daniel bag

I'm all about recycling and re-using, so when my husband, Daniel, decided to downsize his closet full of clothes, I could not just let him toss them in the trash . So we offered the clothes to a few friends and widdled down the pile of clothes to a few shirts and a pair of khakis. It's so sad because the last few shirts left were ones I picked out and bought for Daniel and he hardly wore them and then wanted to throw them out ... oh man .... anyway, I decided to hang on to them and I threw them in with my fabric storage.

I sat down on Monday and had some time to sew and thought I'd like to make another boy bag, so I started rifling through my massive storage of fabric. I came across this blue striped shirt and Daniel's khakis and thought they'd be perfect for boy bags. I wanted to keep some of the elements of the clothes they came from to emphasize the recycling factor, plus it's just cool.

So the blue shirt bag kept the collar buttons and the khaki bag kept the back pocket. I think it gives the bags more character to know they came from someplace other than a simple bolt of fabric, don't you think??

The "Boy Bag"

We've mostly designed for women, mommies, teens, and little girls - but recently we were inspired to add little boys to our list of people with cool bag needs!

Last Christmas, our family exchanged names for Christmas gifts. I got my niece's name to buy for. She is such a beautiful little girl and a definate girly girl, I thought she would love a purse and some fun jewelry. I designed her a little turquoise and white polka dotted bag with a bright red flower on the front with a button center. After I made it, my little boy found it hanging in my studio, shoved all his trucks and cars inside and started toting it around. And that's when I thought, "maybe boys need bags too".

I quickly created a bag for him (khaki colored with a zipper on the front and a velcro closure on top) and he LOVES it! I did this 7 months ago and he uses it almost everyday! We hang it on a peg in his room along with his baseball hats; when we get ready to go run some errands I tell him to go get his hat and without me saying anything about it, he always grabs his bag.

He crams his favorite cars he's been playing with in it and carries it along with us and it keeps him so occupied during our errands that I have come to adore this idea of having a "boy bag". Sometimes he carries his fruit snacks and sippy cup in it, depending on his needs or wants for the outing.

When my mother-in-law came to visit last week she noticed the "boy bag" my little guy toted around with him everywhere we went and she raved about it all week. Everytime we go shopping at kid stores like Pottery Barn Kids or Baby Gap or Gymboree, mommies stop us and comment on my little boy's bag. I told Christina about it and off we went, designing "boy bags". We've started a line of them on our website and hope to spread the word!

My little man with his bag on a few outings ...