Baker's Twine & Pretty Packaging

Who doesn't love baker's twine? it's having such a revival recently huh!? I have bought 300 metre's of the stuff this week! I thought it would be nice to wrap my Etsy sales in :) with lovely tissue paper . . oooh nice! 

1. tiny card sets, 2. packaging:, 3. DSC_6993, 4. Present for Jenny, 5. Bakers Twine Samples Top, 6. Apple Green Bakers Twine LOVE

be perfect to wrap up christmas presents too! :) 

Have a great weekend friends! 

DaWanda Featured Seller: O Christmas Tree!

Is it too early to start looking for Christmas presents or decorations!? well.. i don't think so :) it always seems to come around in the blink of an eye, and leave me completely unorganised! So here's my first instalment of Christmas shopping ideas! 

Aren't these THE best wreath's you have ever seen! I have fallen in LOVE with them and need one in my own (imaginary) home this year :) They are handmade in Cincinnati, USA. O Christmas Tree also has some other lovely festive decorations all at very reasonable prices. I'm sure they will bring some christmasy cheer to any home! 

Recent Flickr Fav's

Some of my recent Flickr favourite's, aren't they pretty :) I would LOVE a big proper storage system like these to store all of my fabric's, guess I'll have to dream about it until i have my own house . . . 

1. Fabric storage, 2. Kraft Boxes, 3. Our kitchen, 4. Pink home office
1. Vintage threads stored in glass jars, 2. sakura, 3. Japanese patchwork book bag, 4. finished!

Make it Monday: Hexagon Pin Cushion!

Here is my pincushion i started making ages ago! finally completed! 
i finished it off with embroidery thread around each section and a nice big button for the centre. 
makes my sewing area much more pretty :) 
The fabric in the background is what i'm using now for my next project :) will share the pictures next week. 

Polyvore

I have discovered a new site Polyvore via HoorayDesign blog, it allows you to create 'sets' by adding pictures of clothes, homewares, celebrities.. anything really. You then publish them to the site, and add them to different groups and people can comment on them, it's quite addictive! Here's my first set. 

FIRST SET by messyjesse featuring Christian Louboutin shoes

Items in this set:
Chloe Velvet tapered leg pants, $1,560
Philosophy Di Alberta Ferretti Sequined wool-blend sweater, $920
T by Alexander Wang Scoop-neck jersey T-shirt, $76
?Circus? cut out ankle boot, 820 GBP
miu042w-rn0613-wag-170, miu046w-rr1592-wag-003, Miu Miu Handbags. New Miu M..., $1,850

New Logo's, Labels and Stamps!

(Image from: ModernArtStamps)

Do you like this stamp? 

I bought it from Etsy to use as my new logo, I'm having it personalised with 'messy jesse' written underneath it :) I'm so excited i can't wait till it's here! I thought it would be nice to make thank you tags with my logo on when i have Etsy sales to post. I picked it because it reminds me of my original Messy Jesse logo - back in the day! i drew one of those triangle girls, do you know what i mean? my mum used to draw them for me when i was young, they used to have little triangle dresses and a cute bob like i used to :) so anyway, that's why i chose this! 

and here is a design i made up for my new sew-in cotton labels. I'm going to stitch them into all my handmade sewing projects, cool huh! :) thought they would make my products look nice and professional. I found them on Etsy too, you can really buy everything! on there! good price too, i have shopped around for a while and thought these were the best deal. 

HobbyCraft Purchases & New Pouch!

Hello, just sharing a new pouch i made with some of my new fabric :)

i put ribbon on the zip to make it easier to pull, and a loop on the end to carry.
i have also made the inside a lot tidier; using bias binding along all the seams!

and here is a better view of my new purchases from HobbyCraft, i think most, if not all are by Tanya Whelan - i just love that blue one with the spots and flowers! think it would be perfect for a cute little apron maybe :) 

More New Fabric!

Hello friends, just a short post today, as i have just arrived back from a trip from a flying visit to Bristol and i'm sooo tired! I had just enough time to stop off to Hobbycraft along the way, so i will share my goodies tomorrow :) for now here is some other fabric i bought recently, im soo bad - i think i have a problem! ... although most were in the sale so that's my reasoning! 

See you tomorrow! :) 

New Purchases - in preparation..

My new fabric purchases i received in the post today .. 

ooh aren't they pretty!
i also bulk-bought zips, zips, and more zips! all in preparation.. as I'm planning a big Etsy shop overhaul in November, i have lots of time to spare as i will only be working over the weekends, so lots and lots of time to craft and create :) can't wait! hence the pimping of my Etsy shop! I've neglected it for a while really, well i've actually never spent loads of time promoting etc, so now i'm going to - new banner, avatar, new products, lots of renewing to keep me ahead of the game and maybe even some sort of free shipping promotion when i plan my big re-opening! well, we'll see how long the novelty lasts eh? though i'm thinking positively now :) Keep you posted..

and here are a couple of new pouches i made, ready for the Etsy re-vamp plan! :)
Have you got any big plans then? i always seem to have some sort of new craft venture or idea!? Doesn't materialise that often though :) Have a lovely weekend! See you here Monday.

