Hi everybody!
This post is part of a blog hop, to which I was invited by Christine of ChrisW Designs. Christine is a gifted bag pattern designer and I was very flattered when she invited me to join this blog hop. Thanks Christine!

1. What am I working on right now?

As some of you may know my passion is bag making – designing bag sewing patterns to be exact. I started my sewing pattern shop in early 2013 and as of now have 17 patterns for sale - as downloadable PDF patterns.
I am actually working on two projects right now, two bag pattern designs which will be released end of August and end of September:
The Hobo pictured below (I still haven't named this pattern) is a large, spacious bag with lots of pockets, eight to be exact. This pattern is ready to go up in my shop next week as soon as our move to our new home is done… yeah, I admit, things got delayed a little bit because of that.

The second bag pattern will be out end of September and is called Miss Miracle Bag. It is a shoulder bag embracing the 1950s style - I tried to incorporate a retro design into this bag. It has two zipper pockets, and closes with a flap. My inspirations for this design came from the Kelly purse. I used polka dots for my sample bag to give it even more of a retro flair.

2. How does my work differ from others in its genre?

This is a question hard to answer but ever since I started making patterns I tried to write them in a way that everybody would be able to follow them. I had always had trouble with commercial sewing patterns in the past, because there were not enough illustrations, or bad quality illustrations or no illustrations at all. I found myself many times wondering about what the instructions are asking me to do and at the end just trying something out and hoping for the best. This did get frustrating at times and when I started making patterns myself one of my main goals was to prevent the sewer from exactly this frustration when working on my designs. That's why I use lots and lots step-by-step color photographs in my patterns. I think that a good photograph can make such a big difference when reading and trying to understand instructions. When in doubt I even label parts in the photographs as well, e. g. a stitch line or a cutting line to be absolutely sure the reader understands what he or she is supposed to do.

3. Why do I write/create what I do?

There are two answers to this question.
Number 1: I love sewing! When I started sewing about 7 years ago I had no idea that it would become such a passion of mine. At first I only made clothing and home accessories but then I got totally hooked on making bags after reading Lisa Lam’s fabulous book “The Bag Making Bible”. And I couldn’t stop making bags ever since.
Number 2: After moving to the States I knew I was going to try to start my own business. I love creating and designing so I thought I might as well sell all the bags and wallets I was making. When my Trifold Wallet became the bestselling item in my Etsy shop I thought, if there are so many people loving this design there might be a lot of sewers out there who would maybe love to make one of those wallets themselves? And so I created a pattern for the Trifold Wallet. That’s when I realized how much fun pattern writing is! I slowly shifted the focus of my business onto my patterns and added more and more patterns to my shop over time. As of now I have five wallet patterns and 11 bag patterns available.

4. How does my writing/creative process work?

I usually start with a sketch of the design I have in mind. I am really bad at sketching but my little drawings are good enough for me to visualize my design and all its key elements. Then I sew up the prototype for this bag design. I used to do this with old fabric or muslin but recently started to use “nice” fabric for this step immediately since I now feel confident enough to not screw up even though at this point I might have to adjust measurements of the single pattern pieces :) I also make sure to take a picture of every step while sewing up the bag. Going through my pictures I then write the instructions and create the pattern pieces in Illustrator. After that the test pattern goes out to my testers for about three weeks. They are all very lovely and helpful people and I am really glad for everything they do for me. They all seem to have a lot of fun working with my patterns and I always anxiously wait for feedback and – even more exciting – pictures of their finished items. It is so fascinating to see all the different versions of bags! Their feedback helps me to get rid the last errors and after a final layout editing the pattern is ready to be released and go up in my shop. The whole process usually takes four to five weeks.

