Embroidery from Viana do Castelo

  

Image source: Portugal em Postal

In some of my bags I use brightly coloured fabrics that are embroidered with white cotton garlands. These fabrics are from Viana do Castelo a region in the north of Portugal. Today the designs have been simplified and applied to tablecloths and placemats but they originate from the rich traditional folk costumes. The designs represented a particular town within the region. Differences in the quality and colour of the materials used also reflected the status of the woman who embroidered them.  The wonderful postcards above show some of these costumes.

Bragolin´s The Crying Boy...one of many

When I am not making bags I like to go to the flea markets looking for vintage and interesting materials that I can use. Without fail however no matter where in the world there always seems to be someone selling a crying boy (sometimes girl) print. I am not sure how I feel about them except that they scare me a little. Bragolin is the artist responsible for this series of paintings which became popular in the sixties and continue to adorn the most unlikely walls to date. The above example was photographed in a pension house, run by an old couple in Sintra, alongside other similar prints of little boys and girls embracing dogs. Still a mystery to me why people choose to hang prints of crying children on their walls. And of course with all great things kitsch there has to be a curse myth.

Hey ladies!

A little romantisch

I have lots of these vintage buttons, they normally come sewn onto these little cardboard backings . These that I chose are some of my favourites. I like how they are a little psychedelic yet pearly and romantic. 

And here is the finished purse...ready for high tea.

For those who ever loved

A small purse with a big heart.

patch it up

I have decided to play around with some patch work just to mix it up a little. This is the first square of what will eventually be a small quilt. I think I´ll also try and make some bags using the same pattern. Making a patch like this is fun and easy, all you need to do is work out your pattern and off you go. I sew all the pieces onto a backing fabric so that it all holds together nicely. One down...19 or so to go....

On sale at The Wrong Shop, Lisboa, Portugal

I am very happy to announce that I now have bags for sale at

The Wrong Shop in Lisboa. 

This shop has been one of my favourites for quite sometime, so this is an exciting thing to happen. They sell souveniers with a twist and also showcase the work of local designers. A friend of mine used to say "How can something so wrong be so right"...I think he was reffering to sarongs... but hey it works here too.

Altitude test

Today I took one of my first creations for a test flight. I am happy to say that even though the ride was a little scary, the bag and I survived the 1000 foot altitude test. Next it would make sense to take it sailing for the day.

This bag is made using vintage vinyls and grizzly bear badge.

More bags

iphone cover

A friend asked me to make him a cover for his iphone. I used a blue hand embroidered Portuguese fabric on one side and an orange african fabric on the other. 

We are both very happy with the result.

Making tags

These little cards go inside the bags...

...these tags go on the outside.

And this is what a finished bag looks like...

For this purse I used a nice bright orange fabric from Senegal and added a strip of vintage silky cotton.

Traditional Portuguese embroidery from Viana do Castelo and a very modern African design.

For this purse I used a traditional hand embroidered apron.

Sweet Portuguese rooster fabric and cool graphic vintage pattern.