Wednesday, March 31, 2010

fixed the typo

EDIT: the update is today (APRIL 1st), not march 1st, as the original notice stated. oops! thanks joanna for letting me know about the typo!

details, details

okay so i had every intention of writing this a few hours ago, but clearly the universe had other plans for me this evening. i was about to take frances (my dog) for her evening walk, when i realized i needed to put the recylcing out because tonight is trash night, and somewhere in a span of 45 seconds i managed to lock myself out of the house. there a few especially frustrating elements to the story: a.) my housemate and his lady friend had just left on their bikes less than one minute prior to the locked door shutting, and b.) the reason my keys were not in my coat pocket is because i had cleaned the first floor of our house earlier and taken my coat upstairs so i threw on the one that was on the coatrack downstairs, without thinking. friends of ours live only two blocks away and they have an extra key, but no one was home when i knocked. i am not sure how familiar any of you are with south philadelphia, but i am pretty far south, and at this point the only option was to walk to jeanne's (said lady friend) house, which is not super far, but is definitely a pretty scary walk alone at night (well, i had a pug with me, but she is so small and so friendly that i actually feel less safe when she is with me), mostly because i am a person who is always on a bicycle, which makes you feel super exposed on the occasions when you travel by foot. and also because i am afraid of the dark and also afraid of teenagers.

but no one bothered us, we borrowed the key, returned home safely, and now frances is snoring away as i type this. and the moral of this story: do not clean your house.

so anyway, i apologize that i was not able to give you folks more notice of the details about the bags that will be available in tomorrow's updates...


madebyhank
small tough ruffles bags in toasted almond with taupe. (there will three (two in the morning and one in the evening)
(shown with the strap doubled over and tied to one side, which i think makes a nice length for a shoulder bag.)
the front and flap are vintage toasted almond colored canvas, with a darker shade of taupe linen blend built up and topstitched to create beautiful waves of texture. madebyhank is freehand stitched in dark brown onto the front of the bag, under the flap.
the back is vintage chocolate brown canvas, with topstitching details in brown, and a small wooden madebyhank button, made by the genius roberto sand (www.robertosand.etsy.com). finished with vintage brown faux leather piping details, for added charm. the strap is more of the brown canvas, with raw edges at either end, which can be un-tied and re-tied to adjust to your ideal length. lined with beige and multicolored pastels striped cotton, with one interior pocket in canvas finished with white piping. antique brass finish magnetic snap inside. a secret layer of felt is sewn inside, for added fabric reinforcement and a bit of padding. the strap rings, of course, have been stitched, re-stitched, topstitched, and topstitched once more for supreme reinforcement.
measurements:
body. 11"wide, 8.5"tall, 2.5"deep
interior pocket. 6"wide, 5.5"tall
strap. up to 55" long

madebyhank
the elizabeth bag. (there will be two in the morning and three in the evening)
made from vintage woven cotton in white with kelly green damask print. the flap is finished with a vintage brown button and there are vintage brown faux leather piping details throughout, for added charm. the back is vintage light grey canvas, with a small wooden madebyhank button, made by the genius roberto sand (www.robertosand.etsy.com). the strap is more of the grey canvas, with raw edges at either end, which can be un-tied and re-tied to adjust to your ideal length. lined with white with kelly green striped cotton, with one interior pocket in canvas finished with white piping. antique brass finish magnetic snap under the flap. darts at the bottom of the front and back panels give it a bit of a base at the bottom and make it just a little roomier. a secret layer of felt is sewn inside, for added fabric reinforcement and a bit of padding. the strap, of course, has been stitched, re-stitched, topstitched, and topstitched once more for supreme reinforcement.
measurements:
body. 9"wide, 7"tall
interior pocket. 6"wide, 4.5"tall
strap. up to 55" long

