Collection: Accessories

What makes my upcycled bags a unique one-of-a-kind treasure?

Since I was a child I’ve had a love for the art of applique that I saw in all the clothing people wore in the area of Northern Thailand where I am from.  It began as a hobby but grew into a passion that revealed an opportunity. I have been collecting tribal clothes since I was young. I was interested in any beautiful cloth such as a jacket collar, a skirt ,blouse, wedding dress ,or baby blanket. You see this type of labor intensive hand-embroidery is a dying art in these modern times and people want to sell their old cloth.

For example young people today say “this cloth belonged to my great-great-grandmother but now I want to sell it so that I can get an iPhone. The grandchildren no longer value the connection with the person who made the cloth. They care more about a new phone than a family heirloom, and for many years I had no idea what I was going to do with all the   alluring swaths and garments I had collected, until now.

I was at a yard sale when I met a lady who said, “this leather coat has been sitting my closet for thirty years and I don’t know what to do with it.” Then it hit me, “I do!”  

I would take the antique hand-embroidered cloth from my homeland and merge it with the quality leather from a thirty year old jacket.  This idea really excited me! So I began designing and planning how to put these two old forgotten items together make something wonderful; my artisan bags.

I’ve taken the utmost care to fuss over every detail.  For example I always incorporate one of the jacket’s pocket into a functional side pocket on the exterior of each bag.  Inside each purse I put an additional two to four pockets because I know how important they are, and I only use the highest quality zipper on the market the YKK from Japan.  Finally every bag has an adjustable strap, never too long or too short.

Together these materials have been repurposed along with the Love, Hope, and Dreams, of the women behind the beautiful antique cloth to be upcycled into a one-of-a-kind heirloom bag for you.  Each bag has a story yes, but new adventures are about to begin.