Stories

When Maggie and I create one of our custom totes, we love the idea of a story.  We choose a bag design beginning with one piece of fabric that tells us a story that we can build around. 

We sold this bag in the Plaza Festival.  It's definitely a bag with lots of stories that we hope people will ask and share.  The straps are either WWII or Korean War.  They have been through some type of wear which in turn gives the bag so much character and individuality.  The metal has a beautiful patina which we think adds to the richness of the bag. 

We've also used the digital military camoflouge, faded camo from a pair of men's pants and a vintage olive green fabric.  The orange fabric is from a vintage women's scarf.  We loved the interplay between the masculine military fabrics and colors with the feminie designs in the scarf.  And of course, our fused plastic always has a story.  We collect plastic bags from mostly friends and family.  This particular plastic was from some packing material from my husband's job.  Taking a piece of what most people consider trash and turning into an original piece of wearable art is what our business is all about.

We singed the scarf fabric to make a flower for the front of the bag and added a military button with the same color of patina as the metal in the strap.

This tote was a special order.  The client had a favorite demin mini skirt that she could no longer wear.  I immediately knew what type of design to do for this bag once I saw the skirt.  We pulled the warm, fall colors from the stitching in the skirt to carry out through the rest of the bag.  We used a men's brown and plaid tailored shirt to give it a little bit of a western feel.  But we added some shiny brown satin to give a girly flare.  We also added small hints of pearl buttons throughout the bag to the continue with the western theme. 

We usually do a 5" square pattern for these totes but I did a 7" square on this bag so that I could keep the large pockets from the skirt.

So, it is our hope and mission that this client will have some sort of story to tell with her new bag and hopefully it will carry more stories and memories as she wears it.

The Plaza Festival Experience

Thanks to everyone who came out to support Green Envy Girls and the other local artists at the Plaza Festival. 

Maggie and I had so much fun! 

The weather was perfect! 

The food was good! 

The drinks were fantastic!

And the people were amazing!

Here are some pics that captured our fun packed day!

We need a pedicure!  This is what your toes look like after a day on the blacktop at the Plaza! 

Jackets, Girlies, and iPads

Our latest news is that Green Envy Girls has been accepted into The Girlie Show!  We are so super excited and of course we are working daily building our inventory.  We have The Plaza Festival October 1 and The Girlie Show November 4 and 5. 

Green Envy Girls moved last month from the cellar to a room inside Maggie's house on the second floor!  The cellar was too hot to work during our record breaking 100 + temperatures.  We've thrown everything upstairs and started to work.  We've had hardly any time to organize and with our two shows coming up, it looks like a fabric factory exploded.  But we are happy.  We'll clean when it slows down.

With all that's going on, we've been working on a masculine iPad pouch.  I found an awesome men's jacket at a thrift store.  I loved it so much that I made my husband try it on before I cut into it to make sure he didn't want to wear it.  Of course, he didn't like it.  Yea! 

I did some measurements for the iPad and cut away making sure to get the awesome pockets.

The fabric is a heavy duty khaki so I wanted to make sure and line it with something super soft that would make the iPad happy. 

This was fairly simple to assemble and sew.  And I think it's looks fabulous!  I would totally carry my iPad around in this pouch.  I love that we utilized the pockets so that a person can carry their phone and any notebooks, pens, etc with them without having to carry anything else.  I made sure to make a latch on the top with a magnetic snap and a vintage blazer button.

Rejection Stinks

About the time I think I have my blogging on a role, the time gets away again and I lose a few weeks.  This blog is always on my mind though.  I have so many ideas on what to write and share.  I just have to figure out when and how I can manage to get it all done. 

In the time since I posted last, Green Envy Girls has been busy with orders and building up our inventory for The Festival on the Plaza on October 1.  We also have been applying to a couple of local craft shows.  We applied for the Indie Deluxe Craft Fair.  When I visited the show last year, I definitely saw a gap that needed Green Envy Girls bags.  I felt so confident that we would get accepted without a hitch.  It was very dissapointing when we were rejected.  That is such a yucky word.  No matter what type of rejection the word is in reference to, it never feels good.  I come from a visual arts background and they teach you to never let rejection get to you.  You have to keep trying.  It still hurts.  It definitely affects the way you look at yourself and your work.  What is it exactly that wasn't good enough?  I spent a week really questioning myself and Green Envy Girls.  Well, I'm back on track and concentrating on our next show. 

In the last few weeks, we have created a one of a kind diaper bag for a dear friend who is having a baby girl in November.

We did a zipper this time instead of the flap over the front.  We upcycled a pair of army green girl's pants for some small pockets on the front, back, sides and a pocket on the interior.  We also upcycled a pink and white infant girl's dress.  We utilized the pleats on the dress and the brass button for some added interest.  We also used our new t-shirt technique with the hotter pink for some added fun.

We're really proud of this bag and are hopeful that this little baby girl will get lots of use out of her new Green Envy Girls diaper bag.

I have been obsessed with jewelry lately.  As a visual artist, I have always been a nut for found objects, especially objects with a story to tell.  Below are some sneak peaks at some of my favorite pieces that will be featured at our next craft show.

This detail shows an antique skeleton key and an old vintage button.

This necklace features an upcycled sting of pearls and some old vintage aged buttons.

This detail shows an old rusty watch buckle integrated with our t-shirt jersey necklace and a touch of fall colored beads and brass elements.

