BirdBrain Designs

why i do what i do

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Sometimes I stop and wonder why I am so intense about finding leather castoffs and making something new. It is close to an obsession some days, trolling through thrift shops, unpicking zippers, reworking remaining remnants. After all, I am retired from job #1 and I should be out enjoying myself–playing golf or something! Yikes!

I am learning that this is enjoyment for me: the hunt for the perfect piece, the item which was once loved and is now awaiting a new life, combined with the puzzle of reworking, redesigning, creating something new that people will carry and use with pride.

So all that said, here are three new bags. The first is City Carissa, once a Michael Kors Italian Leather suit–the leather rich and supple and an incredible deep green.

City Carissa is a bigger bag, 12x14x3.5″, with an exterior pocket and a magnetic closure. The interior is green ticking with a zipper and open pocket and the bird with attitude screen  printed on the side opposite side.

The next bag, the red mid satchel, was once a red skirt, quite short. However the leather was so beautiful I couldn’t resist. I combined it with a my remaining remnant of red croc to make a great mid-size bag. It has a zipper closure, an exterior pocket and a strap long enough for cross body, but thin enough that it can be knotted to make a shorter strap to carry the bag under your arm.

The interior of this bag is great striped fabric from the market in Limoux. The French fabrics are beautiful, their colours intense. The bag has the zip and open interior pockets. It measures 9x13x2″.

The last bag is my City Revival bag. It too started life off as a skirt. Those of you who know my favourite Picton store, know that this skirt was once in an expensive Toronto boutique. Most of the clothes I buy at City Revival I wear, but this gem ended up as a bag. It is beautiful flocked caramel leather. It is lined with screen printed stiff canvas, giving it body and durability.

This bag measures 11x14x4″. It has a long strap, exterior pocket, magnetic closure and great screen printed lining with zipper and open pocket.

dyeing and hooking

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For the upcoming hooking workshop, I decided to do a small demo piece of hooked circles, bright in the foreground, dark in behind. Here is the very beginning of it.

Like every other rug hooker, I have a basket of left over wool from many projects. This would be the source of my background.

I took big handfuls of all colours and divided them into three piles: light, medium and dark. I soaked these in synthrapol for about an hour. Then I plunked the dark group in my kitchen kettle with 3/16 blue violet, the medium group with 3/16 teal and the light group with 1/8 turquoise. I cooked each group about 1/2 hour, adding citric acid in the first batch.

And here is the result. Beautiful rich darks and mediums from the first two batches, and highlights of turquoise for the circles. Wool is incredibly resilient. These strips went easily from the dye pot to the rinse cycle of my machine to air drying without getting tangled. Soon they will be hooked into the trivet. Another way to recycle!

playing the blues

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A clutch out of the same soft cobalt blue leather and a great mid-size bag with two straps. (Thank you, Shannon, for your suggestion.) I’ll be posting both on Etsy later today and then I will be out of touch for the next few days, enjoying all the wedding festivities. Enjoy your day.

rugs travelling to TO

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I’m having a show in Toronto, opening September 28. Some of my rugs and other hooked pieces will be there, but also some canvas and recycled woollen things. More details to come, including information about the hooking workshop which is being held in conjunction with the show.

pumpkin limoux bag

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This bag is made from a small remnant of beautiful pumpkin leather. This is my favourite size of bag–11.5 x 9.5 x 3″–big enough to hold wallet, phone and other necessities, but small enough to be comfortable. The cross-body strap can be knotted to carry the bag on one shoulder, tucked under your arm. It also has an outside pocket, a must for me, just big enough to carry subway tokens or a couple of keys.

However, my favourite part about this bag is the lining. It is a great orange and lemon remnant from a shop on the market square in Limoux. I’ve screen printed the bird with attitude inside and added a zipper pocket.

All in all, a great everyday bag.

jan

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Feedback and ideas come from many sources. There is a great woman at my local bank who always comments on my purses. She wears a small cross-body pouch to hold the various cards she needs for her daily routine. She suggested I try to make one, approximately 6″x 6″. So here is the prototype–Jan–made from a red leather jacket. I have some bright green leather, the sleeve of a batwing jacket, and I am hoping to transform it into a second one. The lining of this one is one of my favourite cotton prints. The pouch has a snap closure, a small pocket and rivet detail.

the last of collioure

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The beautiful catalan fabric I got in France became three bags. The pouch with orange leather bottom and the orange and pink tote which you have seen in previous posts have both sold. This pouch with turquoise zipper, leather tab and interior suede pocket is the last of Collioure. This is a great pouch to clip into a bigger bag, and at 7″x6″x3″ it is large enough to hold your camera or other treasures. I am going to post it on Etsy soon.


spatter bird

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This pouch is bigger and more lively. I experimented with fabric paint and am pleased with the results. The lining is pink and orange stripes and dots, so this is definitely one happy bird bag! I will be putting it on Etsy later today along with a couple of others. I am very happy to say that I have already had two sales, so I am off to the post office today, sending one package to Texas!


and the winner is #17

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Thank you all so much for your wonderful comments.  221 people visited the page! I hope that you will continue to leave comments–it is very heartening to read your opinions and your encouragement. This is a new, somewhat unnerving adventure and I am so glad to have you accompanying me along the way.

The winner of the draw is #17, Cathlin.  My husband was barely awake this morning when I asked him to choose and number between 1 and 29 and he chose 17. Cathlin, please send me your postal information and I will pop the logo bird pouch in the mail to you.

The Etsy shop is up and running (thank you Owen for your help). Just click on the orange button on the right to visit.  There are currently 6 items in the shop. Please let me know your opinions about what you see there and what you would like to see.

wendie

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I made this small pouch from a recycled leather skirt.  Some time ago I posted the skirt and Wendie commented that this blue is her favourite colour.  As I was working on the pouch, I was thinking of her, and it wasn’t until afterwards that I realized that it was her ‘big birthday’.  Although we have only met a few times, Wendie is a great blog supporter–which I very much appreciate. So this pouch is named in her honour.

I have more of this leather for a bigger clutch–and has luck would have it, VV had two more blue items, an 80’s jacket and another skirt–so there will be more blue items on the sewing machine soon!

Below are other views, including the interior which is lined with gorgeous gold fabric screen printed with birds–from the market in Limoux.

ps  I will announce the winner of the draw tomorrow.