Making more handbags and grooming/ toiletry bags...

I have been getting some really nice comments on my handmade bags and several people have asked me whether I would be willing to make a bag for them, some people want them for Christmas presents others just to treat themselves to a unique, one of a kind bag. I have now done several bags, and I'm pretty pleased with how they have turned out.

My latest creation is a smaller handbag with plenty of pockets, it's versatile and I just love the fabric and colour combination.

I'm in the middle of finishing off a toiletry type bag for a friend of mine. She wanted a small bag to keep all her dog grooming brushes, combs, nail clippers etc in. So I designed a bag with that specific use in mind and I'm pretty pleased to say that this little sewing project is turning out the way I envisaged it.  I hope my friend will like the dog grooming bag I've come up with.

I've now been asked by several people whether I would be willing to make bags on commission. Well I suppose I can, I'm still learning about bag making but I'm actually really enjoying being creative. I guess if I do start doing this more regularly then I might need to get some labels made, something that says "Hand made by ..." or "Hand made designs by..." and add them to my creations.

I really enjoy making these bags, so if there are people our there who want me to make them a bag I will be very happy to put one together for them. They will have to be patient though as I am not the quickest when it comes to making these bags. I want to make sure that they are right and well made.


This is the grooming bag I made for my friend, I made it up as I went along and the design worked much better  than I thought it would. My friend is over the moon with her new bag, and to me that is what it is all about! I suppose the next thing I should do is draw out the design so that I can recreate it if needed.

on sewing stuff

I have recently starting sewing and to my surprise I am actually quite enjoying creating things from fabric. I'm starting to feel quite confident using the sewing machine. I've had it for years, just never really did much with it.

What started me off sewing was the fact that we bought a lovely new 4 poster bed last year and we decided that we needed some voile curtains to go around the bed. Let's face it a 4 poster bed needs curtains of some description or another otherwise it just doesn't look right. So I went looking for and found some lovely voile fabric with a spiral pattern. It certainly was very frustrating using the voile as it was so darned slippy but the end result is beautiful. I haven't quite finished this project yet as I still need to do a cover for the top of the bed, but I've taken a little break from working with the voile, while I figure out how best to create this top drape for the bed. I've only got 6 meters of fabric left and I am not sure whether this is enough to do what I would like to do.

In the mean time I have started making bags, all sorts of bags. I've made a lined tote style bag which can be used as a handbag or book bag or even a beach bag for when on holiday. It's lightweight and versatile, and I love it.

A friend then asked if I would make her a handbag using the same pattern but to add lots of pockets. So I had her pick out some fabrics that she absolutely loved and made it for her. I added 3 extra pockets of which one is a zipper pocket, and a key fob holder, just so the bag is as practical as I could make it for her. She loved it. Here is a photo of the bag now that it is finished. She hasn't seen it in real life yet, but she loves it from the photos I have sent her.


I have some fabric left over from making this handbag so for my next project I will make a matching "Dog Grooming bag" so she can keep all her grooming brushes and combs etc together when she goes to dog shows. I'll probably do a little wallet for her to use up the last of the fabric.

After I have done these last few things it will probably be time to go back to the voile fabric and figure out a way to make the curtain to go over the top of our bed. I guess the best thing to do there is to add a rectangle of white satin for strength and then use the remaining voile fabric to create a "valance" to drape down the sides of the canape of the bed. If anyone has a better idea please feel free to drop me a line.

On blogging

Well I have never blogged before. To some this may seem a little strange but I've never thought about blogging. I decided to give it a go though.

You will probably be wondering what kind of things I will be blogging about. I'm a dog person, and seeing that I am owned by three beautiful Groenendaels, I gather my blogs will for a great part be dog related. You are likely to see blogs on dog training, dog nutrition, agility, dog showing and any other subjects that are dog related.
I'm sure I will also blog about my work, I run a dog related business called "Pooches Pawadise", we do home boarding for dogs and also sell dog accessories on line, I've had some funny, weird and wonderful things happen running my business so I will probably blog about some of that too. In addition I am a fully qualified dog training instructor and companion animal behaviourist, so you are likely to see some training tips on here too.

I have also recently started sewing, so I will blog about that too. I've so far done a couple of handbags, a grooming bag and I am currently working on a design for a purse for a dear friend of mine. I've already made her a handbag and she mentioned she would like a purse to match, so seeing as I can't find a pattern that I like I will design one from scratch. I'll do a blog about that with some photos to show you the finished article.

I thought I would finish by posting a photo of my three girls, together they are the foundation of the Nightsabre Groenendaels kennels. We are a small kennel that do a little showing, a little agility and we occasionally breed a litter of wonderful puppies. This photo was taken on a recent trip to the beach.

Luna, Shadow and Seina enjoying their walk on Studland beach. 

I think that is all I'm going to blog about for now. My next blog will be about some of my sewing projects. I hope I will get some hits and maybe some of you will find my blogs interesting enough to stick around and check in every now and then. 

Tasjii