the newest bags

the update this evening (friday) and tomorrow (saturday) will include the newest set of tough ruffles shoulder bags. these are sewn a bit differently than the bags i normally make. as you can see from the above photos, the flap extends as part of the body of the bag, and closes to itself, to give the bag a nice slouchy shape, and keep everything safely inside. the interior is also a little different. there is one regular inside slip pocket on the inside back, and on the opposite side there is a... wait for it... a zipper pocket. that's right. all sorts of new additions. the straps are a bit different. i made these out of the same vintage caramel brown heavy denim-canvas fabric i used for the backs of the bags, with a double layer of felt for extra padding for your hard-working shoulders. they are a bit narrower at the top, to minimize slipping off the shoulder. the sides are connected with metal rectangle jump rings and finished with a a nice rounded shade and a large hand-set grommet. and, of course, madebyhank is freehand stitched in deep brown onto each one.

i have a few of each color, and will be listing half this evening and half tomorrow, to make things convenient for as many folks as possible.

** also, please note that i am waiting on a hardware shipment to finish off the straps on a few of the bags, so some of them may not ship until tuesday may 4th. **

sneak peeks

tonight and tomorrow

pugs, ponies, miniatures, and ruffles

here it is, wednesday. only 1:45 pm and already so many dreams have come true today. frances (my dog) and i took our usual walk to the coffee shop this morning, and on the way home, we met penelope! she is a tiny little pug puppy and i love her. she is so small and wonderful and she makes these crazy growling sounds. her and frances were instant bff. frances was given to me when she was already one year old, so i did not know her as a puppy. her and her person live nearby, so hopefully we will run into her often. i was so distracted by the cuteness overload and the cup of hot coffee that i couldn't get a very good photo of the two of them, but i did shoot a quick iphone video.

and then the mail came. i was searching for somethingoranother on ebay a while back and came across the miniature sewing machine (it is about as wide as a dollar bill) and it was only a few dollars so i went for it. it did not come with any instructions, but it is battery operated. not sure if i will tinker trying to make it actually function or if it will just be a pretty thing to look at. either way, i kind of love it.

and then i saw the package from verameat. you might remember when i mentioned the pieces i purchased from her recently. at first i was confused because i hadn't ordered any other pieces, but then i opened the box and saw it was from my friend liz. it is an oxidized silver pony. a pony. which means i will forever be the girl who got a pony for her birthday. adriane gave me one of her beautiful little enameled brooches she made, and kat gave me a set of three llama drawings she did. which makes the tally: one pony, one rabbit, and three llamas. pretty much the best birthday ever.

and now back to sewing. i am working on a fairly large batch of tough ruffles shoulder bags in spring colors, and will keep you posted about details and when they will be officially available.

oops again

first, THANK YOU. i mean, holy crap, each time the bags fly out of the shop quicker than before. makes a girl like me blush for sure. if you did purchase one of those bags, it will ship out first thing monday morning, via USPS priority mail, of course.

i wanted to offer a quick apology-- a reader pointed out yet another shop update flyer error. i accidentally typed SUNDAY april 24th instead of SATURDAY april 24th. the date was correct, it was the day that was the mistake. i suppose it is an occupational hazard, working from home i rarely know what day/date it is! i apologize for any confusion or frustration this may have caused, but do not despair-- more bags are on the way very soon.

i hope everyone enjoys the rest of the weekend. i off to brooklyn tomorrow for a very soggy trip to east river to get tattooed by liam sparkes. jonathan and joanna had work done by him the other day, and it turns out he is only in the states for a short time, so i jumped at the chance. an exciting and painful sunday ahead of me!

fun with the tripod

weekend shop update

thought i would mix things up a bit and have a saturday shop update. tomorrow (sunday, april 24th) there will be eight new tough ruffles shoulder bags available in the shop, at 4pm EST. four will be shades of turquoise/aqua/teal, and four in black/grey.

i updated the size a bit this time. these bags are larger than the usual madebyhank large size shoulder bag. i added a few inches to the height as well as the depth, and the snap is under the flap instead of the interior for this batch.

unfortunately i did not finish them in time to catch the sun before it started to set, but i will finish photographing them bright and early in the morning, so check for sneak peeks here and my flickr page.

hope everyone enjoys the rest of their friday!

