thongbaitatong.com is upgraded into a webshop

I am upgrading my personal website to be a webshop. Soon you will be able to buy my clothes and bags directly from me via www.thongbaitatong.com .



To celebrate the opening, I will send out coupon codes for discounts of upto 30% exclusively to those who subscribe to my newsletter. If you would like to receive the codes or be informed about the opening, feel free to leave your email address on the comment section at the bottom of this post. Be sure not to write @ symbol to avoid spam to your mailbox. Rather, use (at).

Or email me directly to let me know you would like to receive the discount codes. My email address is thongbai(at)thongbaitatong(dot) com


The prices on the webshop will be in euro and the payment system supports PayPal and iDEAL

I am doing this all by myself. I began it several months ago, since August 2011 to be exact, but the priority has always been the production of my products. Whenever I take some break from sewing or other activities, I work on my website. The pictures show what I have done so far.



There is detailed product description and a system for you to select the size before putting the item in your shopping cart.



I am 85% done with the website and need a week or so to check the details and run the tests. The website will be live within February.

Last but not least, here are some more pictures of the patchwork bag I promised. The opening closes with strong YKK metal zipper.



Neatly and professionally handcrafted with great attention to details.


Available now on my Etsy shop.

The leather bag is finished. So are the dresses.

I am lucky that I don't work for someone else, or I would have been fired a long time already for 'never' getting anything done as planned. That said, the first leather bag of 2012 is finished. Yay! I just took its pictures half an hour ago. 5pm in the Netherlands is still dark. But the days are getting longer as we are moving towards spring. I will take some more pictures when there is enough natural light. But here is one to show you.



I have just bought in a lot of yummy leather. I have so many ideas but so little time. I even dream of b a g s and b a g s .....

However, there is solution to every problem! I am delighted to announce that I now have an assistant to help me sew the clothes! So now Thongbai Tatong is a mighty team of two women who are dedicated to the making and delivery of great fun clothes. This way I will be able to introduce new designs more often than the past years. Additionally, I can spend more time on making bags.

I would also like to let you know that the 60s inspired dresses, which I began making since November, are now available on my Etsy shop.



I am quite satisfied that I have been able to maintain the level of fun in my designs. The fabrics really help, too. More information and pictures, please visit my Etsy shop.

First leather bag of the year

I have been wanting to spend more time on making bags but there are always clothes to sew. Many of my 60s-inspired dresses have been sewn. My model is coming on Thursday to my house for a couple of hours to play with the new dresses in front of the camera for new pictures. I think about the 3rd week of January I will begin listing my new dresses.

Two days ago I took a break from sewing the dresses and began sewing a new leather bag. I was given a huge bag of small pieces of beautiful leather. They are perfect for patchwork. I chose the brown ones and sewed them together.


These four little pictures below show how the back zippered pocket was made. I like sewing a small piece of leather on the top of the inside pocket. It makes the pocket sturdier and look neat when you open the zipper, as shown on picture number 3.


The back of the bag alone is made of 10 different pieces of leather.


The front and the back ready to be put together.


Below are the front and the back, too. It will become a very unique and one of a kind bag. The leather is limited and I will never be able to make another bag with exact color combination any more.


This bag will be for sale and I really want to finish it today or tomorrow. But I have to sew a few custom clothes on the coming days, plus the photo shoot on Thursday and a birthday party this weekend. So I will continue with the bag again on Monday and Tuesday. About Wednesday or Thursday I should be able to finish the bag and post the result on the blog.

Stay tuned!

New photographs of the new dresses

I adjusted the design of the new mod-inspired dresses.

Then we played around in the living room for a couple of hours.

Like this ......







Now I have to make all the sizes.

When they are ready for sale I will update it on my blog.

In the meantime, Happy Holidays ♪

Best wishes,
- Thongbai

Happy Holidays, Winter Sales and product updates

Happy Holidays everyone! And best wishes for 2012.

WINTER SALES

As I have been doing each year, the Winter Sales is now on all items in my Etsy shop with discounts up to 30%. A lot of products are last pieces which I do not plan to make any more next year. If you have had an eye on something, it is a great time to check it out.


