7 in 7

Well I did it. Here's the last bag. It's super cute – the photography does not do it justice. Wish I still had a little girl in the house who a) liked pink, b) would even carry a little bag, or c) carry a bag that has flowers on it.

I learned so much in the last week, I can't begin to run down the list - nor would you, the reader probably want to read it. The highlights though are:
• I actually had fun sitting down and figuring the Japanese pattern out and the bag construction. It was similar in some ways to my graphic design days when I had to figure out layouts with typography and photos. It was probably the most fun I've had using my brain since my design days.
• I loved sharing the process. That may be a bit narcissistic but it's nice when you're in your space all day and not having the interaction of an office to get feedback through the internet.
• If I'm going to pursue making bags and opening an Etsy shop as many of my friends are encouraging me to do, I'm going to need to work on those photo skills. It's one thing to be out in Japan taking photos of beautiful sites - totally a different animal to take product shots.
• Choosing the right fabric for the right bag along with handles is a critical part of the process. I thought I was being so smart choosing the flower fabric for this bag but did not take into account that the pleat would alter the graphic spacing of the flowers. There's a lot more to this bag making thing than just pouncing on some super cute Japanese fabric.

Not sure what's the what next. I may, as one friend has suggested, drag my readers through my shibori process. The weathers finally warming up and I'm getting itchy to dye some fabric I ordered before the kids and I left Japan last year after the triple disaster of March 11th. The move is marching ever closer and I am not moving fabric that's a UFO. Will be looking through my idea notebooks over the next few days looking for, you guessed it .. inspiration.