It's been a busy couple of months. I've had five commissions to fulfill, two of which were for two matching bags, totalling seven bags. Coupled with a 'March Meet the Maker' challenge on Instagram, where I managed to post 31 pictures and compose 31 captions to tell a bit more about me and Toots Totes during March, I've not had much time to blog here!
One of the requests was for a work bag. Its primary purpose was to safely house a laptop with space for a notebook, in two separate compartments. It needed to provide easily accessible pockets for a work phone and a personal phone. There was to be a matching smaller clutch bag for personal effects that would clip onto the main bag but could go off to lunch with its owner and leave the bigger bag at the desk!

Rather than revamp one of my existing designs I decided to work up a new one and as I prefer to create my own designs rather than buy pre-made patterns, I started by sketching it out.  I began with the laptop dimensions, added a couple of cms and as It was to be made in a lovely William Morris floral and I wanted it to look feminine, I gave it some curves! I decided the central divider could double up as a zip topped pocket and two open pockets one side would take the phones.
As it would be a substantial size I thought some piping would define the shape and smarten the look.  I chose a larger sturdier zip than usual for the bag top to take daily wear and tear. Topping it off would be some gorgeous leather handles.

As this was a completely new design I made a prototype in another William Morris fabric to try it out and show the client before I went ahead with her bag. To cut a long story short I did have a few problems to solve! That's what I love about designing my own bags: it's so satisfying to find and apply the solutions to end up with something that works well!

And I've named this shape: "Lupin" laptop bag! It was unanimous on Instagram (one person  replied  agreeing with my suggestion!) Another flower added to the bunch!

I've never been happy with how my bags are named-I tried to start them all with 'B', Belle, Boxy, Big (!), but that didn't really work for all of them. So some have funky titles like 'Beaujangle' and others just a descriptive phrase like 'silk framed purse'. I wondered whether if I gave them all a floraI related name it might make a perceptual difference?
A  straw poll on Instagram and Facebook seemed a good idea, to see what my friends and followers thought. Instagram showed 69% in favour of a floral themed change and FB was 66% in favour. Lots of folk on Insta didn't vote and who knows who didn't like to say no on either platform..!
A very respected fellow maker, Pauline Greuell, based in the Netherlands (click on her name in this paragraph to check out her unusual and beautiful products on Etsy) messaged me to say that she thought it would make the bags more difficult to find with an online search and of course she's totally right! It makes sense to use both the new name and the old to cover both the prettying effect and the practical side.
Please meet 'Posy' Silk Frame Purse, 'Poppy' Cross Body Bag, 'Fleur' handbag with leather handles and 'Clover' clutch bag. After all, as Juliet declared: 'a rose with any other name would smell as sweet'!

A new Mum and Dad approached me for their first purchase in preparation for their expected addition to the family! Isn't that lovely? The fabric needed to be leafy and the bag roomy and able to be carried on your back to leave hands free!

I sent them lots of leafy pictures and they chose this vibrant jungle print.

I already had a lovely green cotton for the lining and a colourful ladybird waterproof fabric for the changing mat.

I included zipped pockets back and front, with small ribbon zip pulls, rather than my usual beads  (health & safety!). The back pocket is lined with waterproof fabric, which is bound to be useful at some point!

It has a zipped top for extra security under the flap and four elastic topped pockets inside.

Adjustable shoulder straps to fit both Mum and Dad and a handy grab loop on top!
(Smug note: I managed to match the pattern on the flap with the body of the bag! Yay!)
The changing mat fits neatly in the centre, so all ready now to stuff full of baby things for a day out in the jungle!

03/05/18 Update: I also made a matching zipped purse and drawstring bag, which was a gift from me at the baby shower!

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet... 'Bum-bags'. Remember them? But I ask you: 'bum-bag'? Not a name that conjures up a pleasant sight... and the American version 'Fanny Pack' is even more dreadful! I've been looking at the Spring-Summer catwalk trends and whatever they're called, it seems like they're making a come-back, so I thought I'd have a go at making one. I want it to be versatile, so it can be used as a clutch, a cross body or shoulder bag too, so strap attachment will be a challenge. Colours are ice cream shades, and pink is a definite. I've a lovely piece of Liberty stylised flowers fabric and a matching dupion silk that will do the job nicely! I'll have to purchase some coordinating webbing for the strap.

A little bit of beading and embroidery to enhance the front. Then to master the rivet tool to make a belt! The tricky part is finding the right fittings to make the hole and then fix the rivet in place. I'm quite pleased with the result! Not so sure that's the right buckle tho': I might source another!

I've made some loops for the back to thread the belt through. I think for this first attempt I'm not going to puzzle over making it transferable to a cross body bag-that's a challenge for next time. It can be removed from the belt to be used as clutch bag, so has some versatility.

Well here it is complete. It's essentially a messenger bag in miniature, which made the construction far too fiddly. I'll  try a different way of doing it next time without the gusset.
And the name? Well 'hip-purse' is my choice, and 'belt-bag' is equally descriptive! Take your pick.

Offering a bespoke service to the Henry Moore Foundation means a visit to the Henry Moore Studios and Gardens at Perry Green, every so often for an exciting 'design by committee' session. I spend hours sourcing the fabrics and haberdashery, then take them along for the team to mix and match the options until they reach a consensus on what works well.

