My enjoyment of, and fascination with, textiles and embroidery extends back to childhood when my mother introduced me to the potential of what could be achieved with a needle and thread.

My goal is to create bags that are functional, visually attractive, slightly whimsical and a pleasure to own. I’m inspired to create by lots of different things. It might be a particular embroidery technique, a handful of beads, experimenting with different shapes or the ‘sense’ of a particular period in history. Although I mostly work to a range of specific styles, I use colour or embellishment variations so that each bag or purse is usually slightly different.

Creating bags is rather like doing a three dimensional jig-saw puzzle. A very simple bag has at least ten essential pieces, but some bags require several dozen pieces. Most of these pieces are not outwardly visible on the finished product, but are integral to a bag that works when it is filled with a myriad of items! All of my fabric bags are treated twice with Scotchguard to provide extra protection when used.

Apart from the essential pieces used in each bag, I often embellish or manipulate fabrics with embroidery, beads, sequins, ribbons, beaded smocking or felting. Some of the beads are so tiny that it takes more than 300 beads to create a feature that is only about 5 cm long! I also hand-thread beads which I knit into a variety of patterns for evening bags and purses. The more elaborate styles contain several thousand beads. Some of my bags use embroidery techniques in a traditional way, but I also enjoy applying a new twist to old techniques through the use of non-traditional colours, fabrics or threads.