And now I am happy to share three other bloggers and their blogs with you:
First up is Vicky of Vicky Myers Creations. Vicky is one of my dear testers and focuses on upcycling. I am always amazed by her creativity and how she turns old materials into something new and trendy. Vicky also has an Etsy shop so make sure to check it out :)

Next up is Ree with her blog Sincerely Ree. Another one of my reliable patterns testers and the fastest sewer on this planet :) Seriously, she whips up new projects non-stop and the way she embellishes and alters existing designs always blows me away. So hop on over to her blog and enjoy the show :)

And finally there is Sarah from Prairie Girl Knits. She has also tested quite a few patterns for me and regularly posts about her current projects on her blog, which include not only sewing projects but also knitting, cooking and crafting for/with her five kids.

I hope you are enjoying this blog hop. Have a great week everyone, with lots of sewing :)

Hello everyone! I hope you are all enjoying the summer. Today I would like to let you know that some of my patterns are now available as print versions via QuiltWoman.com!
I first learned about QuiltWoman a couple of months ago, when two of my friends (who don't know each other) introduced me to Nancy and her website: QuiltWoman is a distributor for sewing patterns and offers different options for pattern designers, e. g. sellling e-patterns and/or print-on-demand, which is what I am doing. The nice thing is that she is based in Holley, NY, a small town which is just 25 miles west of Rochester, NY. She works with a lot of local designers and I think that is really cool!

As of now I am selling three of my sewing patterns over at QuiltWoman, but I am currently working on getting more patterns into print. The three patterns featured at QuiltWoman are the following:

AAllAll  All my print-on-demand patterns retail for $ 11 each and you can order them by clicking on the pictures above. After placing your order your pattern will normally be shipped within two days.

QuiltWoman features a lot of great designers and I encourage you to head over and take a look at all the great patterns.
I will keep you updated as I get more of my designs ready as print-on-demand patterns. Do you prefer PDF versions or do you like printed patterns? Does it make a difference if you make a quilt, clothing or a bag? I would love to get your feedback :)
Thanks and I hope you're all enjoying this warm weather!

Yesterday was such a happy day for me: Germany won the Soccer World Championship!! Woohoooo!!!!
This tournament is held every four years and took place in Brazil this time. It is a very big deal for Germans - or Europeans for that matter - since we are crazy about soccer - or football as we call it.
To celebrate this epic win I decided to give you a big discount of 40% on all of my PDF sewing patterns which are currently listed in my Etsy shop. Use the following coupon code during checkout: 

WORLDCHAMPION2014

Here is just a small selection of the total of 15 bag and wallet patterns currently in my Etsy shop:

This offer is valid until July 21 2014, so don't wait too long!
I hope you are all having a great summer!
Happy sewing :)

I am thrilled to show you my first pattern to be featured in a sewing magazine!
Sew-it...today is a fairly new magazine which is published bi-monthly and features easy and quick sewing projects. My project will be featured in the August/September 2014 issue which will hit newsstands on June 24. 
I have had the idea of making a bike bag for a long time and I submitted my suggestion back in February. Perhaps I shouldn't have been so shy about contacting magazines in the first place because they picked it up immediately, how exciting!

I was even more excited when I saw that my Pedal Purse is the first project in the magazine, starting on page 8, woohoo! There are four pages of instructions and lots of helpful illustrations. As you can see there are also tons of other interesting projects in this issue: a book cover, photo frames, a table runner and a cute lunch bag just to mention a few.

I got to choose the fabrics for this project and decided to go with this happy canvas from the Fabric Loft Escape Collection (by Fabric Editions). I like the spring/summer feel of this fabric and thought it would be perfect for the bike bag. It has a spacious main compartment, two small pockets on the sides and a zip pocket on the flap.
My favorite feature: You can attach it to your bike with two attachment straps or simply clip on the long strap to convert it to a handbag!
This project is rated as intermediate. I would say if you have made a bag before you will enjoy making this project.

This is the prototype of the Pedal Purse. There was a foot of snow on the ground when I took these pictures and I was freezing my butt off :)

Sew-it...today sells for only $ 3.99 and will be available on June 24 at most Joann's, Hancock's and Barnes and Nobles or you can order it from their website.

