New.

Anyone who has spent much time with me over the past few years would have heard me talk of my passion for Africa, my heart for the poor and disadvantaged and my love of sewing, and especially making Fairtrade coffee sack bags!

My current project has been to find some suitable patterns for coffee sack bags with wooden handles. Through my work with the African Women Sewing Enterprise we have been given a pile of plastic and wooden handles for bags. I have wondered just how I could incorporate these handles into unique, useful and eye-catching bags.

Within an hour of getting home with a pattern, I had cut out my fabric and was piecing it all together! Aurgh, reading patterns can really be a complicated process, as they are often so unclear. But, I think naturally I couldn't help but to take some of my own initiative and modify it to suit my own design ideas. It was great to work from a pattern and change it as I needed.

I love this new bag, and am looking forward to trying (and changing) more new patterns!