Yesterday I finally got my new handbags photographed and some of them displayed on my Tapestry Bag page. (Click here check it out.)

First up are my new tapestry bags. This year I’ve put zippers instead of flaps on my tapestry bags, having found my zipper bags the most personally useful—they are not large and very light, but they hold an amazing amount of stuff. I’ve put sweaters and shawls in them even. Except for some fat sporty plastic zippers, the zippers are metal vintage zippers that I can’t buy any more and are so much tougher than nylon. Some have a double pull, opening in two directions.

Scroll down a bit to find a brand new bag and scarf sets. I designed these to use a stack of fabulous contemporary art print cotton pieces only 9 inches wide that my artist brother Dewey gave me several years ago. Now I’ve made a small softly padded zipper clutch from each one, and a long, thin, matching two-tone scarf that uses the bag fabric on one side and a contrasting fabric on the other for a really easy-to-tie scarf. Each set is completely different, with the exception of the cat bag & scarf set. The fabric for that was sent to me by my California friend JoAnn Newcomb who has been designing and producing Japanese-style fabrics, patterns and goods for more than 20 years. (Check out her East Wind Art website.) Each bag is lined and closed with a zipper.

Scroll further to find my fabulous colorful Gypsy Bags, closed with a draw straw string long enough to sling over a shoulder. I got the idea for these from a recent New York Times fashion magazine I was reading one Sunday morning at a local restaurant. My waitress admired it but it cost $65. “I’ll make you one for $35,” I promised, and she said she’d buy it. She did. I brought it in the next Sunday and she bought it on the spot and off I went, making more. I’m going to bring her in as my younger generation consultant.

That does it for the bag page. At last I’m back on my blog. Stay tuned for more!

Click on an image to enlarge it!