No. 33 Floral Cross-body Bag

I've noticed the big trend this spring with floral prints just about everywhere from Pinterest to catalogs to style blogs. Today, I'm happy to officially launch our latest take on the floral trend with the No. 33 floral cross-body bag.

Created from burlap featuring bright magenta pink industrial type, the bag features a bright yellow, purple, and pink floral linen print fabric. The accent fabric forms the bottom of the bag and lines the entire interior. It is a perfect match to the magenta type on the burlap and brings an element of playfulness to the otherwise "serious" burlap design. Plus, I've rarely seen a printed linen fabric (or maybe I don't get out much) so I love that the texture of the fabric is soft and airy.

The bag is designed as a messenger-style so it can be held across the body or over the shoulder using the long woven strap. The strap is removable if needed. I decided to keep the interior simple by having no small pockets, since the bag is already meant to be pretty compact. This floral bag seals shut with a metal YKK ivory zipper featuring a suede zipper pull. I ended up boxing out the bottom corners of the bag to give it more of a flat bottom and make it easier to expand with larger contents on the inside.

The design is fresh and bright. I imagine someone carrying this while strolling a street or farmer's market, since it's easy to carry and allows you to have free hands. The No. 33 floral bag is available in our Etsy shop as of this evening. Find out more info and see more photos here.

Enjoy!

Erica

Michigan Pillow Partnership

I can't believe we've passed the middle of April already. This month is flying by, and honestly I mostly think it's because my husband and I have a bit of a 'twilight-zone' feeling these past three weeks as we adjust to having an 8 week old puppy.  At any rate, the weather is warming, the sun is shining, and we're nearing close to beautiful May flowers. Plus, the puppy is currently sleeping under my desk as I type this....so there is progress!

Back in January, I announced a partnership to donate a portion of all Michigan burlap pillow sales to help a local friend who is participating in a Ride 4 Refugees endeavor through Venture Expeditions this summer. He is raising money for those less fortune in Thailand and Burma to supply food, educations, and hope.  I decided to partner with him because no matter where anyone is located, I feel that we should try to help others in need when we can. Regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, or beliefs, I strive to help make the world a better place as much as I can. Of course, there is certainly more that I can always do (as everyone can do) but taking small steps in the right direction is a good start.

This month we will wrap up with this partnership. For the remainder of April, you can still purchase a  beautiful handmade Michigan burlap pillow in our Etsy shop and each pillow will donate $5 to this cause. If you need more information about the cause, visit this post from January where I give more details about what it is and why it matters.

With spring cleaning and redecorating underway this season, think about adding one of these pillows to your home or a home of a friend as a gift.

Later this week, I'll be sharing a new cross-body burlap bag made with colorful floral linen fabric. Stay tuned and have a great week!

Erica

New Projects + Wild Forest on Etsy

Over the weekend I was able to put the finishing touches on the Wild Forest burlap beach bag I mentioned in my last post. The bag turned out beautifully, and I'm so happy that I was able to get my hands on this unique print from Indonesia. It's truly one of a kind, and it fits so well with the beach theme as we head into spring and soon summer.

Aside from the original print on the burlap, the defining piece of the Wild Forest bag are the thick rope handles. They are secured with bronze grommets and are comfortable to hold. The details are in the fine print. I spent time detailing the bottom of the bag and inside lining with thick top-stitching to give it a crisp and clean look. The sunny yellow fabric inside the bag is bright and adds even more color to give the entire bag a whimsical and joyful feel. A perfect compliment to the bright days of summer!

You can find the Wild Forest bag for purchase now in our Etsy shop here. Stop by to see more of the dimension details, and if you have any specific questions, feel free to leave a comment or message us on Etsy.

Finally, I've been plotting several new projects, some of which are burlap related and some are not. On the sewing list is a baptism gown for my niece, a new spring bag for the Grounds collection, and a custom bridal order for four large tote bags. I'm excited to kick off a warmer season with all of these fun projects to work towards, and now it's just a matter of keeping it all organized and flowing smoothly.  Have any tips for managing several unrelated sewing projects at once? I'd love to hear them!




Erica

Wild Forest Beach Bag - In Progress

It's been a few weeks since I've had a chance to start a new bag design. Around here, it's all puppy right now. We've had our new Springer Spaniel puppy for a little over a week, and she has been keeping us busy! We're on constant puppy-watch around the house, which leaves less time to sew right now. Oh, and if you're wondering how that burlap dog bed is working out, I think this photo says it all. Someone has a hard life, right? You can see how I made this burlap dog bed by visiting our DIY post from January here.

In the last few days as things have settled in a bit more, I've had a chance to think through our spring/summer line up for the Grounds burlap bag collection. I've decided to design a new beach bag, the Wild Forest, using a beautiful new burlap coffee sack from Indonesia, purchased from a roaster in Plymouth, MI. With the previous beach bags having sold pretty quickly in our Etsy shop, I wanted to focus on a few new designs as we get into the core spring and summer vacation time. The Wild Forest bag has a beige exterior bottom, cream top-stitching throughout, and beige and pale yellow interior lining.

The Wild Forest beach bag is nearly complete. I plan to attach thick, twisted rope handles and large grommets to give it a nautical and beachy feel. The real focus of this bag is the burlap print, as it's incredibly vibrant and colorful on both sides. It will be a beautiful beach bag or everyday tote bag for the upcoming spring and summer months.

I'll be wrapping this up later this week and making it available for purchase in our Etsy shop over the weekend if all goes as planned. More photos will be on their way, stay tuned!

Thanks for stopping in and hope you're having a great week,
Erica

Etsy One Year Anniversary + Burlap Zipper Pouch Giveaway!

Today marks the one year anniversary of opening our Lina and Vi shop on Etsy! I can't believe it's been one year already, and it's incredible how much I have learned about selling handmade products online since starting that journey. There is still much more to learn and areas to improve in running an online shop, but I am so happy that I took the first step this time last year to give it a go - with no expectations of how it would go. At the one year mark, I have had 47 sales and have connected with a number of people I would have otherwise never met, which is awesome.

To celebrate, we're giving away a burlap zipper pouch to TWO lucky winners! To enter, 'Like' our Facebook page here and leave a comment on this Facebook post with your favorite item in our Etsy shop here: www.etsy.com/shop/linaandvi.

Giveaway ends tomorrow Thursday 4/2 at midnight ET. The winners will be drawn at random and announced this Saturday on our Facebook page!

A big thank you for reading this and supporting Lina and Vi this past year!

Erica