it adds in this bag (see another version I made here, plus the one shown in the book).

Hope you have a lovely weekend!

Pattern: Market Tote (Handmade Style)
Fabrics: Lore by Leah Duncan for Cloud9 Fabrics
Zipper: Zipit on Etsy (I dyed the zipper tape as a little
experiment a while back, worked pretty well!)
Handles: available in my shop