Weekly Wrap-Up: Burlap Pouches for Bundled MI

I spent the majority of the past week wrapping up an order of burlap zipper pouches for our partners over at Bundled Michigan. Once again, I'm thrilled to be featured in their custom handmade gift boxes. Their bundles are curated with cute items that make it easier to give a thoughtful gift, plus the added bonus of gift wrapping and shipping which are handled for you.

Back in October, I shared a bit about where you can find the Lina and Vi burlap pouches on their site under Build You Own bundle, and I'm happy to report that you can now find our pouches in their Ladies Deluxe Bundle! I am in love with how they look alongside some truly unique and special products from other talented local artisans, packaged in a wooden crate that is embellished with a beautiful gold ribbon. Photography is not my strong point, and these photos of our burlap zipper pouches are amazing!

We have a new batch of pouches headed over to Bundled Michigan this week, and they are looking great! I selected several new lining fabrics for the interiors, including a few from Cotton+Steel. They are so much fun, and I can't wait to have them included in even more bundles.

On that note, thank you for the responses to my news regarding my new bundle of joy arriving in August! To celebrate, I just wrapped up two new burlap zipper pouch sets now ready to ship in our Etsy shop.

Have a great week!
Erica

Toddle Girls Handmade Shirt and Jean Shorts

Today I am sharing a recent sewing project that I worked on for my niece's upcoming second birthday. In a couple of weeks, we will be celebrating with her at her Minnie Mouse-themed party, and when my sister said she could use some 2T summer clothes, I thought I could spend some time sewing up an outfit for her rather than heading over to my local Carter's shop again. I'm glad I did, and I wanted to share how her handmade outfit turned out.

In a couple of hours, I sewed up this breezy, pink cross-back cotton shirt and dark jean shorts. I found the free patterns online, both in size 2T which was the sizing I needed for the summer. The cross-back shirt pattern can be found here and the jean shorts pattern can be found here. I would describe them both as beginner level sewing patterns, and the difficulty will change based on the fabric selection and any optional trim.





Speaking of fabric, I had all of these fabrics in my stash and wanted to give them a new life. The dark jeans fabric is a thick, non-stretch jean fabric. I love how the shorts turned out but the heavyweight jean was a pain to work with at times to be honest, especially when trying to thread the elastic through the waist casing. As mentioned earlier, the shirt is a lightweight cotton that I backed with a gray leopard print on the inside to provide some contrast. The tank-top style will work great to keep my niece cool during the hot summer months this year. I found some extra floral trim I had on hand and sewed it like an applique right onto the cross-back top as the finishing touch, and I love how it gives the top a bit more interest.

In a couple of hours, I was able to use to materials I had on hand and prepare a handmade gift for my niece. It can sometimes be difficult to find children's clothing patterns online for clothing that does not call for stretchy material, because most children's clothing is made from knit so that it fits growing bodies easily. Admittedly, like adults love their leggings and t-shirts, children love the comfort of a soft, stretchy knit but it doesn't mean that there are times, like in the summer, when a knit can even be too hot and heavy.

I hope that my niece loves the outfit, and that I can see her wearing it in the summer this year. If you have made a similar toddler outfit, I would love to see it - leave a link in the comments!

Have a great weekend,
Erica

New! Gold and Navy Blue Branch Burlap Wristlet

A couple of weeks ago, I stopped by a local fabric shop and picked up a handful of colorful, printed fat quarters. Without a real plan in mind, I knew they would be fun to sew with and to accent our burlap bags. Today I'm sharing the first burlap bag in the Grounds Collection to use a fun Cotton+Steel print, the Gold and Navy Blue Branch burlap wristlet.

I wanted to design something that was nearly identical to the Blue and Gold Fold-over Snap Burlap Wristlet I had made back in November which sold in a matter of weeks just before the holidays. I found my old sewing notes for that design and started with choosing the cuts of burlap and accent fabric I wanted to use to make a new wristlet. I opted for the gold and navy blue branch printed cotton because I loved how modern and sophisticated it looked, as well as just how interesting the print was to the eye. It turns out that this branch patterned fabric is one of the Rifle Pattern Co. designs for Cotton+Steel. If you aren't familiar with Rifle Pattern Co., they are known for their colorful floral graphic design that tends to decorate paper, notepads, cards, and even phone cases.

With the exterior fabric set, I opted to pair a sage/light green solid cotton on the interior to keep with the warmer tones of the bag. It turned out to be a great pair. With the different patterns on the exterior, I wanted something simple to balance the interior.

I love this wristlet design because it combines functionality with style. The fold-over flap keeps the bag small enough to fit in one hand, the magnetic snap ensures the flap doesn't move around, the zipper keeps the contents inside, and the removable wrist strap allows the bag to be carried in two different ways.







You can find our Gold and Navy Blue Burlap Wristlet available for purchase now in our Etsy shop here.

I feel like I have non-stop ideas floating through my head right now on how to use the remaining fat quarters in the Cotton+Steel bundle I have in my stash but I am also cautious because I don't want to waste any of them! I am positive you will be seeing more of these fun prints in our Grounds Collection in the coming month.

I hope you are having a great month and thank you for reading!

Erica

A New Year with New Burlap Zipper Bags

Happy 2017! We are officially one day into the new year, and I'm looking forward to the start of a new season. I was lucky enough to have a week off of work so I used some of the open time to sew up three new large burlap zipper cases. I also had the chance to visit a few local fabric shops in the metro Detroit area, which was a real treat. I found a new cotton fabric mecca at Pink Castle Fabrics on the west side of Ann Arbor that carries Cotton+Steel branded fabric. I purchased a bundle to get started since I was so indecisive and wanted to buy it all. I can't wait to use these new patterns as accent fabrics for our new bags in 2017!

I usually write up a year-end review post about Lina and Vi, but I opted to keep it short and simple this time around. Lina and Vi remains to be one of the important themes of my life right now, and I am happy to have had another year to spend time sewing and selling my creations. I am thankful that this journey has kept me going this long, and I am looking forward to another year in front of my sewing machine no matter what this new year brings. Sewing is a huge source of happiness, challenge, and fulfillment for me, and the fact that I can share it with others is priceless.

With that, I want to spend some time sharing the details on these three new burlap zipper cases that I sewed up last week. All of them are the larger sized zipper cases so they are perfect for cosmetics, travel toiletries, and general organization of health and beauty items. They each have a faux leather bottom, either creamy white or light brown, to provide durability and structure and a high-quality bronze metal zipper. Each of the interiors features unique colors and patterns, with a few lining fabrics selected for this set that are entirely new to the Grounds Collection. I love that each burlap bag is neutral on the outside and colorful on the inside. Although we sold out during the holidays, these three are ready to ship if you missed out on the December batch. You can browse more photos and the specs for these burlap zipper cases in our Etsy shop under the Burlap Zipper Pouch shop section.









I hope you are enjoying the end of the holiday season, and the start of the new year. Thank you for stopping by and showing your support!

Erica