Pesky Cat Designs

New items available in the shop . Anni, pictured above, and I are wishing you all a wonderful week ahead.

If you click above you can watch a short film about the history of Harris Tweed wool. It's an amazing cloth!   The Harris Tweed Wayfarer Purse

  The Wayfarer Purse in Burnt Orange Corduroy with a Flower Applique This time of year my corduroy collection is always in demand. I love working with this textile which has a soft almost velvet look with a more casual appeal. I recently ordered a batch of corduroy and I am eagerly awaiting my shipment. On another note, my very talented friend Damjana of Loddelina bags came up with an idea to give ourselves a push for the holiday season. We have both agreed to have 100 items in our shop by December 1st of this year. Since we both have about 40 items in our shops right now we need to create 60 more by then. I look forward to the challenge. Get ready, set, GO!

If you head over to Lil Fish Studios today you can read an interview about me and my work. Thanks so much Lisa for this wonderful feature! Lisa also has an Etsy shop, LilFishStudios , that is filled with her amazing nature inspired creations. I've been a fan of her work for a long time so when she asked about featuring my work I was quite honored. Felted Acorns by Lil Fish Studios

If you are wondering why there aren't any appliques on my new purses, I decided to create a few without. This week I worked on bags in linen and cotton in gorgeous springtime shades and lined them with pretty interior cotton print fabric. The Jewel Cut Purse above is made from a upholstery weight basket weave linen in deep pink and lined with a cherry blossom print cotton fabric. There are two interior pockets and a key clip to keep things organized. Pictured below is my Wayfarer Purse in a cornflower blue basket weave cotton. The interior is lined with the cutest owl print cotton fabric. In the next hour or so I'll be adding four new bags to the shop . Next week I'll have more warm weather inspired creations so stay tuned!

L ast week a press agent from Etsy contacted me about a story that FOX 5 News, here in NYC, is doing on Etsy and asked if I would like to participate. They wanted a local designer to interview as part of the story. I agreed and this past Tuesday morning FOX 5 News showed up at my home studio to do an interview about Pesky Cat Designs! Both the reporter and cameraman were very nice and made me feel at ease. Although I am definitely not someone comfortable speaking in public I agreed to do it and decided I would give it my best. When the reporter, a really nice person, was talking to me off camera I was comfortable and had fun. But when the camera came on all of a sudden it was more difficult to think through my answers etc. Strange what a seemingly harmless camera can do to a person. I felt like it was generating some kind of mind alternating current that prevented my brain from functioning at its best. In any case I made it through and was told that I did fine. I hope that I do not a...

Above is a shot of my sewing station taken this morning at around 9:30AM. I've got a custom order to work on and some other bags in progress. At the moment the weather in NYC  is 89 degrees Farenheit and its quite humid. I'm not tempted to venture outside so I hope to complete a lot of work today.  This past weekend I added a few new purses to the shop . See images posted below. They are made from cotton corduroy, one of my favorite textiles to work with. I'll also be adding more bags from my fall collection made from cotton canvas  and twill. Stay tuned! The Wayfarer Purse in Sapphire Blue Corduroy The Wayfarer Purse in Toffee Corduroy

It's raining in New York City right now and I am day dreaming of sunny warm days walking among the seagrass. I had a bit of a stressful week that involved lots of paperwork, taxes and an emergency visit to the veterinarian.  All is well I am happy to say. The paperwork is organized and Anni, my very sweet pesky cat, is well, but is now missing one of her front incisor/fangs. Anni doesn't seem to mind at all. She is eating normally and managing to eat her wheat grass that I always have on the windowsill for her. So it seems that her losing a tooth was a lot more traumatic for us than for her! I didn't have much time to work in my studio this week but I did finish one custom order and I cut out fabric for new faux leather bags I hope to have in my shop end of next week. I did get some lovely feedback on my site this week that really cheered me up. So big thanks to those wonderful customers. I love creating my handbags and positive feedback is the cherry on the cake!

Spring is here and there are new textiles in the Pesky Cat Designs studio. Fabrics in linen and cotton are waiting to be transformed into handbags. Yesterday I added a couple of messenger bags to the shop in a beautiful springtime chartreuse. I also added my first faux leather bag   to the shop and it sold. I'll have more purses available in faux leather next week. Although it's still quite cold here in NYC, I am dreaming of cherry blossoms and warm breezes.   The Offbeat Messenger in Chartreuse 

Introducing my new faux leather bag creation! The Wayfarer Purse above is made from a faux leather in saddle brown and has an ultrasuede cherry blossom applique in cream. I love this combination of texture and color. There are two interior pockets to keep your things organized and it is fully lined in a cotton floral print fabric. More faux leather bags are coming to the Pesky Cat Designs shop very soon. Stay tuned!

