The Tapestry Handbag was born to make something functional from something decorative.
I first discovered this technique to create a textile by watching a video on youtube. I haphazardly fashioned a loom out of a basket, some nails and string which i had lying around, and created my first tapestry. While i loved how it looked, it almost irritated me that it was a purely decorative piece. It almost seemed like a waste of space. Such a pretty piece should surely be seen by many eyes right?
So i devised a technique to take it beyond and turn it into a functional bag. With my skillset, i was able to manually measure and cut and hand sew the tapestry to form a bag, attaching a lining and handles to create the form. Using colours evocative of a vibrant, cloudy sky, i wanted to create a mood with this piece that felt comfortable and familiar, but otherworldly.
In my second iteration, i wanted to challenge myself to be more self sufficient and sustainable. Incidentally i had collected some bottle caps which I found could be melted and formed like a material. I was able to hand make a handle out of recycled bottle caps by melting them in a sandwich press and forming with gloved hands, twisting to create texture and a marbling effect. The colours of the caps selected as well as the marbling were to complement the texture of the woven tapestry.
