The Birth of a Bag

 As with anything that starts as an idea and   ends as an object, making a bag is a   process. From design to testing and   production, it’s a lengthy and   meticulous journey and we thought we’d share it with you.

From the moment that a new idea pops into Emmie’s head, there is no rest until it’s a real thing, tangible and tactile. An idea very quickly becomes a sketch and that often gets re-sketched again and again until she is happy with the proportions, colours and shape. 

Next up is a pattern, each piece of the jigsaw hand drafted from a single straight line. Then comes the sample, often made from whatever is to hand and occasionally a little rough and ready. Hopefully it’s then time to put it into production but sometimes the pattern gets adjusted and another sample made to be sure that it’s perfect. Then is the exciting bit, choosing textiles. Fabric samples are ordered, colours poured over, put together and then the yardage calculated. Next the boring bit, pricing. Can we produce a bag from the textiles that we want that won’t make the item unaffordable? After all, we want as many people as possible to enjoy our products.

Once all of the fabric and findings have arrived, we can make the bags. This is the best bit of all. The planning, the sampling and calculating finally come together into a realisation of the original idea.

 Putting a new product out for sale is always a bit nerve   wracking, what if it doesn’t sell? What if people hate it? What if   it explodes and the sky falls in? (yes, really.) But with all of the   development and testing that my bags go through before they   make it to market, we have faith that our lovely customers will   treasure them.