New items for spring

My work routine has been affected a little by the uncertainty about the development of my webshop. I have been using my website thongbaitatong.com only for providing information about me and my products. Now I want to change it to a webshop and need to change the provider to the one whose e-commerce package I am using to build my shop. I was told that the process of transferring could take between a few days and a few months. I applied for the transfer on 1^st February and have not heard anything back yet. I cannot test my webshop. And really, I don’t like waiting.

Since I have not been able to do much with my webshop I have been working on my new designs.

The first one is a set of top and skirt inspired by mod fashion. The skirt will be a plain color and the top will have patches of 3 different colors, that will be my favorite color combo of black, grey and red. First I begin with an easy part, that is drafting the pattern for the skirt. It will be a couple of inches shorter than my normal a-line skirts. Below are pictures of work in progress.

I always draft the first draft of pattern on flipchart sheets with gridlines. The lines help with accuracy.


And I always begin with size Medium.


After drafting the pattern I make the first sample of the skirt. This will happen in the coming days. If adjustments are needed, I go back to the pattern and change things around. Once I am satisfied I transfer the pattern onto harder paper, which is ready to be used for cutting the fabrics. Then I move on to the drafting the pattern of the matching top. I will surely share the results on my blog.

The picture below shows some of my patterns. On the left are the first drafts and some patterns of custom made items. On the right, the yellow-ish paper, are the actual patterns for my clothes.

I am also working on a new leather bag. Picture taken with my leather sewing machine, a very loyal friend of mine.



To be put together.


More 1920s inspired flapper dresses will be introduced this spring. I have the designs drafted out and the fabrics are waiting for me so eagerly. I have lovely fine cotton voile for the dresses.

The first dress will be a combo of these two fabrics of colors grey, red, pink, blue and white.



Note the lovely mobile hanging on the top right corner of the picture below. It received it as a gift from Nicole from Banongo when she stayed with us one lovely summer day in 2010. See some pictures of the visit here. It is a lovely and environmental-friendly mobile made of upcycled plastic bags.



The next color combo of the 20s inspired dress is black, green and blue. I love the print very much.



Beautiful, soft and light.



NOW, a lot of plans, eh.
AND we will see which will get done first.
BUT, first I will finish two bags ordered from my Etsy shop in the past couple of days.

Thank you for reading and keeping in touch.
- Thongbai

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.