GIFTS

I love this wonderful festive season, a gift giving season. And I have been receiving a lot of gifts already. I heard that more will come tomorrow;) I would like to share with you some of the lovely gifts I just received.

This cool silver necklace with a heart pendant is from and made by Marie, the owner of MarKhed Design, and a member of the Artisans Gallery Team on Etsy. I love that it is so cool – kind of funky- with the heart. But it is also so sweet at the same time because of how delicate and pretty the whole set is. Thanks so much, Marie.



And the next one is from and made by Joanne, the owner of Gr8 Jewellery, and a member of the coolest friendship team on Etsy, The Dinosaurs. It is a very sweet set of necklace and bracelet. I already picture myself wearing them with a number of my dresses, blouses and skirts. Thanks so much, Joanne.

And another amazing gift is from my customer!!! Liesbeth is a very creative person and makes lots and lots of lovely stuff particularly from wool and glass, which she sells in two shops: one is a real shop in her hometown in Enkhuizen, Netherlands, and the other on Etsy. Both shops are called Stilling. A while ago Liesbeth bought the A-line black and grey skirt from me.

Yesterday I received a card and a lovely fused glass pendant in my mailbox. They are from Liesbeth. The pendant was made especially for me!!! Liesbeth said that the inspiration came from the skirt she bought from me! Aren’t I a lucky girl? I am so honored and flattered. Many thanks, Liesbeth.

NEW DRESSES

Before I took the one-week holidays last month I had made some patterns for new dresses, some of which were inspired by the mod fashion of the 1960s. And in the past weeks I have been making a few of the dresses, which I have had no time to take pictures of until today.

These dresses have already been enjoyed by a number of Dutch customers, who visited me at Christmas fairs in the past weeks. These dresses will be listed for sale on my Etsy shop after the holidays.

LAST PIECES

I have used up the fabric for the brown retro-inspired dress. What I have in the shop are the last pieces. It is now on sales with a discount of 10 dollars. If you have been thinking about owning one, don’t think for too long. The dress is of a limited edition.

But no worries if it is sold out. I am bringing in more dresses in the coming weeks.

First I have to finish the dress which I will be wearing tomorrow night, on the Christmas evening. I will be dining in a restaurant in Rotterdam with my Family and plan to wear something that turns heads;) Come on, it is Christmas!!!!

Happy Holidays to you and your family.

Best wishes,
-Thongbai

Pictures of the Open Weekend in Moordrecht

I would like to show you some pictures of the open house Sinterklaas Ateliers in Moordrecht, which I wrote about on my last blog post. It took place last weekend.

Yvonne's work

Helene and customers

Nian's beautiful flowers

Domi showing her products to customers

Lovely cat keeping visitors entertained

Sandra's pretty candles

The space!

I tried to keep him entertained while his mama shopped!

Customer checking out Svet's cool aprons

Customer looking through my clothes.

The main corner of T.T. products

It was a great fun and we are already planning the next one! I will surely blog about it.

Uitnodiging Sinterklaas Ateliers in Moordrecht

This blog post is in two languages: Dutch and English

DUTCH

Mijn vrienden en ik gaan a.s. weekend een open huis organiseren. We noemen deze leuke handgemaakte expositie ‘Sinterklaas Ateliers in Moordrecht’. Het is om onze handgemaakte producten te presenteren en aan te bieden aan het publiek. Het Open Weekend vindt plaats in Helene’s mooie huis in Moordrecht, een dorpje vlakbij Gouda. Het huis zal je ook prachtig vinden. Deze foto is een hoekje van het huis, dat getransformeerd zal worden tot een prachtige handgemaakte expositie!

Helene's huis

Deelnemers zijn 8 talentvolle en enthousiastische zelf-makers:

1) Helene van Felt Goood met haar hippe en moderne vilt hoeden
2) Sandra van Natuurlicht met haar bizondere kaarsen
3) Mirjam van Made by Mirjam met haar mooie sieraden
4) Domitille van Les Moineaux met haar fun kinderkamer wanddecoratie
5) Nian met haar prachtige bloemen gemaakt van nylon stoffen
6) Svetlana van Moi Aussi met koele schorten van upcycled spijkerbroeken
7) Yvonne van Pourquoi Pas? met haar schilderijen en keramiek
8) En Thongbai met haar hippe en fun dameskleding!

