Monday, September 24, 2007

The Process


We often get asked about how we make our bags so we thought we'd share a little of our process.
Echoes in the Attic bags & pillows are designed in 'lots' of a particular style and a head first dive into the pool or 'stash' of fab fabrics. Many things contribute to the design session...mood, time of year, is the sun shining, did I pull something in yoga! I'm a fortunate fashionista with a life long addiction to other people's cast-offs. I just see something different to do with something found. Whether it's from a day spent scouring second hand stores and scoring the overlooked or heaping my car with the generosity of our eco-conscious donors. The fabrics are yummy, often very small but fab. I have to admit though I'm no sewer. My partner Vicky and my former sewing teacher (my non existent skill has no bearing on her talent) usually asks me to 'step away from the cutting tools'. She sews, she teaches, she's even found a way for us to get more sewn than what she could do alone to keep up with the orders. Our purses & pillows are hand sewn in the sweat-shop free workshop of our 'right arm' production guru and her team of stay-at-home-moms.
For me, the finished product arriving is just the beginning of photo's, numbering, cataloguing, selling and supplying to our now over 35 stores across Canada, our e-tailers and our own webstore.
It's a crazy pile of work but it's our passion! Who was it who said...oh ya, my son at 9 years, "One lady's trash is another lady's purse."

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