xo,
hank

thank you!

thank you! i was certainly not expecting the kind of responses i received from yesterday's post. thank you all for having my back. i also appreciate the abundant use of the term 'a-hole' in both the comments and messages you wrote. that and 'butthole bun' made me actually laugh out loud.

i was able to make five more of the aqua and blue-green tough ruffles totes, and just listed them in my shop. i apologize for the lack of notice, and will go back to announcing updates in advance after today.

hotcakes and drama-rama

just wanted to offer a little explanation. my inbox is overflowing with messages of why the bags were never listed. the bags were, in fact listed. at exactly 10 am EST. i had all seven listings open, so they would all be available at the same time, and by the time i had clicked the 'finish' button on the seventh, they were sold (and if you purchased one, they will ship this afternoon!)

i assure you i am trying my very best to make things as fair for everyone as possible, but there is only so much i can do, and once they are listed, i have no control over who purchases them. it is out of my hands at that point.

i am not sure what the right words are right now, as my intention is not to offend anyone. but i would like to ask that those of you who continue to do so, please stop sending me mean (i might use the word nasty, even) messages. i try hard not to dwell on negativity when it comes to my internet presence, but this is starting to get to me. i receive so many messages that say things such as 'i cannot believe how completely ungrateful you are. all i want is a bag, and you refuse to help me, even though i am practically throwing my money at you', and so they go.

um, i am a person. who works all the time. i am not especially sensitive, but some of these messages are really starting to hurt my feelings. i have had many great and lucky things happen to my little business, but i work all the time. this is not a complaint, i love what i do. but it is important that those of you who accuse me of being ungrateful become aware of this. i would like to think i know myself pretty well, and i am many things, but i assure you all that ungrateful is not one of them. i have not lived a completely charmed life, and have worked very hard to get to where i am today, and continue to put so much of myself into madebyhank.

i want to keep sewing things, and i would love nothing more than to continue to be able to support myself doing this. all i ask is that please, before you write these means words (or at least before you click send), please take a moment to consider and recognize the difference between your own inflated sense of entitlement and my lack of gratitude.

i apologize to 98% of you, and have to say, that the majority of you are the kindest, sweetest, best customers anyone could ask for. my mailbox is often peppered with little packages and notes of gratitude from folks who love their bags, which goes so above and beyond anything i ever wanted. sorry to be kind of a sap.

thank you so much.

love,
hank

shop update sneak peek

shop update

there will be seven new large tough ruffles shoulder bags in the shop tomorrow, in purple with plum, turquoise with avocado, coral with rust, pale and bright coral, pale aqua with caramel, and mustard yellows. they will be officially in the shop at 10am EST. i have tried my best to give notice and stagger times and days of updates, and will continue to do so as much as possible to make things fair for everyone.

for more sneak peek photos, you can take a look at my flickr.

in other news, i had a birthday on monday, and am now twenty nine years old. for as far back as i can remember, it has been cold and rainy on my birthday, but not this year. the sun shone all day and it was absolutely perfect. the entire weekend was full of friends and fun and fancy meals and sunshine and laughter. and the best gifts. sometimes i just cannot believe i know so many people who make so many amazing things. i am a lucky lady.

stitched

many of you have asked to see images of the pieces i made for the enameled and stitched show. due to a very unfortunate miscommunication, several of the pieces i made went to their new owners before i had the chance to have them photographed. i did snap a few quick shots on my iphone camera when we hung the show, so i will share those with you. i apologize for the poor quality. i am a stitcher, not a photographer.

a few more

hey there. hope everyone had fun in the sun this weekend. frances and i took some pretty long walks in the earlier hours of the mornings, but mostly i enjoyed the sunshine from behind the window of my sewing room. don't get me wrong-- i am certainly not complaining. i cut and cut and cut and now i have so many things all prepped and ready to sew up a storm this week. i am pretty excited to sew, sew, sew for the next few days. and will be sure to share some sneak peeks when i am able to snap some quick photos.

i was also able to sew a few more of the bags from the previous update. i have four more of the toasted almond and taupe tough ruffles bags and three more of the elizabeth bags. those will be officially available on the shop today at one pm.

and now back to enjoying the chocolate chip waffles i decided to make for myself this morning. starting the week off right!