Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton

Is anyone else in love with Marc Jacob's collection for Louis Vuitton? Aside from the custom train, the glamour and the colors I am especially enamored of the proportions. How can I be excited for Fall when Spring has barely sprung??

Drawstring bag tutorial from My Aunt June

Our good friend Lauren from My Aunt June has been kind enough to make us a drawstring bag tutorial. She used our Yuwa vintage floral mixed with the Lotta Jansdotter rugged suede. So cute!

Take it away Lauren...

Hello Bon Bons! It's your friendly neighborhood Fake Aunt! Or not, because chances are, I do not live in your neighborhood, and also, you might have another fake aunt. Details. Anyhoo, the project I'm sharing today is super fun and cute and SO satisfying, I've already made four of them!

The tutorial  for this bag, by Jeni of In Color Order  is simply fabulous- I had great results with it the very first time I tried it, which is really saying something, because my sewing projects tend to get, shall we say... unintentinally creative? It's very well written and illustrated, and for this version of the bag I just made a few small changes.

You will need: 

-1/3 yd of the main fabric, a delightfully silky floral print "La Vie en Rose" by KEI

-1/4 yd of the accent fabric, Rugged Suede by Lotta Jansdotter (you will need 1/3 yd if the fabric is directional and it runs parallel to the selvedge.)

-1/2 yd solid green fabric for lining and drawstrings

-1/3 yd muslin 

Cut (2) 12" x 11" pieces of the main fabric 

Cut (1) 12" x 8", and (2) 12" x 3" pieces of the accent fabric 

Cut (2) 12" x 20", and (2) 2.5" x WOF [42"] strips of the lining fabric

Cut (1) 12" x 40" piece of muslin

Bag will be approximately 11.5" wide by 19" tall when finished.

You will mostly follow the directions as written, except:

-In step 1, when piecing together the exterior of the bag, sew your 12" x 8" piece of accent fabric in between the two 12" x 11" main fabric pieces, making sure that on both sides the main fabric is going in the right direction. This adds the bottom piece of accent fabric to the bag. Topstitch across the top of the accent fabric, 1/8" from the seam, to give it a bit sturdier look.

-I used muslin in between the bag layers for added stability. To do this, just take your piece of muslin on the back side of your exterior (meaning the pieced together strip that consists of the two main fabric panels and three accent fabric pieces), and baste them together 1/8" from the sides. Do this right before you sew the interior to the exterior.

-To make your ties a bit thicker, use 2.5" strips instead of 2". You could also use a lightweight interfacing in these, to give them a bit more sturdiness. 

-Instead of finishing the ends of the tie strips, I left them raw. If you do this, you will need to fold the strip in half, and fingerpress a crease in the middle.  After you put them through the bag, use a tight zigzag to sew the raw ends together, so the tie is one big loop. Pull the loop through the casing until you find the crease mark you made, and then make a knot in the tie there.

I really love this girly little bag, and am using it to store my friendship bracelet supplies. (Yes, I am 28. Yes, I do make friendship bracelets. You wanna mess with me? [No, you do not.]) 

Also, this bag is EXCELLENT to give as a gift--- I filled one with handmade burp-cloths and gave it as a baby shower gift, and I think that they would be perfect to fill up with goodies and give to bridesmaid or housewarming present!

Moveable Type Truck @ Hammerpress this Friday!

Have you heard about the Moveable Type Truck? It's a letterpress studio on wheels that is traveling cross country letting people design and print their own stationary and prints! How cool is that? We are lucky because Hammerpress will be hosting them this Friday, March 9th from 6-9. You can design and print whatever you can dream up. And, our favorite people, Oddly Correct coffee will be on hand in case you get thirsty. Will I see you there?

Slipcover fabric

This weekend I took a big step and bought slipcover fabric. (insert dramatic music here) I made J take the trip with me to the fabric store and he picked out the main fabric for the couch. It's a little more avocado than apple green, which is what I pictured in my head. And, admittedly in these photos it looks like a weird brown, but it's not, picture more of a avocado green. 

Anyway, I chose this really awesome dark teal woven fabric for the piping which really livens up the whole thing. I think it would be pretty drab without it, but it's pretty zingy so that and some zingy cushions will be good.

Although I had my mind set on an apple green, I think that this darker color will probably be a good choice...we tend to eat on the couch and this is going to hide those spills. Which, let's face it, is probably one of the main things I should have thought about, what with my love of making tacos. 

Anyway, I'm going to start on the piping this week!

Purses By Design event

I don't know if I told you but I recently joined the Kansas City chapter of the American Sewing Guild! The ASG has all sorts of good reasons to become a member, one of which is a discount to their events they hold. On April 7th the KC ASG is bringing in Roseanne Lauters and Pamela Day who run Purses By Design. There will be an all day workshop and you will make and finish a bag. You can choose from two options (above) and they will give you all of their expert advice on purse making.

Non-members are welcome to come to the event, the price for the full day is $75.00 It is $65 for ASG members. If you are interested in joining us, or at least some more info please email me at betsy@bonbonatelier.com. It will be fun!

Happy Birthday Roger Daltrey!

In other news, Happy Birthday Roger Daltrey! Do you remember when we spent the best 2 minutes of our lives together?

Cath Kidston floor tiles

Ok, so you know how my Spring fever has me on fire to re-arrange the house and own everything Cath Kidston has ever approved? Well my friends, those two separate obsessions have now joined together and induced a fiery lust within me. I want, no I need a bathroom makeover using Cath Kidston floor tiles.

 I want to wake up in the morning and stumble into a flower filled floor. I want to take long baths where I can admire the floor. I even vow here and now to get on my hands and knees to clean it. Which is certainly something I rarely do to my boring bathroom now. Anyway, this is my new dream. We have the tiniest bathroom in the world, so maybe one day it will be possible. I am leaning towards the white with floral, although I do love the cowboy as well. Lust!