Anthropologie is Crossing the Pond!

I'm so excited that Anthropologie is coming to Europe! :) They are opening their first store in the U.K. 23rd of October 2009 on Regent Street, London. Make a date in your diary! I sure am, i will have to plan a trip to London.. over five hours away from where i live now! If your not familiar with Anthropologie, they are a U.S. shop.. of course! and sell all sorts of amazing homewares, really quirky! They also have clothes and accessories, i got a really cute 'granny' style cardi from them a couple of years ago while on holiday in Florida and wear it all the time. The display and layout of the shop is wonderful too.

source

(images taken from Anthropologie) 

Some pretty goodies from my wishlist, soon to be realised! 

Make it Monday: Foam Lined Laptop Case!

Hello! Sorry for the late post again today, i got caught up sorting out my CV last night to quickly apply for a job closing date this morning.. 

This week I'm sharing with you this laptop case i made :) It's foam lined and double stitched for added strength. It was supposed to be a custom made one for my boss for his 17" macbook but I cut the fabric too small duhh! so i made it to fit my 15" macbook instead! i will have to make him another one soon enough.. 
i would love to make more and sell them in my Etsy and Folksy shops eventually. Some for the girls with pretty fabric and some for the boys like this..

next time i will change the bobbin thread colour to brown, forgot to do that on this one! 

i made the pattern up myself, so i'm quite pleased with the results. It took quite a lot of thought to get the foam in, getting the right size foam etc! Maybe need a few more practice attempts before i get it perfect enough to sell in my online shops :)

What would your ideal laptop case look like? 

World Card Making Day & Etsy FIRST Sales Happiness!

Hello, hello, hello! I'm SOOO happy today.. i came home from work earlier, checked my emails as i usually do to discover i had my FIRST Etsy sale :) i had sold a cowboy print boxy pouch! 

then, after dancing round my room with joy, i listed my cupcake needlecase and large red and white polka dot pouch, tweeted about the new listing on twitter and hey presto a minute later it's SOLD! 

I'm so happy, it's really given me the motivation to make more for my Etsy and Folksy shops, because it was getting me down a bit that i've never sold anything until now.. so hopefully now i'm going to be more pro-active and make an array of pretty things to sell :)  

Also it's world card making day today! So i hope you can join in on the spirit of creativity and make someone special a handmade greetings card, everyone love's a handmade card! Here is a birthday card i made recently for my friend Laura's birthday..

Have a great weekend, see you Monday! :) 

60's Vintage Fashion

I have recently started a dress making course to learn all about making clothes! I have always wanted to make my own dresses so i'm so excited to now finally learn :) i'm making dress A from this Burda dress pattern, and i've chosen a lovely navy blue wool with cashmere blend fabric. I can't do things by halves! i had to go straight in at the deep end and chose the most expensive! 

i'm on week two at the moment and i've cut my pattern pieces out and were doing 'tailor tacks' now. Can't wait for the finished product! I'll keep you posted.. :) 

While i was initially looking for my dress pattern for the course i came across a whole world of vintage patterns, it's amazing! I love the 1960's era especially, and could resist these little gems i found on this website - very addictive! I fell in love with the dress in the top left picture but it was sold :( so i snapped the others shown as quickly as i could! probably won't have a clue what i'm doing once i get the envelope open? 

Also i discovered the sizing on vintage dress patterns very odd, they're SOOO small! i am normally a UK dress size 6, but with these i work out at like a size 10? maybe 12! people back then must have been tiny! no wonder Marilyn Monroe was famously a size 14 or 16? 

Some 60's inspiration . .
1. postcard - it 46981, 2. Untitled, 3. domus, 4. Lover Come Back, 5. doris day, 6. 0238 [Doris Day] WHITE DRESS PORTRAIT_(c)_Leo_Fuchs_Photography_(www.leofuchs.com)(www.theheliosgallery.com)

Have a lovely weekend :)

Jessie.

Make it Monday: Quilted Make-Up Pouch!

Hello friends! Here is a belated 'make it Monday' weekly feature, better late than never eh! i made this quilted make-up pouch for my friend Laura's birthday :) she loves all my handmade things so i needed to make her something really special, and personalised with her initial! 

Piping in a circular disc for the edging, proved to be quite difficult! i had a lot of hand sewing to get it nice and tight to both sides of the fabric before i finished it off with the sewing machine..

i appliqued her initial with some red fabric and a felt background, finished with pom pom trims and embroidery anglaise - because she's a girly girl like me :) 
The whole thing is quilted with lovely cotton wadding to make it nice and snug, i also put a handle on the end, which is filled with wadding as well..

She loved it! I'm so pleased, i love making nice handmade presents for family and friends :)