I thought I'd share one of the lovely bespoke projects I've been working on recently.
A few years ago, a lovely couple from America came to visit me and we've kept in touch ever since. The husband recently got in touch as he wanted to commission a very special gift for his wife — a completely bespoke handbag designed just for her.
Well, you can imagine my response. YES! Let's do it!
He'd obviously been doing his homework too. He sent me a Coach bag because he really liked the design and pointed me in the direction of a few other designer bags and styles he thought she'd love.
So we had a great starting point and lots of inspiration to play with.
Finding the inspiration
What I love about designing is how you can take inspiration from so many different places.
It might be the shape of one bag, a detail on another, something you've spotted in a magazine or a bag you've seen in a shop.
I'm constantly eyeing up other people's handbags too! I'm sure people think I'm slightly strange when they catch me staring at their bag on the London Underground. 😂 But inspiration really is all around us.
Then you start to dissect it. What is it about that bag that you actually like? Is it the shape? The way the handles are attached? A pocket detail? The proportions? And how could you take that little bit of inspiration and combine it with your own ideas?
Sometimes the challenge is actually knowing when to STOP. It's very easy to get excited and over-design something. There's a fine balance between creating something beautiful and refined, and remembering that ultimately it has to be practical too.
And sometimes the inspiration doesn't come from another bag at all. It comes from the materials themselves.
Have you ever bought a gorgeous piece of leather and tucked it away because you just KNOW that one day you're going to make something really special with it?
I certainly have!
Sometimes that piece of leather is where the whole design begins.
So what did this bag need to do?
There were lots of practical things to think about with this design.
She needed more pockets, a proper section for her laptop and a leather strap inside to attach her keys. The handles needed to be shorter and there was no need for a crossbody strap.
But then came a part of the brief that I absolutely loved — tartan!
She loves tartan and that whole nod to the British punk era, so suddenly we weren't just thinking about making a practical handbag. We could bring some of her personality into it too.
Then all the questions start.
What if we changed the handles? Could we put another pocket here? What if we used this leather? How can we bring the tartan into it? How do we make all these different ideas work together?
At the beginning, anything is possible.
Then comes the slightly trickier job of working out how to actually make it possible!
That's why I always try to remind people that you don't have to put every idea into one design. Write everything down and store those ideas for future reference. You never know when you might come back to them.
Refining the design
Design is all about working out the proportions, the details and the hardware choices.
Then there are the bigger questions. What leather will I use? What would be a complementary lining? What seam type and construction will I choose?
Do I want a fashion-led design or a really practical design — or do I meet somewhere in the middle?
This is the bit I love because you're gradually refining all those thoughts and ideas into something that can actually become a bag.
Then comes the magic...
Then comes the magical part of transferring your 2D design into a 3D form.
Drafting the pattern using all the measurements, proportions and details you've worked out and turning them into what can sometimes feel like a very complex 3D puzzle!
This is where that drawing starts becoming something real.
Then it's time for the leather.
Cutting the pattern pieces, preparing everything, constructing the pockets and interior, adding the hardware and finally starting to bring all those individual pieces together.
And yes, there can be a bit of head scratching along the way!
That's all part of it.
Sometimes something that worked perfectly in your head — or even on paper — needs a little refinement when you actually start constructing it.
[IMAGES – cutting / construction / sewing / interior details]
And then... she was a real bag!
Eventually, all those conversations, references, measurements and refinements came together into one complete, beautiful leather creation.
The idea had become a reality.
She was finally a real bag!
Then off she flew over the pond to America and her new home.
I was slightly nervous waiting to hear what she thought.
I needn't have worried.
She absolutely LOVED it.
Her reaction was amazing, and her husband later described the bag as a one-of-a-kind family heirloom.
A family heirloom! How lovely is that?
And that's really what I love about bespoke design.
We started with a collection of ideas and references, added all the practical things she needed from the bag, brought in some of her personality and then worked out how to bring it all together.
And the result was completely hers.
What would your perfect handbag look like?
It got me thinking about how many of us probably have a handbag that's nearly perfect.
You love it, BUT...
You'd make it a little bigger.
You'd change the handles.
You'd add another pocket.
You'd make it in that gorgeous piece of leather you've had hidden away for three years!
Or you'd FINALLY give yourself somewhere sensible to put your keys. 😂
If you could design your perfect handbag and anything was possible, what would you make?
I'd love to know.
And if you've already got an idea sitting in your head that you don't quite know how to turn into a real bag, this might be rather good timing.
We're running our annual 4-Day Advanced Handbag Making Course from 25–28 September, and there are only a couple of spaces left.
You get the chance to completely design your bag from scratch. Working together, we'll take all those ideas you've been storing away and bring them together into one design.
Then the magic happens! You'll learn how to draft the pattern, select the leather and hardware, and over the four days you'll construct your own completely unique handbag.
But it's not just about the bag you make over those four days. You'll leave with key skills and knowledge you can use to develop future ideas too — so hopefully all those designs you've got stored away in your head can start becoming a reality.
If you'd like to know more, feel free to get in touch with me directly.
Let's see what's possible.
Bex x
