Well, over the last 6 weeks, I have made bags, bags and more bags. I did my normal leather bags as well as some cork bags. The cork fabric, AKA “cork leather”, comes from Portugal. It is such an interesting textile to work with. It comes in a variety of colors, but I am a bit hampered by its availability. The woman I buy it from gets it by the pallet load from Portugal. She has a handbag company and sells off what she doesn’t need for her production. I fell in love with the “Ocean” green color but it is not available any longer. I am disappointed. Here is one of two bags I was able to make from it:
My favorite green cork that I cannot reorder.
This textile cork is backed with a great fabric and is also treated with Scotchgard. This gives it a waterproof, grease- and stain-resistant finish. The biggest problem, besides availability, is this textile is pricey. The cost rivals or even exceeds the cost of leather. However, it has been such a joy sewing this product and I think I will continue. Here are a few other “Katie” bags I have made recently.
Gorgeous blue and silver cork fabric
A rather nice burgundy cork fabric
Black leather “Katie” bag
Hand stitched brown leather “Katie” bag
Natural colored cork bag
A great striped cork, might be my second favorite
I also made several black and brown leather totes, which are my bread and butter.
My basic black leather tote
Same tote, different handles
A great basic brown tote
And lastly, I made a few of my “Camilla” bags. These are great little clutches, that can be slipped into a tote or carried on their own.
Brown Camilla clutch
Black and Red Camilla clutch
Just some trivial background information on my bag names. The “Katie” is named for my niece, who turned me on to the design. The Camilla is named for a lovely lady that lived next to my sons in Norman. She gave James a painting and some prints when he moved. We designed the clutch for her and she was thrilled with it!
I made around 30 bags in total and am having quite the time photographing them, writing descriptions and getting them up on Etsy. I am hoping by the end of June to have the shop stocked.
My daughter, Emily, came to visit for 10 days! That is the good news. The bad news is the guest bedroom is also my studio space. Suffice it to say it took me days to finish that transformation! We had a lovely visit and a quick trip to Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri. We did some eating, some swimming and some shopping. It is always wonderful when Emily gets home, but I get sad when she leaves!
You can read about our summers at Big Cedar Lodge here.
We have been in Fayetteville for 3 years this week. Time has flown and we still love living here. Here is a post from June 2013 that shows the house before it was finished! That was a long 6 weeks of homelessness for Randy and I!
Well, 4th of July is just around the corner. Everyone enjoy the holiday and stay safe.
Keep an eye on my etsy shop for new listings soon!
6 Comments
This cork looks incredible! I bet it’s soft…
Any chance of some scraps becoming embroidery scissor sleeves on the etsy site???
You would definitely have to give me more info! Size, shape etc.
I love my Katie bags!
So glad!
Genuinely love the bags and the new material. It really is awesome to watch you progress in your craft! Sorry we missed you on 4th of July and hope you are feeling better.
…oh and Emily’s trip looked incredible, hats off to her as well
Thanks Christian! I hated to miss the 4th. The guys had a great time. Hope to see you soon.