World War II

A person could write volumes about war and the toll it takes on society and I'm sure you could also write volumes about what good a war has or could have.  This is not what this particular blog is about.  This is about Green Envy Girls fascination with all things military that could be turned into super cool and fashionable wearable pieces of art.  I've been sewing and upcycling old military clothes for years.  People love anything military whether it be camouflage, military patches or military symbols.  It can represent different things for each individual, whether it be personal, purely asthetic or for its design elements. 

As Green Envy Girls makes more and more bags, we learn more and more.  I need to write a blog about all the things I've leaned about webbing and strapping for instance.  I'm always on the lookout for good, strong, attractive strapping.  It's hard to find used.  I am always visiting thrift stores and resale shops looking for such treasures.  I focus on fabrics that can be turned into a nice strap or I look for bags where I could take the straps off and use them on our bags.  Recently, I was teaching in Del City and I knew that the Brigadoon Military Surplus store was close so I headed over.  I started out dissapointed.  Everything seemed too expensive and new for Green Envy Girls but then on a bottom shelf in the middle of the store I found a bunch of old straps with metal ends on some and metal clips on others.  I sat down on the dirty floor in my skirt and began to pull all of the older, beat up straps 'cause they are the coolest.  I went up to pay and the guy informed me that these were all from WWII and the Korean War.  I absolutely love any type of object with a story.  So you can imagine how thrilled I was to get a dozen of these beautiful straps!  Some of the straps have faded writing and some have some faded print with some dates. 

This bag was made for my mother-in-law.  She had seen a bag that we had made but had already sold so she wanted one similar.  This was the first bag with these new straps.  I had to do some maneuvering to get the straps right and I think they turned out terrific.  My brother-in-law gave me his name tag to add her bag to personalize it.  I originally had decided to put the name tag on the front of the bag but my husband told me to try it on the strap.  LOVE IT!

My brother-in-law also told me about this website: 

http://1800nametape.com/. 

You can order name badges.  I haven't ordered yet but it would be neat to personalize bags with people's names or words. 

Here is the finished bag.

 I utilized the zipper again off of the military parka for the flower.

And finally here is the interior of the bag using some

pretty burlap from CISA coffee.

 

You may noticed the pretty lilly pads in one the pictures.  These were in bloom in Maggie's yard the day I took the pictures of this bag!  Enjoy!

Again thank you all for reading!  Please sign up as one of our followers and help us spread the word about Green Envy Girls. 

Back to School

Oklahoma City's public schools are beginning this school year August 1.  It is a new extended school year plan.  I like the idea so I hope that it succeeds.  I'm worried about the heat.  The kids will not be able to go outside for recess until the temperatures reach the 90's which could be until September.  I just hope the old buildings and the new can withstand the heat and cool those kids! 

My daughter will start 4th grade this year.  She is growing up so fast.  With her age, comes her strong opinions about her clothes, hair and anything else involved with her image.  You can imagine how happy I was when she asked me to make her a bag for school Green Envy Girls style.  She has always been so excited and proud of Green Envy Girls.  I think this is the biggest compliment.  She chose the colors of turquoise, lime green and brown.  So Maggie and I chose the fabrics and went to work with a deadline of August 1.

I was pretty excited about my new t-shirt jersey technique.  I discussed it with Kya and she said she'd love the lime green jersey on the sides.  We also added a brown vinyl on the bottom so that the bag can withstand some 4th grader abuse.

Kya also chose her fabrics for the flower design on the front which included a zipper flower in the center.

She also needed a pocket to store goodies for school.  We took a pocket off of a girls pair of cargo pants and added a lime green button for a special detail.

In other news, Maggie and I have been busy working on a new design for iPad bags.  They will hang about hip length with a long strap.  Maggie and I both carry our iPads everywhere.  I've really started to pull away from the desktop and utilize all the wonderful technology and apps available on the iPad. 

Stay cool in every way and thanks for reading!

I Don't Feel Old

I used to babysit a lot when I was a young teenager. I can remember saving all of my money that I made so that when we made our annual trip to Albuquerque I could shop for clothes. I got a call a few weeks ago from a friend of my dad's who wanted to order a bag for his daughter. She was about to have her first baby. He thought she'd like a tote that she could use for the baby and then hopefully use for a purse later. I used to babysit his daughter when she was a baby. I really don't feel like I am this old! So this tote was a new challenge. Maggie and I needed to create a bag that could easily transform from one function to the next.

When we pull fabric, Maggie and I are down on the floor arranging and rearranging fabrics that we think will work. It took a little while to get this bag going. We knew we needed it be pink but it had to be mature. There is something about pink and brown that warms our hearts. We used a fabric that resemble animal print that we found in a girls blouse. We also used a camoflouge print from a girl's skirt.

We've been doing a lot of work with old t-shirt jersey and I had an idea to make our own fabric from a pink t-shirt. We used the "new" t-shirt fabric on the front of the bag in our traditional squares but also decided to use it for the sides of the bag.  I LOVE the way this turned out and will definitely be using this technique again.  It gives the bag a feathery and feminine feel.

Jersey is so fun to work with because it doesn't fray and if you pull it will will curl. 

The bag has a small pocket on the front and the back.  We decided since the bag was going to be used for a baby too, that the lining should be softer than our burlap and it needed to have a few pockets for all of the goodies a mom carries for baby.  So we used the fabric and pockets from a pair of men's cargo shorts.  The inside wound up having four pockets on the inside. 

I am really proud of this bag.  I already have plans to utilize this same technique in a couple of other bags we have planned.  We shipped this bag and have gotten a report back that the new mommy really loved her new bag.  Hopefully baby will love it too!

Here is are some pictures of our babies so you can see how busy and blessed our lives are each day.