madebyhank
a mini tough ruffles satchel in purple with lavender (two in the morning, two in the evening)
a small shoulder bag with a strap that can be worn across the chest on a small frame, as well as resting on the shoulder. made from vintage purple canvas, with lavender lightweight linen blend built up and topstitched to create beautiful waves of texture. a small exterior pocket is sewn into the front seams, under flap, and madebyhank is freehand stitched in lavender. the flap and body are finished with vintage brown faux leather piping details, for added charm. the back is vintage chocolate brown canvas, with topstitching details in lavender, and a small wooden madebyhank button, made by the genius roberto sand (www.robertosand.etsy.com). the strap is more of the purple canvas, with raw edges at either end, which can be un-tied and re-tied to adjust to your ideal length. lined with beige and multicolored pastels striped cotton, with one interior pocket in canvas finished with white piping. antique brass finish magnetic snap under the flap. darts at the bottom of the front and back panels give it a bit of a base at the bottom and make it just a little roomier. a secret layer of felt is sewn inside, for added fabric reinforcement and a bit of padding. the strap rings, of course, have been stitched, re-stitched, topstitched, and topstitched once more for supreme reinforcement.
measurements:
body. 9"wide, 7"tall
interior pocket. 6"wide, 4.5"tall
strap. up to 42" long

no foolin'









oh, my! it has been a month since my last post! things have been up and down and all over the place in that time.
i assure you i have been hard at work, but many of the things i have been focused on have taken me away from the internet. as i mentioned before, i have the newest set of sewn illustrations on display at benna's cafe (whose sister location was recently mentioned in the new york times!) right now, until next week. i made seven new pieces, and yesterday when i went in for one of the best cups of coffee in town, i saw that they are all sold! which is very exciting, of course. the piece that was on display at snyderman gallery also sold a few weeks back, which is also very exciting. i am going to try to have someone who actually knows how to use a camera (i.e. not me) so i can show all of you. i tried to snap some quick shots on my iphone, but it is a little too dark in there. i am going to take a good long break from that type of sewing, as it is especially taxing on both my time and arms and eyes. particularly the set i made for the benna's show, since there were so many little tiny flowers, and each one is about one hundred teeny little stitches. i do love making them, but this is the first time i have worked on those while also working as a fulltime purse-making machine. i have some ideas that i would like to work on eventually, but for the coming months, it will be all bags, all the time.

speaking of bags, i finished up a new batch the other day and the rain finally let up after days and days of what felt like neverending soggy, so i was able to snap some photos earlier today. i am going to do this shop update similar to the previous one (in two parts, at two different times of day), except this time, they are all sewn and ready to ship! if you purchased from the last batch, you know that it ended up taking me far longer than expected to finish them. and though each of you were extremely sweet and understanding and patient with me (thank you, you are the best!), i like to send things out right away to make your experience with my shop that much more enjoyable.

and i know that many of you who have sent me messages recently have been waiting far too long for a response, and this is a situation i hope to remedy by the end of this weekend. i do receive a sometimes overwhelming number of inquiries and requests, but this is a good thing! i just do not like to be the cause of frustration or disappointment for anyone. also, you may have noticed that my email address over there to the right of this page has changed. madebyhank.net no longer exists (at least for now), so please feel free to check in with me there (madebyhank@gmail.com) if you have sent me an etsy convo and have not yet heard back. those are very confusing at times and disorganized, so the best and quickest way to hear back from me is through direct email (madebyhank@gmail.com).

Saturday, March 6, 2010


music together. (please do not copy)

my close friend kat who works at snyderman-works gallery (where one of my sewn illustrations is currently on display as part of their fibers biennial) was working the other day and left her bag unattended. someone attempted to steal her wallet, and her boss (who is 73) chased them around old city for several blocks, along with other local shop owners. a few local news stations interviewed them about the incident, and kat made sure to include her madebyhank bag in the shots as much as possible. thanks kat! (her wallet was recovered and no one was hurt, even though her boss was nearly maced twice, but was able to duck in time!)

this is the video clip from the newscast.
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local-beat/Gallery_Owner_Chases_Down_Alleged_Robber_Philadelphia.html

Friday, March 5, 2010

a small update



just a heads up that i was able two more of the abigail bag, the chloe bag, and the emma bag, as well as one more of the tough ruffles tote-style purse in pale aqua with blue-green. they will be officially in the shop this afternoon (friday) at 4pm EST.

edit: sorry everyone, due to a few technical difficulties, i was not able to list the bags until now (5pm EST). sorry for any frustration. enjoy your weekends.

Monday, March 1, 2010

enameled and stitched

doubleflyer_web

thank you everyone who purchased one of the bags from this morning's shop update! this is the info for the show i am having this month with my friend adriane dalton at benna's cafe (on the corner of 8th & wharton). the opening will be on friday evening, march 12th, from 7 until 9pm. if you happen to be in philadelphia, stop by if you can!