In the past week I had two Etsy front pagers. Yay! I got a lot more traffic on my site which always makes me happy. :))) The treasury posted above, created by an Etsy administrator, made it to the front page yesterday and featured my Semi-Circle Purse in corduroy with a cherry blossom applique. Thanks Etsy!  This treasury made it to Etsy's front page last Monday and featured my Wayfarer Purse with a cherry blossom applique. It was curated by junejaynes who is a buyer on Etsy. Her bio says " I'm a creative soul looking to be a part of a creative place".  Thanks for selecting my purse for your lovely treasury June! I'm glad you are a part of Etsy's creative community!

Here's a little glimpse into the Pesky Cat Designs work area. The large wood table is where I cut and pin all my fabric. The table in the back is where all the sewing takes place. I also have metro shelving where I store all my fabric, interface, hardware and packing materials. It's not a large studio but it is sufficient. Living in New York City you must make the best of a small space. Of course my studio does not look this clean and neat while I am in the midst of working. The photo was taken this morning just before starting my work day. By the middle of the day there is fabric, interface, scissors, hardware, rulers, pins, pencils, patterns, spools of thread and little pieces of thread scattered everywhere. So that's what it looks like at the moment!  Wishing everyone a wonderful day. :)

The Wayfarer Purse in Camel Corduroy I just added four new corduroy Wayfarer Purses to the Pesky Cat Designs shop!  I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to finish them in time and still have enough daylight left to photograph them. But I did. I really cut it close though! This might be my last batch of corduroy handbags for a while. Not sure. I do have some fabric left over so you never know! The Wayfarer Purse posted above is made from a camel cotton corduroy and is fully lined in a cotton floral toile by Michael Miller. I absolutely love this fabric. Flowers and butterflies! I used my last piece to make this purse. Check out my shop to see all the new handbags!

I just ordered a few yards of the Japanese imported cotton print fabric posted above! Sweets cats are strolling among the delicate trees. It's sophisticated and cute at the same time. I just could not resist! You can find it for sale here . I plan to use it to line the interior of my handbags. Speaking of handbags, I am working on a batch right now. Posted below is a little glimpse into the studio. The bags are in various stages of production. I hope to have them finished by tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Sakura Flitting Mums by Robert Kaufman T oday I expect a shipment of new lining fabric (see photos posted) to be delivered. Can't wait! I get very excited over fabric as you can see. I like to line my handbags with cotton prints and really enjoy selecting which will look best with a particular handbag. I first fuse a lightweight interface to the fabric to give it more body and durability. The inside of a handbag needs to be as strong as the outside. Especially if you are like me and add way to much to your purse than you should! Zen Blossoms by Michael Miller Posted above is a gorgeous cotton print by Michael Miller. I just love his textiles!  Since I am using cherry blossom appliques in my recent handbags I thought it would be perfect. I think it will look gorgeous lining a natural or oatmeal linen purse!    Jacobean Floral Garden by Print Concepts I love the floral design in the fabric posted above. I imagine it will look great against a oatmeal or khaki fabric. Perhaps olive gre...

D aylight saving time begins this Sunday. That's always a sign that spring is just around the corner. I don't like the prospect of losing an hour of my time but I do look forward to warmer weather. Posted above is a lovely cotton floral toile by Michael Miller. I thought it would be perfect for my spring collection of handbags. The Wayfarer Purse posted below is fully lined with this lovely print fabric! It's available at the Pesky Cat Designs shop.

Y esterday my Wayfarer Purse,  posted above, was featured on a lovely blog called The Downtown Boutique . Thanks Angie! Check out her blog for wonderful unique finds from all over the world. 

T oday I started my day in the studio with a cup of tea with lemon and the internet.  I sold several bags over the weekend so I needed to print shipping labels and package them. I also added one new handbag, posted above, to my shop. Once that was done I put on my waterproof boots, since there was quite a lot of snow outside, and took my packages to the post office which is located about 2 blocks away from my studio. Very convenient! When I returned to my studio I pulled out my storage containers of textiles and selected fabric for my next batch of handbags. I decided on dove gray cotton canvas, chartreuse twill, red corduroy and burnt orange corduroy. These fabrics will all be transformed into new handbags over the course of the next few days. Stay tuned!

I'll be adding some new Offbeat Messengers to my shop this afternoon. The bag shown above is made from cotton corduroy in a camel color with an ultrasuede applique and a vintage button. All the new messengers have an adjustable strap, two interior pockets and a key clip. The key clip is a new feature that I added to my messengers to help keeps things organized and easy to get to. I'm working on some new Wayfarers this week and hope to have them in the shop this Friday. They now come with two interior pockets. I am adding more functionality to all my designs. Function + Design = A Great Bag!

H ere's a little sneak peek into the Pesky Cat Designs studio. Posted above is a new messenger bag made from cranberry red corduroy and an ultrasuede cherry blossom applique. It will be available in my shop tomorrow along with a few more new corduroy handbags. Stay tuned!