susan on October 26th, 2010

My pal Peggy is a book seller’s dream.  I don’t know how many book clubs she belongs to, but it takes a serious bag to carry her books around.
I decided to make a super sturdy, reinforced bag with “bones” for Peggy to wag those books around.  I bonded a striped cotton to canvas, but with [...]

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susan on May 5th, 2010

It was Zirah who said ” I’m sure that a well made handbag could, in its own way, somehow make the evolutionary process easier.”
Zirah is, admittedly, not a purse girl.  And I’m not out to convert anyone.  But I thought she might just like this cute little mini-purse.  She can think of it as a [...]

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susan on March 4th, 2010

Our supervisor Rosemary is  retiring after 39 years.  We  really hate to see her go, but  she certainly deserves some  time to herself.
I made this bag so we could all  sign it.  The shell is khaki  canvas, with silk trim from a  thrift store men’s shirt.  The  handle can be doubled and  carried short, [...]

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susan on December 6th, 2009

My dear friend (and sister) Linda loves pink  and green. She says that when she sees them together it makes her heart sing. And just as her birthday was  approaching, it occurred to me that nobody  deserves a heart-singing pink and green uno by sumo more than she  does.
I found a pink and green striped [...]

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susan on August 11th, 2009

 My Aunt Emma is elegance personified.  So when she  told me she wanted a sumo original, my suspicions  were confirmed: I rock.
 Emma liked Kika’s purse, but wanted a smaller bag.  She chose a red and cream toile, which we coordinated  with a deep red silk.  The lining is ecru silk, with  pockets and a key [...]

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susan on December 21st, 2008

My dear friend Tahra showed me this beautiful piece of Egyptian print fabric, and I guess she saw me drool, because she gave the fabric to me.  I made it into a skirt for my mom, and lucky for me, she didn’t care for it, and gave it back to me.
I made it into a [...]

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susan on October 7th, 2008

Below is a bag I made for our former lab manager Kim the Fish Lady. Kim was all about fish. Fish bowls, fish stickers, and colorful little plastic fish, which she gave as rewards for good customer service. I earned a few myself, and made some into earrings.
Kim eventually moved to a [...]

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susan on October 3rd, 2008

This is a huge tote I made from fabric that was given to me by a sweet little girl named Jenny. I wonder what ever happened to her. (Jenny, if you read this, we all miss you.)
My friend and co-worker Karen (the Work Goddess) mentioned that she uses her own [...]

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susan on September 30th, 2008

My long, long-time friend Marty Anne asked me to make a bag for her. In her soft southern drawl, she only specified “something simple, with feathers.”
Here is a picture of Marty’s bag. I put some feathers on it, along with some beads and an arrowhead that I made out of [...]

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