For those familiar with my Bowline Bag line, they were featured in The Patriot Ledger (A Boston Paper, can't you tell?) on June 23rd of this year. Above is the actual article in context. The writer was on the Mermaids of Duxbury Bay mailing list, and Cindy Cheevers-Nichols featured my bags in her newsletter. The author of the column, "Window Dressings," then contacted me with interest in who made the bags, their cost, etc. I had received some sails from a friend of ours who had just purchased new ones, and I wanted to make bags out of them. In addition to the cool slanted stitching and different sail textures, I could also embroider numbers onto the canvas to give them a little bit of color (The navy really pops!)
The idea behind the Bowline bag (appropriately named after the popular sailor's knot,) was that they were eco-friendly, being recycled, and are extremely durable. That is, they've sailed the ocean and boaters will be able to slam them around.
What we are faced with right now is our price point - we have a great deal of interest, but we are struggling due to the time-consuming nature of creating the product and the value of the materials. I also feel as though my bag is more "real", then those being mass produced by companies, which have bleached canvases to the point where I question the fact that they are even recycled.
So my solution? I'm going to make a line of smaller, more affordable bags that aren't as large as the totes. I might look into duffel bags and cinch sacks in the future as well.
If you are interested in a purchase, please email me at aosgood123@yahoo.com. The large tote bags, featured right, start at $65. I do custom orders and and embroider the number of your choice onto the bag. The idea is that the number represents something meaningful in your life - Like I just did a bag for a woman's father for his birthday, and embroidered "55", which is the year he was born.
I have quite a few in stock, most are at Cindy's shop, so be sure to stop by and check them out!
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