design inspiration: scallops

Scallops have been so popular recently.

I personally love Marc Jacobs' take on it, and plan to recreate some of his looks

Marc Jacobs Resort 2011

And then, there is this skirt from Vivat Veritas, which I love and want to make.

And here is is Nette's take on the scalloped skirt

Even Colette Patterns has created a tutorial of their version with the scalloped shirt hem

I've been drafting some scallops on my own, hoping to create a few items incorporating them.

What is your take on the scallop trend?  Yea or nay?

designs that multitask: bag-spiration

I love bags that are designed with multiple purposes in mind.  And I love designing them.

There are quite a few cool designs out there that I admire and appreciate.  Here are some of my favorites:

I consider this bag to be perfect.  I've admired it for a while, and will probably break down and buy it soon.  It goes from shoulder bag to messenger, and has lots of inner pockets.

This is a really big bag that can be worn as a tote or a backpack, by Fuscht Bags. 

This is a much smaller bag with a great shape, that looks very comfortable as a backpack.

Here is a bag from Fluevog with a lot of potential for a being very cool convertible bag.

And as we know, this Oliver+S pattern inspired my own City Living Backpack Tote.

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Right now I am working to design a mens' convertible laptop bag.  

My inspiration really comes from my husbands needs, but this bag by Targus is the closest existing design I've seen to what I hope to create, with some very important differences.

What are your favorite design elements on a bag?  Do you have bag-spiration?

A travel-worthy golf bag

The hubby and I got to play a round of golf with family while we were in Cali last week.  We knew we were taking some clubs when we learned that Jet Blue actually doesn't charge an oversize bag fee for checking golf bags, but we also didn't want to haul 2 big bags of clubs cross-country.

I've been wanting a new golf bag for a while now, because my current bag is a really heavy cart bag, which is much to bulky for taking to the driving range, or to a par-3 course. I looked for inspiration on the internets, and found only one example of a diy golf bag.

from Table Calendar

It's a lovely, orange carry bag, and it looks easy to make, but I knew I wanted something with a few more features, like the ability to stand on its own and lock into a cart, yet still fold down for easy travel.

My source of inspiration came from the Caddy Sack

Don't let weird pictures of the old man fool you.  This bag has a cool shape that makes it lightweight, able to carry a few clubs, and it stands.  The only problem: it's really ugly.  

And so I began to make my own DIY version with this:

I grabbed some black sailcloth and jute strapping for the bag body.  I also chose the golf clubs I wanted to carry, as a guide for the finished size of the bag.

I added a decent amount of internal support to this baby, 2 zipper pockets (for balls, tees and wallet) and 1 large pocket (for a water bottle and a hat), and a metal stand that I rigged from a few hardware store supplies. I sewed the entire bag on Veronica, and she didn't complain at all, even with the multiple layers of heavy-duty sail cloth and thick jute strapping.

The result is an attractive, lightweight "sunday" golf bag. It's not perfect yet, but it is a very functional bag, that travels very well. The hubby and I were able to pack all our clubs into his golf bag (so we only had to check one golf bag), while my bag folded down into our luggage, taking up very little space.

It even straps into the golf cart easily.

Once I have made my last few adjustments on the stand, I will share more information about the inner structure of the bag.  And because I already had the sailcloth, the total cost for this bag was under $15 (for zippers, jute, strap hardware, and stand hardware). 

a week away

The husband and I have been in California this past week supporting a family member who needed surgery to remove a tumor very close to the brain.  Everything seemed to go well with the surgery, although it was much longer and more extensive than the neurosurgeon expected. The recovery is looking good as well, so we plan to head back east pretty soon.

This past week also happened to mark our first anniversary.  All our nieces and nephews (we have a lot) said it was the funnest wedding they had ever been to, and I have to believe it was partly because of this.

photo taken by Jen Ing

You can't tell from the picture, but there are at least 10 people present, hiding amongst the colored balls. I do believe that every wedding should have a ball pit.

And happy anniversary to my wonderful husband. We didn't get to do much celebrating this week, though we were at the beach on our anniversary, trying to see how many nieces and nephews can fit into a single hole in the sand at a time.

The answer was 7.