Our first corset for our upcoming fashion shoot

This was really designed as a foil to the wraps, which are the main point of the shoot. But it's proved to be so interesting that we may go on to do some kind of corsets or tops later. It's sewn by a very talented British seamstress who specialises in corsets.

New shoulder pouch samples - part two

Well, just so that you know we are progressing, here are the snaps of the samples in Vietnam. You can see the nice little metal zip pulls in these pictures - I'm pleased with these as they just give a nice finish.
Six samples will be with us this week. Meantime, we have to finish the calender and then print and print and print to get all the pictures ready to be sent out.




I had a very nice note recently from the guy who organises all this saying that in these times it's very important that they keep the work coming in for the women who do the sewing. I know that there are ifs and buts about making where you can't visit the workshops (although we hope to some day) but I do feel that it's good to know we are providing decent work and buying as direct as possible. We'll stick with these same people now - we like them and we love the quality of sewing they do.

The way this will work is what's becoming the main process for us - we do the prints, they do the sewing, it all comes back here for finishing. In this case we will make the straps here because they are being specially woven locally. So it's quite a lot of stages, but worth it because we end up with gorgeous quality and a great retail price. And deep down, something in me quite enjoys some aspects of organising all this - if I'm honest. I've always liked collaborating with a wide range of people - quite simply, it's interesting and I learn a lot.

More new "standard" bags - Arthur Rackham fairies

We have most of them listed on the shop now. They are 13.90 Euros, which is about $17.80. It may have to go up a bit as that is really a LOW price. With currencies moving around so much it's really hard to keep up. Anyway, for this month it's the price, and hopefully into March. Grab them while you can!
Yes, yes, I would say that wouldn't I? - but really, this is about the price of a mass produced bag in much less special fabric - and without the print. With the recession come bargains - there's always a silver lining.

New shoulder pouches

Adjustable strap - though for the final bags we are commissioning some cotton webbing strap to be made to our order (it feels more substantial for such a long strap - and has a nice texture). Also the final zips of course won't have the rather noticeable brass metal stops.

I'm very pleased with this design - it's been three months to get to this point (backwards and forwards between Romana, us and the guys in Vietnam). But I think it was worth taking some time.

It's not yet available. Now we have the mammoth task of doing all the prints and specifications (colour etc) for one large batch. I think we should with luck have these in April.

I know I keep saying it, but it is AMAZING how long things take. I really do understand now that you have to begin to prepare for autumn/winter season a full year ahead. Crazy!

A couple of new shoulder bags

These are another custom order that came out really well. We're trying to cut back on custom orders but we are still happy to do them when we think that the print can go into our normal line. I think both these bags will be popular - when I get that "I want one of these" myself, it's usually a good sign. In fact, the Thumbelina shows very well at this size as you can see the details.

We tried doing one of these satin fronts in a dupion satin-backed silk. I like it, Alex is not sure. But it's interesting to try. I sort of like the little hint of texture in the dupion. I may post close-ups later so you can see what I mean.

Some of the new drawstring pouches

These can of course also be used as tarot bags - they are the perfect size for that. But we find many people now buy them to store cosmetics or other small items in their handbag, or to use as decorative storage bags in bathroom or bedroom.

New bags this time, not sale bags

I've just been a bit too busy* to fish out more of the "seconds" this week. But I will do as soon as I can. Thanks for all your enthusiasm about those.

Meanwhile here is a "beautiful Vassilisa" at last - I've been wanting to do this one for ages.




By the way I had a conversation with another Etsy seller the other day and she told me our work is WAY under-priced. I am beginning to think this may be true. Although in a recession...? Anyway, we'll keep this introductory price to the end of the month for sure.

If you have any comments about the price I'd love to hear them - I really do wonder if the price implies that the quality is far lower than it actually is (which is what my friend said). And this is NOT fishing for compliments, I'd honestly like some input.




*standard excuse I know but we seem finally to have signed the contract on the GIANT - it's poster-sized - Bohemian Cats Calender so it's a bit mad as now they need it quickly.

A new "medieval" print bag. The Lady and the Unicorn

I asked for input about bags on Aeclectic Forum some months back. One thing that came out strongly is that people want Pre-Raphaelite and Medieval options. We like those images too, so we've been working on them. Here are a couple of examples.

It's really hard to find either type of imagery in high quality copyright-free form so Alex had to do a lot of work on both of these. I do think they look good:
Sorry - our sites just went down as I was putting these in (the host has an announcement up so at least they know). So here is just a small upload of one image for now.

New prints

We are doing a whole heap of new prints right now - based in part on all the feedback we got on Aeclectic Forum at the beginning of the year about the kinds of things people want. They are all old images that we have cleaned and altered to make them suitable for fabric printing.So far we have ONE of each - we did these as a try-out. But we're making more now and should have plenty in stock in a week or so.











All - and some other new ones that I'll save for the next post - are only on Etsy for now. Until we have the more standard colours ready it doesn't make sense to put them on baba-store.We're also working on some of our own images, but these may not see the light of day for some months. Basically we have a large project to do over the autumn - it all sort of arose and grew and suddenly became quite a big task. It's on commission from a publisher and should be extremely interesting. So - we thought we would put some time into really getting a nice, big selection of bags (and - cushions - more of that in a week or two) ready for autumn, and then we can settle down and do our own illustrations. A nice balance I think.

Alice offer ends tomorrow

Just a reminder that the offer of 20% off all our Alice bags (excluding the messengers) ends tomorrow.http://baba-store.com/