Recent Custom Leather Projects

Posted on 12-10-2011 | Labels Ladybird Sews Her Nest, Leather |

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Lately, I’ve completed some lovely leather projects that feature interesting and unusual color combinations.

Adlan Cruz Continental Bag

Adlan Cruz Continental Bag

The Adlan Cruz Continental Bag was custom designed and created for a world traveling concert pianist Adlan Cruz. This versatile tri-tone travel bag has exterior side pockets, a magnetic business card pocket, and front zipper pocket. The interior features a paddled sleeve for a laptop and several additional pockets. Available for custom order in other color options as well.

The Evelyn Belt was designed and created on 11/11/11 and features 11 pieced together leather remnants and adjustable tie closure.

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A Rockabilly Blazer and Leather Gear Tailcoat

Posted on 09-16-2010 | Labels Custom Clothing, Etsy Sellers, Fashion, Gears, Ladybird Sews Her Nest, Leather, Machete & Sons, Menswear, Neo-Victorian, Steampunk |

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I’ve been sewing alot of suits lately, and these two jackets were a delightful diversion from the more standard styles I regularly put together for AJ Machete & Sons Custom Clothiers.  I’ve been itching to post these pictures since I finished these pieces a few weeks ago now, but I’ve been so busy with other projects that it hasn’t been high enough priority.  Until today. I’m taking a break to share these completely custom jackets with you.

Rockabilly Blazer Lining

Lining and Interior Pocket - Rockabilly Blazer, Custom Tailored for AJ Machete & Sons, 2010

Do you love the zebra print charmeuse lining?!  How about picturing a full band, all in matching “Rockabilly Blazers”?  I think that’s the costumer in me coming out…picturing the clothes on a stage where the contrast details would really show up.

Rockabilly Blazer

Rockabilly Blazer, Custom Tailored for AJ Machete & Sons, 2010

What other kinds of contrast fabric and color details can you imagine on a custom blazer?  Pick your fabrics and styling, we’ll make a cotton muslin mockup first to develop a custom fit pattern, and then construct beautiful garments just for you.  Great fitting clothes will give you confidence in your appearance and help you be sharp and stylin’ at weddings, shows, themed conventions, or other special events.

View the Etsy listing for more info on AJ Machete & Sons’ “Rockabilly Blazer” here.

The next project has captured my attention with ideas for future gear-themed appliques on clothing, pillows, bags, and more….now if I can just squeeze some time in for some new designs!

Gear Tailcoat

Custom Applique Tailcoat: Leather Gears on brown linen. Jessica Montoya for AJ Machete & Sons, 2010.

A soft, contrasting brown leather gear on the back… Read the rest of this entry »

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Recent Work From My Sewing Room

Posted on 05-15-2010 | Labels Ladybird Sews Her Nest, Leather |

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box cushion zipper detail

While I’ve mostly been staying busy sewing various clothing projects lately, these two custom home decor projects have been a nice diversion and I am pleased with how they turned out (and so are my customers!).  The first piece is a box-style cushion that sits in a metal bench frame.  The edges are piped and I placed a lapped zipper on the backside as you can see in the first image.

box cushion corner

I used some handy techniques for constructing this style of piped and gusseted cushion with clean edges and sharp corners (it can be tricky to make those corners look good!), and I promise to take pictures next time and post a tutorial.

box cushion full

Next up is one of my favorite pillow designs.  I love the organic nature of the raw edges of leather hides, and I enjoy piecing together scraps in ways that highlight this detail.  This brown and tan pillow features decorative machine stitching along the raw edge in a variegated brown and tan thread.  The backside of the pillow features the same detail in an envelope closure, complete with horn button.  This pillow was made to coordinate with the other two leather pillows pictured below that I sold on Etsy; I can’t wait until I have some more free time in the studio to make more of these designs in a variety of colored leathers!

leather pillow frontleather pillow back


original leather pillows

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My Latest Creation: Reversible Leather Coasters

Posted on 02-17-2010 | Labels Ladybird Sews Her Nest, Leather |

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I just finished my first round of leather coasters, and I am excited by how they turned out.  I especially love the texture created by the yarn that I whipstitched around the edges.  Each set is different, and contains 4 matching coasters with different colors on the reverse. Some of the yarns have variegated coloring that coordinate or contrast with each leather color used.  
Not only are they versatile with a variety of decor styles, but they are easy to clean by wiping with a damp cloth. They also tend to stick to the surface they are resting on, as the leather grabs instead of slides.  What do you think of these soft, flexible coasters?
The 4″ squares are a perfect showcase for your favorite drinking glass.
 
This yarn is incredibly soft and adds a wispy texture.

I have a collection of unusual glasses…now they have a beautiful coaster as a complement.

I’ll be listing these to my Etsy store soon, stay tuned!
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Leather Coasters, Anyone?

Posted on 01-17-2010 | Labels Ladybird Sews Her Nest, Leather |

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My latest creation for the table top: embroidered leather coasters. So far, this is my first completed set; the coasters are reversible with decorative stitching around the edges. More color combinations will be coming soon, which I will be posting to the Etsy shop…though this is going to be a busy week so it might be another week or so before I can revisit this design concept.


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Creative Sunday at Ladybird’s Nest

Posted on 08-31-2009 | Labels Label Art, Ladybird Sews Her Nest, Leather, Textile Art |

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Yesterday was a very crafty day at my nest, as the creative juices were really flowing. It’s been awhile since I’ve done much with hands-on projects that I was beginning to wonder what happened to my inspiration. Photography has been my only creative outlet lately, as my blog has reflected. Well, get ready because I’ve got a number of projects ruminating at the moment, so the next few months will likely be busy with handcrafted goodies.

I tea-dyed this blouse yesterday. Originally white, it had been on the sale rack at work for awhile and had gotten a little sun-damage staining. It just so happens to fit me, so I took it home in an attempt to save it. I actually prefer the tea stained vintage look, as it suits the details of the blouse as well as my disinterest in wearing white. (and you can just barely see the sun stains now)

This first piece of the “Label Hoard” project is something I actually completed several weeks back but had not yet photographed. I have been collecting labels from clothing for many years now as I’ve cut up my own garments, worked on costume alterations, and just general scavenging of friends’ labels when they need a particularly itchy tag cut out. It’s going on 10 years of collecting now, and I had not done anything with my collection until recently. I have several more ideas for label collages, which hopefully I will get to sooner rather than later. Label donations to the art cause are gladly accepted :)

This picture frame represents the spark of creativity that I got last weekend when Mark and I browsed through the new Rocky Mountain Home and Design Center on Floyd Hill. I was inspired by some of the furniture and rugs, which is giving my ideas to customize the upholstery on my leather couch and to make my own leather rug (see below). I bought the frame above for a steal, and put one of my random pictures of old, rusty, abandoned scenery for good measure.

I can’t take credit for this idea, but I love the simplicity of it. I simply bought basic flat thumbtacks and used superglue to attach a variety of buttons. Haven’t had a chance to integrate them into my bulletin board just yet, but soon, soon! Original idea was circulated in the blog world from: In The Tweeds.

This is a start of my patchwork leather rug…I got a good start on sewing together a bunch of scraps yesterday, but I have to put this project on hold while I do some paying sewing sidework over the next few weeks…though I’m itching to get back to working on this big project as soon as possible!
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