"Chaos is a friend of mine" B.D.

Making bags... making a mess... chewing bubblegum... listening to Deerhunter´s Halcyon Digest... "Desire Lines" over and over again... wondering why Bradford Cox is so skinny... things are going well according to plan.

Production begins...

And so production begins on a new lot of purses for The Wrong Shop and Jimmy Camões. Here we go....

Market day... Armazens do Chiado

Today I bought a large Scarf and a beautiful wool hat from the markets. Originally sold and made for the Grandes Armazens do Chiado(built 1894) in Lisboa, which unfortunately burned down in 1988. I never got to go inside this department store, it would have been amazing. Now rebuilt, nothing remains of its former inner glory, just the facade. The scarf was still inside its original paper bag as was the hat, both labeled accordingly. In all I got 4 of these paper bags you received your bought goodies in... and they are all different, which is nice from the history of design of the brand perspective... I am so happy. Pictured above you have the Armazens in 1958, a postcard that advertises the monumental interior staircase as well as the 115 meter facade, and the sad end to this beautiful shoppers delight.

Special Order

For this purse I used a batik from Senegal on the front and a very old African fabric for the back.

6 Apron Purses

You can now find these for sale at Jimmy Camões, Rua das Flores 100, Lisboa. 6 pretty hand embroidered aprons with African batik backs (except for the blue circle pattern one...that one is vintage).

Chris came to help.

Today Chris came by the studio and helped unpick and cut and keep me company. "It´s a new experience ...thats for sure...something different...now I can make and sell my own handbags... there´ll be a website up soon...watch out for the competition."...Well said and thanks Chris!

Tobi (5 down/ 0 to go)

Apron revisited

A slightly larger purse made with traditional hand embroidered apron (child´s size) from Viana do Castelo for the front. Fabric from Senegal for the back.

Tobi (3 down/ 2 to go)

Another nice purse made with fabrics from the "grandma-auntie loot".

Tobi (2 down/ 3 to go)

Work in progress

For this purse I am using fabrics that used to belong to my grandmother and my auntie. Last week when I visited my auntie she gave me a bag full of the most varied bits of leftover fabrics, each with a story to tell..."this one I used to make a dress for your cousin and this one a pair of pants for when she was little...". On average these fabrics have to be at least 30 years old, making them vintage by definition....the flower came from our old place, I found it when we recently renovated... among my mum´s bits and pieces of sewing things. There is no moral... just memories which will soon belong to someone else who will never know.