My Original Inspiration

This was the first bag I made where I really realized I could go through my closet and recycled every piece of clothing that I love but never wore. I always adored this pretty plaid print but the skirt never fit very well despite my many alterations. So I cut it up and turned into something I could use all the time. I lined it with the snail pocket on my Grandmother's old, pink, terrycloth beach dress that I took home when she died. At the time I had no idea what I would use it for but I knew it was too cute to let go to waste. After it became the lining to this bag it occurred to me that most people probably had similar sentimental items in their closets that maybe they'd want to make better use of, too!

Thanks Gramma!

My Mom's bag

This was for my mom's birthday. It was made out of a gauzy, embroidered skirt I found at a thrift store and is accented with a yellow cotton lining and white and yellow flower button. Her favorite color is yellow and she's a gardener

Patty Griffin's Bag!!

I can't even believe I'm saying this but I had the amazing luck of giving this bag to the lovely and immensely talented Patty Griffin a few days ago! I picked it for her based on the outfits he wore at her Berkeley show last week and it seemed like it was too simple yet elegant to miss. Plus, the silver Goddess button drove the point home. She loved it and she gave me a big hug after the show:-) I'm truly honored to know she has something that I created in her life after all of the beautiful music of hers that has touched mine. www.PattyGriffin.com

Carla's Bag

Carla ordered a large bag and simply said, "I like Purple." So I used some grey, pink and purple, shimmery upholstery fabric with a Fleur De Lys pattern on the outside and a silver and gold vintage button. The lining is a vibrant purple cotton which I also used as a trim on the handle and to make the 4 inside pockets she wanted.

Marci's Diaper Bag

This bag was intended to be used as a diaper bag so I put as many pockets in it as possible, which turned out to be 12. 4 on the outside including one large one with a button and 2 small ones on the sides, and 8 out the inside including one inside the upper area of each strap and 2 very large ones on the bottom sides big enough for a baby bottle.

Custom Made Bags

Mary's bags!

This one was made from her Dad's old Army shirt along with some cool cherry fabric I had. The strips across the sides where the buttons are was made from the shirt collar and the inside pocket was made from the shoulder patch.

Custom Made Bags

Mary's Bags!

I am probably most proud of the bags I made for Mary Van Note out of all the ones I've done so far. She gave me a shirt that was embroidered by her Grandmother with writing over the front pockets, a rooster on the back and a big rainbow above it. She also gave me a pretty plaid shirt that she wanted to go along with it. (She didn't realize that the 2 shirts happened to have the exact same pearl snaps on them which worked very well for me!)

This was so fun to do, it was like putting together a fabric puzzle!