BirdBrain Designs

I’ve had a couple of requests for coated cotton pouches for travel. I spent an afternoon this week using up some remnants to make a few small makeup bags, big enough for a tooth brush and other travel essentials, but compact enough to fit in your tote. And to give a boost of colour!

From the left two striped coated cotton from Chartres, one with a lime zipper one with a cobalt one. Then two magenta flying birds with cobalt and fuchsia zippers and then I could not resist two more wonky birds. The wonky birds are lined with water-resistant orange waxed canvas. The remaining are lined with crisp blue and white striped canvas. A few of these will be in the shop very soon.

I promised a medium sized tote in the Siirtolapuutarha pattern in coated cotton and here it is. This one is 15″wide, 13″ tall and 4″ deep. It is lined in black cotton with a double leather pocket for your phone and keys and a zip/slip pocket for valuables. It has a durable metal zipper and is trimmed in black leather, both recycled and new. This is a perfect day bag–it will hold an ipad, a novel and other essentials. The straps are double leather with a comfortable 10.5″ drop. And this tote packs such a welcome burst of colour on each side! Perfect for spring. This will be in the shop later today.

One of my most enjoyable things to do is to save my favourite remnants and turn them into adorable pouches. Because they are remnants, I can only make a few. The first three are Marimekko red coated cotton lined with checked fabric from Amsterdam. They are 6.5″  wide and 5.5″ tall with a durable metal zipper and leather pull.

The second pair are made of the Sirrtolapuutarha pattern with zebra print cotton lining. The top images are one pouch, the bottom a second one. Each is 5.5″x5″ with a red metal zipper and leather pull. These pouches are great for the small essentials you want to keep separate in your big bag. They will be in the shop soon!

Here are two more Marimekko coated cotton totes, 17″ x 14″ x 5″. These were ordered after the original tote appeared on the blog. Keep an eye on the blog for two more totes in this Siirtolapuutarha pattern and a couple in a lovely waterolour print. If you are interested in one  of the new ones, you can use the contact button on the right under navigation.

Inside the totes have a full-width waxed canvas computer compartment with a knob closure. And you can see the red leather phone pocket peaking out. On the other side is a zip/slip pocket with birdbrain graphics. The leather straps have an 11″ drop and make for comfortable toting. A great travel tote or an everyday tote for life’s essentials.

This bag is made of the same fabric you saw here, but this one is a smaller version with a cross-body strap. The brilliance of these Marimekko graphics is that they work large or small and each side of the bag provides a different colour punch. This particular bag is 14.5″ wide, 11.5″ tall and 3″ across the base. The leather trim is both recycled from a beautiful man’s coat and a new piece for the strap. Inside it has four pockets: two leather pockets for phone and keys and then two canvas pockets, one with a zipper.  More views below.

This shot shows you the interior canvas pockets with the birdbrain robin and for the first time, a leather label. I now have my own birdbrain branding iron, so all future bags will have an embossed label. Such fun!