Contributors to the process come from all over the organisation: from marketing, the archive, finance, the CEO' spares his PA, and the Events Co-ordinator and Wedding and Events Manager among others. It seems that whoever has an interest and is free that morning is welcome to contribute their opinion. And it works very well! Fabric is folded and unfolded, wrapped and draped to ensure the Henry Moore designs are enhanced, handle colour is matched or contrasted and buttons added and subtracted, until everyone is satisfied!

A friend at work requested a CK copy (Ooh unthinkable) and I had to make a prototype, just to check it worked in fabric, as the original was in raffia. Out came one of my favourites: Corncockle in golden hues. She loved the prototype so much she had that instead of her original choice of dark grey!
She's keeping it as her weekend posh bag as its too good for work she says!

Next - everyone's favourite - Strawberry Thief. I coupled it with a dark denim and green leather handles and vintage button. It's currently on Etsy waiting for someone who also has a thing about Mr Morris to snap it up.

I met Jacqueline online when I spotted a David Whitehead fabric design in red and black she was selling. We began to correspond and I discovered that she has an amazing textile collection. She took the trouble to view my website, found the HMF project most interesting and offered to look through her collection to help me find some vintage abstract designs to marry up with the Henry Moore fabrics. Several emails later and I am now the excited owner of these lovely 1950s /1960s pieces. Not sure if any will be acceptable to the Team at the Henry Moore Foundation, it's going to be one of those Marmite moments, but it will make for an interesting design session and some unusual vintage style bags will definitely result either way! Looking back at my initial very safe fabric choices I'm amazed at how far I've come...

Well I haven't been sitting on my backside ALL week! I've been over to Perry Green once more to present some further options for bespoke bags for the coming season, which starts on April 14th.
Please go to https://www.henry-moore.org to find out more about the studios and gardens.

You may remember that I was gathering some fabrics and haberdashery together for the visit. I had also worked up a couple of new bag designs to show.
The meeting was to gauge whether the new shapes were suitable (they were!) and then to decide which fabrics would complement the exclusive Henry Moore textile designs.
Great fun was had by all (five of us) in collaborating to come up with the best combinations - down to the last button.
My attempt at introducing some vintage fabrics had some success-we will be using the red barkcloth and one of the green fabrics (look back at my previous blog). This was turned to the lighter reverse, which made a better match than the front view, but still showed some of the abstract print, which had caught my eye in choosing it originally.
So I won’t be sitting idle – I have so many Moore to do now – another six to be exact!

Following a visit to a well known purveyor of floral bags (you know who!) my friend at work decided she'd prefer me to make a bespoke bag - most flattering to be chosen over you know who  -  so she could have exactly what she wanted! She had already seen the bag below and wanted me to use this beautiful Morris & Co fabric called Honeysuckle and Tulips in a russet colour-way.
We stole a few minutes at work to look at this website to choose the bag design and then to find a co-ordinating fabric to make the top band. On screen, I thought we'd nailed it, until I got back home and put the two together in the 'flesh'! Not a good match after all...

We stole a few more minutes at work which was just as well, as my friend chose the wine red corduroy (at the top) to complement the background and I had nearly run with the orangey red linen (second from bottom) to match the leaves!
So it's now full steam ahead...with the right sort of red! Come back soon to see the finished bag!

I'm really surprised it hasn't happened before, because my work table is just not big enough...I was working up a new design for a bucket bag. I'd had a busy day at work as my colleague was on leave and my back-up staff member had to stay at home with her sick child, so maybe I shouldn't have been in the Sewing Room at all but relaxing with my feet up!
I'd already made my pattern pieces at the weekend and was keen to start cutting out and see how it would all fit together. I'd got some lovely blue hessian and a piece of William Morris Chrysanthemum fabric in indigo. I chose the thread carefully to get a good match and found a lovely leather handle that would make it really classy!
All was going well-I'd sewn the front pieces together, then the back, pressed them carefully and top-stitched along the hessian to give it a nice finish. I laid the two pieces on the table and reached for the roll of wadding. Now where to put it to cut a piece off? Yes, you can see what's going to happen now, can't you? I placed it on top of my fabric pieces. I pulled one of them out from underneath to measure how much wadding to cut off and then pulled my shears out of the sundae glass they live in (!) and started to slice through the  wadding. I then noticed some resistance, but it was too late, I had already snipped a three inch slit into the bag back that I'd forgotten to remove from underneath the wadding. I'm not one to swear but I wasn't best pleased, to put it mildly. It was beyond redemption. I momentarily considered making a narrower bag, but the proportions would be completely wrong so there was nothing for it. I had to painstakingly unpick my work squinting under my magnifier, as the thread of course, was such an exact colour match to the fabric that I couldn't see it! So, first the top stitching, then the seams. I cut a new piece of WM fabric and started all over again!
Lesson learnt.
 

I'm pleased with the finished bag and I love the lining fabric (Stephanie Thannhauser Annali Produced by: Dashwood Studio). Not sure but, I think I might keep this one! The last bag I made for myself was for my trip to San Francisco and is nearly two years old now, so I think I'm due a new one! Keep your eye on Etsy tho', as I might change my mind-that's one advantage of being the Maker!