I am so glad I can share this with you! I hope you like this bike bag and the other amazing projects of the magazine. I am off to a short bike trip now... with my Pedal Purse of course :)

This week I made a new shirt using a Burda style pattern from one of my magazines. I have used this pattern before when I made my Rochester dress and I liked it so much that I wanted to make a shorter version. The knit fabric I used is the same that I used for the dress - just orange :)

You can find this pattern in the Burda Style magazine 4/2013 or the Spring 2014 edition. There are two versions, the top #106 (as seen on the picture) and the dress #108.

One thing I like about this pattern is its simplicity. The pattern comes with only two main body pieces (front and back on the fold) and the neck facing. (The dress pattern also comes with an optional belt and pockets.) This time I decided not to attach the neck facing to the neckline but simply fold the fabric of the neckline down to the wrong side by 3/8" and stitch it with a twin needle. So all in all I only used the two pattern pieces below to sew my shirt!
This pattern is rated as "Easy to sew, with simple features" and I recommend it for a sewing beginner. Especially if you haven't sewn with knit fabricy yet, this is a nice project to give it a try.

I needed about 3 hours to finish everything. The neckline is pleated - the original pattern asks for four pleats but I folded six (as I have already done with my dress) to make it fit me better. I also stitched the side seams of front and back in a slight curve since I thought it would be nice to have a fitted version.
Finally all I had to do is finish the sleeves and the hem with the twin needle. That's it, all done!

Enjoy the weekend everyone! Are you going to be working on some sort of sewing project? Temperatures will hit 80F here so I will probably skip sewing until Monday... at least I have enough dresses and shirts now to wear for this kind of weather :)

It's been pretty quiet here lately but I finally have a new project to show you. I finished another knit dress, made from one of the fabrics I bought in LA at Mood Fabrics.
I decided to go with a Simplicity pattern (# 2883) that I had bought almost two years ago. I bought it on Ebay since Simplicity does not sell this particular pattern any more. This was the first time working with this pattern and I loved it!
The pattern comes with only four pattern pieces (well, five, if you count the tie ends; six, if you are adding sleeves): bodice front, bodice back, skirt front panel, skirt back panel. No darts or anything on the bodice. The skirt panels are being gathered at the top. That's it! It took me about three hours to cut everything and sew it together with my serger :)

I cut the length of the pattern down by approx. 1" so that the dress ends right above my knees. Originally I wanted it to be shorter but I figured it would destroy the nice large scale print.

(....Please ignore my cats' litterbox which is showing in all the pictures. Did not intend that :))

And the best thing: I don't have to wait for better weather to be able to wear it. Summer arrived upstate NY and I am loving it!
Are you working on any projects for the summer right now?

Thank you all for participating in this giveaway. What a week of fun it was!
I truly enjoyed reading all your lovely comments! Thanks to those who also gave me a like on my Facebook page and/or subsribed to my blog, it is very much appreciated and I am happy to have a few more followers who will hopefully enjoy being part of my life in sewing land :)

So here is the lucky winner! I used Random Number Generator, counting all the blog comments, Facebook likes and new subscribers and this is the result:

And who is the winner?

Congratulations Carla! I will be in touch with you so you can let me know which of my sewing patterns I should send out to you!

Thanks again to all who participated, it was great fun! I hope to see you around :)
Happy sewing!

I am happy to introduce you to my latest sewing pattern which is now available in my pattern store: the Tech Travel Bag!*
*Congratulations Patti! You are the winner of the contest in which I asked you to suggest a fitting name for my new pattern! There were so many good suggestions but in the end I had to make a decision... it was hard enough, believe me! Patti, I will be in touch with you shortly :)

This is a medium-sized shoulder bag with two handles and a flap. The bag has a zipper pocket and two slip pockets on the inside and another special feature:
a removable tablet sleeve!
This sleeve closes with a zipper and it is padded for more protection for your tablet. It can be attached to the inside of the handbag with two buttons (or snaps). Or you can use the sleeve separately as well. The sleeve measures 8.25” x 13” (21 x 33 cm) so it should fit most common tablets. The idea behind my new design? I usually carry my iPad with me wherever I go and although I keep it in a case it bothers me that it is thrown loosely into the bag and there isn’t a designated compartment for it in my handbags. 