Bezoek onze blog om kennis te maken met elke deelnemer.

Nian's folowers and Sandra's candles

Niet zal je alleen genieten van onze producten die met passie en liefde zijn gemaakt, maar ook zal je plezier hebben in aktiviteiten zoals de demonstratie kaarsgieten door Sandra. Als je oude kaarsen hebt die je niet meer gebruikt, neem die dan mee om ze in te wisselen voor kaarskadeautjes van Sandra.

Nian gaat ook een gratis workshop bloem maken houden. Hier leer je om bloemen te maken met nylon stoffen. De materialen worden voor je voorbereid tegen een kleine vergoeding. Deze materialen zijn ook te koop, zo dat je de bloemen ook thuis zelf kan maken. Ik vind het een goed idee om eigen bloemen te maken voor je huis tijdens de feesdagen. Ook is het leuk om de zelfgemaakte bloemen als kadeau te geven.

Yvonne, artist at work!

Om het weekend extra speciaal te maken, zal ik mijn gehele kledinglijn met korting verkopen. Sommige items van de vorige collectie zal zelfs afgeprijsd zijn tot 50%.

Svetlana's apron and Thongbai's sweater

We zullen thee, koffie en koekjes klaar zetten om je te verwelkomen. Als je het weekend vrij bent kom dan langs. En ik zou het op prijs stellen als je de uitnodiging kan verspreiden naar je familie en vrienden via email of sociale netwerken.

Wij hopen je tijdens de Open Dagen te mogen ontvangen.

Plaats: West Ringdijk 39, 2841 LW Moordrecht (Gouda)
Datum: zaterdag 26 nov. 13.00 - 21.00 uur
Zondag 27 nov. 11.00 -17.00 uur
Contact: Helene, 06 36 20 36 86, feltgoood(at)hotmail.com
Blog: http://sinterklaasateliersinmoordrecht.blogspot.com/

Mirjam's necklace and Helene's hat

ENGLISH

Some of my friends and I are organising an open house this weekend (26-27 Nov), called Sinterklaas Ateliers in Moordrecht, to present and offer our handmade products for sale. It takes place in Helene’s beautiful home in Moordrecht, near Gouda. You will love the architecture of this home. The very first picture on this post is one of the corners of the house, which will be transformed into lovely handmade exposition!!

There will be 8 makers participating in this activity:

1) Helene from FeltGoood selling her fun felted hats
2) Sandra from Natuurlicht selling handmade candles
3) Mirjam from Made by Mirjam selling jewelry
4) Domitille from Les Moineaux selling children’s decoration products
5) Nian, selling flowers made from nylon fabrics
6) Svetlana from Moi Aussi selling aprons made from upcycled jeans
7) Yvonne from Pouquoi Pas? selling art works such as paintings and ceramic products
8) Thongbai selling fun handmade clothes!

Visit our blog to learn about each participant.

Domitille's children decoration

Not only will you be enjoying our products made with passion and love, but will also be entertained by activities like the demonstration of candle making by Sandra. If you have old candles that you don’t use any more, bring them with you to exchange them with gift candles from Sandra.

Nian will also give a free workshop, teaching you how to make the flowers of your choice from nylon fabrics. She has all the materials available. A great idea to make your own flowers to decorate your house during the festive season, or to give them as gifts.

Nian's flowers

To make the weekend extra special, I will be selling all of my clothes with a discount. Some of the items of older collection will offered with a discount of up to 50%.

We have prepared tea, coffee and yummy snacks to welcome you. If you are free this weekend please come and visit us. And I would appreciate it very much if you could help share the invitation with your friends and family via email or social network.

Adress: West Ringdijk 39, 2841 LW Moordrecht (Gouda)
Dates: zaterdag 26 nov. 13.00 - 21.00 uur
Zondag 27 nov. 11.00 -17.00 uur
Contact: Helene, 06 36 20 36 86, feltgoood(at)hotmail.com
Blog: http://sinterklaasateliersinmoordrecht.blogspot.com/