I am what is called a "casual consultant" for LillaRose. In other words, I am not doing shows or parties (except the occasional catalog party). I joined so I could get the consultant discount when buying for my five daughters with long blonde hair.
But my mom and I are so excited about these hair accessories (finally able to do up my girl's hair with pretty things that won't break or [usually] fall out!) that we tell everyone we meet about them. I quickly began to carry samples (the ones we personally use but that aren't in anyone's hair at the moment) to show off, plus catalogs and business cards.
But it just doesn't present the product well to pull out a handful of jumbled metal and drop them on the table. Presented this way, saying they are $15 (+ or -) makes them sound expensive. Plus, my catalogs were getting messed up in the bottom of my business tote.
So I took the piece of cloth (velvet) that some neklaces my mom bought came in and replaced the necklaces with the flexi's, bobbies and flexi-O I own.
This all rolled up in a neat, small bundle .When unrolled, it presented the flexis like they were expensive so that $15-ish sounds more like a real bargain.
But I ran into problems. Not only did this not solve the problem with the paper products, the clips fell out...often. Not only is this not secure, it reverts to them being presented as a jumble of random metal.
The solution:
Then I added bias tape around the edge (which was already fraying a bit from use.)
I laid out my pretty rosey cloth and laid a catalog and order form on it, then laid the velvet with the flexis on top of that to see where to cut.
I sewed the velvet and the rosey cloth together up the middle, then added bias tape to the rosey cloth.
Next, sew the top and bottom of both cloths together to form the side pockets.
Add the zipper (22", the biggest the cloth store had).
It easily holds three catalogs, some Lilla Looks, and business cards in one side pocket and a handful of order forms, hostess information sheets, product information sheets and an ink pen (purple:-) ) in the other one.
But, at my mom's insistence, I had bought a full yard of material, so...
I took my favorite tote (the one I stuff everything in that I need to take to run errands that won't fit in my purse) and laid it on the left-over rosey cloth (this cloth has the striped rose pattern on the outside of the case on one side and the random rose pattern on the outside of the tote on the other. It's per-quiltted at the factory.) I cut the cloth a bit bigger to allow for seam allowance, and left enough at the top for a flap to keep stuff from falling out as easy.
I also decided to added a divider inside for two compartments.
I put the bias tape on the inner divider, then sewed the three layers (front, back and divider) down the sides to within 2" of the bottom.
The next part is hard to explain, but I sewed a seam at a right angle to the side seam, going out an inch in either direction to form a flat bottom. I experimented with different shapes first by "sewing" it with straight pins several different ways until I had it like I wanted it.
Biased tape was applied around the opening and flap.
Then I cut a strip of material and surged each side (I don't own a serge machine. I just zig-zagged along the edge). I double sewed the straps onto the bag.
The flexi case fits nicely in the bottom, and takes up about a third of one compartment height wise. There is a little room to add important papers for errands or maybe at a later date a small amount of inventory for immediate sale underneath in a bag of some sort.
The whole project took a couple of hours and wasn't really hard to do. The gusset on the bottom of the bag was probably the hardest part with the zipper next.
Anyone is welcome to use my idea, but I would love to see pictures of your versions:-)
But my mom and I are so excited about these hair accessories (finally able to do up my girl's hair with pretty things that won't break or [usually] fall out!) that we tell everyone we meet about them. I quickly began to carry samples (the ones we personally use but that aren't in anyone's hair at the moment) to show off, plus catalogs and business cards.
But it just doesn't present the product well to pull out a handful of jumbled metal and drop them on the table. Presented this way, saying they are $15 (+ or -) makes them sound expensive. Plus, my catalogs were getting messed up in the bottom of my business tote.
So I took the piece of cloth (velvet) that some neklaces my mom bought came in and replaced the necklaces with the flexi's, bobbies and flexi-O I own.
 |
| This cloth is the same on both sides. The edges are just surged, and the straps are the same cloth just sewn on in strips. |
This all rolled up in a neat, small bundle .When unrolled, it presented the flexis like they were expensive so that $15-ish sounds more like a real bargain.
The solution:
 |
| I added a ribbon folded over to tie each flexi-8 in to the "case," plus a ribbon for the headband and badge clip I will eventually buy for display. |
I laid out my pretty rosey cloth and laid a catalog and order form on it, then laid the velvet with the flexis on top of that to see where to cut.
I sewed the velvet and the rosey cloth together up the middle, then added bias tape to the rosey cloth.
Next, sew the top and bottom of both cloths together to form the side pockets.
Add the zipper (22", the biggest the cloth store had).
 |
| Case done. |
But, at my mom's insistence, I had bought a full yard of material, so...
I took my favorite tote (the one I stuff everything in that I need to take to run errands that won't fit in my purse) and laid it on the left-over rosey cloth (this cloth has the striped rose pattern on the outside of the case on one side and the random rose pattern on the outside of the tote on the other. It's per-quiltted at the factory.) I cut the cloth a bit bigger to allow for seam allowance, and left enough at the top for a flap to keep stuff from falling out as easy.
I also decided to added a divider inside for two compartments.
I put the bias tape on the inner divider, then sewed the three layers (front, back and divider) down the sides to within 2" of the bottom.
The next part is hard to explain, but I sewed a seam at a right angle to the side seam, going out an inch in either direction to form a flat bottom. I experimented with different shapes first by "sewing" it with straight pins several different ways until I had it like I wanted it.
Biased tape was applied around the opening and flap.
Then I cut a strip of material and surged each side (I don't own a serge machine. I just zig-zagged along the edge). I double sewed the straps onto the bag.
 | |
| I may add a button or buckle later to hold the flap closed. |
 | |
| You can see the divder here. |
The whole project took a couple of hours and wasn't really hard to do. The gusset on the bottom of the bag was probably the hardest part with the zipper next.
Anyone is welcome to use my idea, but I would love to see pictures of your versions:-)
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