The pdf file comes with 17 pages of instructions, 43 color photographs and 2 pattern pieces. All measurements are given in centimeters and inches.
The finished size of this bag is 9 x 13 1/2 x 6 in / 23 x 34 x 15 cm  (height x width x depth).

Supplies needed:

- Exterior fabric: 11/4 yd or 1.20 m
- Lining fabric: 1 yd or 1 m
- Fusible fleece e.g. Pellon 987F: 3/4  yd 2/3 m
- Fusible interfacing, e. g. Pellon 931 TD:  1 2/3 yd or 1.5 m
- 1 zipper 12" (30 cm)
- 1 zipper 9" (22 cm)
- 1 magnetic snap
- 4 rectangular rings 1 1/4 yd (3 cm) width
- 2 buttons (or 2 snaps)

My pattern testers all did a great job as always! Check out their versions of the Tech Travel Bag:

The first one of my testers to finish the project was Cara. I like the color combo of her bag, contrast colors always work for me! Cara also has a shop on Etsy where she sells beautiful things!

Jenniffer used piping for her bag and attached the handles with rivets instead of stitching them. The colors of her bag are totally my thing :)

Susan picked a taupe colored fabric with a pretty swirl pattern for her Tech Travel Bag.

Pat picked this awesome green fabric for her Tech Travel Bag! I love how vibrant the color is!

Vicky from Vicky Myers Creations made this gorgeous version of the Tech Travel Bag. Vicky especially loves upcycling and always has lots of interesting stuff going on on her blog!

This is Rachel's Tech Travel Bag. Rachel also blogs at Seamingly Beautiful Quilts, so hop over and check it out!

Marcia says her daughters like her new bag so much, they are trying to put their Kindles in :) It is a beautiful bag, I agree! Marcia also teaches sewing classes and blogs over at Sew Inspired!

Check out the colors of Renae's bag! Not only is the exterior fabric really pretty but look at how that pink lining pops! Love it!

Check out the fussy cut on Janet's bag! Isn't it perfect? Janet says she used Velcro to attach the tablet sleeve inside the bag, which is a great alternative to buttons or snaps.

Silvia also used two very different prints for her Tech Travel Bag. They really go well together, don't you think?

If you like this pattern and would like to make a Tech Travel Bag yourself you can now purchase the pattern in my pattern store. How do you like my new design? I would love to hear your opinion so please leave me a comment below :)
Happy sewing!

Sew Mama Sew is having a giveaway day!! So many great chances to get inspired by fellow crafters AND to win awesome things!
Thanks so much for stopping by on my blog. Today I am giving away two of my PDF sewing patterns to one lucky winner. I currently have 14 sewing patterns in my shop - with another one coming up later this week - and you will be able to pick two of your choice :)

I am addicted to making bags and wallets in all kinds of different designs and if you like making them too, I hope you will love these sewing patterns! Here is just three of them, to see the whole range you can hop over to my pattern shop and have a look around.

To enter the giveaway just leave a comment below:
(if you are a no-reply blogger make sure to leave your email address, so I can get in touch with you if you win)
How many bags, wallets, clutches, purses etc. have you made so far? I think I have made about 200 by now... Or maybe you are new to bag making? I would love to know!

There is also the option for two bonus entries:
Please take a minute and have a look around on my blog. If you like what you see and wish to see more you are welcome to subsribe via Feedburner (upper right hand corner) and/or like charmed Liebling on Facebook.

Don't forget to check out all the other awesome giveaways on Sew Mama Sew.

