I have discovered a talent for crafting.  All things crafting.  It seems I am also very good at it.  I have started creating home-made bags of different sizes and styles.  Some are based on patterns I have found on the internet.  Some are blatant copies of those I have seen in shops on my travels around Bristol.  I have suddenly realised just how easy it is to make you own things, to personalise my own clothes and instead of buying items in shops I head straight to the local fabric stores and have a go at creating my own.

This bag was created from a pattern I found on the internet.  It’s a brilliant pattern and can be easily adapted to different sizes.  This was a custom-made one and I added some appliqué.  It was made for my friends little boy who is currently mad about all things dinosaur.  Pattern for drawstring bag

I also made this bag based on one I saw in a well know high street store.  The appliqué flowers are there to cover up a mistake I made in placing the magnetic fastener.  I created the pattern myself, but it is essentially two rectangles with a gusset base.  I am learning, and I expect there will be mistakes along the way.

I am quite thrilled to have discovered this ability.  My Nana was an exceptionally talented lady, who at one time hand painted  plates for a pottery company in Stoke-on-Trent.  Her home was filled with lovingly crafted items, and I now regret that I never asked her more about when she had made them and wish I had access to her stash of crochet patterns!  I also realise how much talents of any type can be suppressed due to the education system in this country and a belief in what is considered a proper subject.  My parents would not have considered textiles anything like a proper subject, but if I had chosen it all those years ago, would it have meant I had spent my life pursuing a career I loved, rather than enduring careers that I should love.

This is all leading to my becoming a part-time trader – or a hobbiest as my nephew would say.  I have even signed up to sell my bags as a few craft fairs over the summer months.  Do I ever expect to make any money from this, not at all, but I anticipate that I will love every minute of this journey.