The giveaway runs until May 16th, 8PM EST.
The winners will be chosen by Random Number Generator on May 18th.
Thanks for participating and good luck!

UPDATE: the original link to the tutorial is no longer valid. But you can download the pattern for free by clicking here.

Hello friends!
Today I am very happy to announce the release of my new sewing pattern:
The Pink Peony Bag! One of the really nice features of this pattern: it comes for free! It is scheduled to be posted tomorrow, Thursday May 8, on the fabulous blog of Sew Mama Sew. Simply head over there tomorrow morning to get the complete pattern for instant download!

This is a beginner friendly pattern so especially if you are new to bag making I would like to encourage you to try this pattern. The Pink Peony Bag is a small and simple bag, yet has a lot of interesting features and a fun design.
It measures approximately 5 1/2“ x 9 1/2“ x 1“ / 14 x 24 x 2.5 cm (height x width x depth).
There are three ways to use this purse: It has a long strap so you can wear it over the shoulder. Simply tuck in and hide the strap and you will be able to carry this little purse as a clutch. Or you may use it as a wristlet by simply clipping on the short strap to a D-ring on the flap.

Supplies needed:
- Exterior fabric: 1/4 yd or 25 cm
- Lining fabric: 1/3 yd or 30 cm
- Heavy fusible stabilizer e.g. Pellon Peltex 71F: 1/2 yd or 0.5 m
- Fusible interfacing (mid-weight), e. g. Pellon 931 TD: 1/2 yd or 0.5 m
- 1 magnetic snap
- 1 D-ring (1/2”/1.5 cm)
- 1 swivel clip

The PDF file comes with 12 pages of instructions, 41 step-by-step color photographs and 3 pattern pieces. In addition the complete instructions will also be posted in the blog post over at Sew Mama Sew.
In order to shorten the waiting time until tomorrow a bit I thought I'd show show you all the gorgeous bags that my testers made. They did an incredible job as always and it is really fun to see how different all their Pink Peony Bags turned out:

Cara from Early Bird Stitches made this one. Hop on over to her Etsy shop to check out more of the wonderful things she makes! 

Kim made two different versions of the bag. She even hand dyed the lining fabric herself and this vibrant color works for both of the bags.  Especially the contrast between pink and green is awesome!

This is Susan's bag. Susan used a fabric with a pretty rose print. And look, the background of her pictures has roses too!

Vicky from Vicky Myers Creations made several versions of the bag. I like the blue fabric with the leaf print that she had already used to make the Rhine Valley Bag.
The pink purses are awesome as well. Vicky made them as Barbie purses for her daughter!

These two versions of the bag were made by Jenniffer. I especially like how she added piping made of the lining fabric to the flap of the blue bag.

Carol says she likes this pattern so much, she could makes hundreds of these bags :) Well, here are several versions to start with! I like the way Carol embellished each of them in a different way.

Nancy made this cute Pink Peony Bag, which comes in happy spring colors. Just what we need right now :)

Marcia from Sew Inspired made this bag! I love the combo of the different prints. Marcia teaches sewing classes and says that she can see this pattern very well for a sewing beginner.

Margaret used a light blue fabric with embroidered flowers. Very pretty!

Dee made these two gorgeous versions of the Pink Peony Bag. Those will make great evening bags. Dee blogs about her sewing adventures at Dee-Zines, so make sure to hop over and check out her site!

This is Alyssa's version of the bag! A happy light blue batik print, wonderful!

Margaret made two versions of the bag, one of them as a wristlet and the other one as a clutch. I like how they both came out and as you can see they both go very well with her favorite coat!

Heidi always creates a nice collage of her bag pictures when she tests for me. As you can see even a large scale print will work with this pattern. Heidi also has a Facebook page where she shares her sewing projects.

I hope you like all the different versions as much as I do! If you want to make a Pink Peony Bag yourself make sure to click here and download your free pattern! If you have any questions about this pattern and/or if you like what you see please leave me a comment below :)
Happy sewing everybody!