Pesky Cat Designs

First of all I want to wish you all a Happy New Year! With the new year here I am now looking ahead and planning my future at Pesky Cat Designs.  My studio time will be a lot more limited this year due to other obligations. Because of this I need to plan my studio time very wisely. Keeping the shop stocked with more popular items such as the Wayfarer Purse pictured above is one of my plans for the new year.  New fabrics for 2013 are now available in the studio. A thick cotton/hemp with a linen weave in oatmeal and a sky blue will be perfect for spring bags. Also in stock is a heavy-weight faux suede in sky blue, dark slate and lipstick red that I am excited to work with. A selection of pvc-free faux leather is available as well. Of course, a very important part of planning for 2013 will be making sure I leave enough free time for myself to enjoy family, friends and walks on the beach. Wishing you all wonderful and well-balanced year ahead!  Balanc...

The Foldover Clutch Introducing a new design, the foldover clutch, now available at the Pesky Cat Designs shop . It's a fun and stylish way for you to carry your essentials.   Southwestern-inspired Messenger I also added a few more southwestern-inspired bags made from faux suede and adorned with handcut feather appliques and cool woven trim. Faux suede is my favorite textile to work with right now. I'm expecting another shipment today. These days I do most of my textile shopping online, spending hours perusing upholstery sites, ordering samples and waiting patiently for them to arrive. Once they arrive I spend more hours deciding which to order and at what quantities! All my new clutches and bags are now available in the shop . You can also peruse my photo album on facebook here . Wishing you all a wonderful Friday and weekend ahead!

Three new bags were added to the shop  today made from leather apparel that was deconstructed and given a second life in my studio. These bags are actually all made from one coat I purchased at a thrift store back in New York. I enjoyed taking it apart and piecing it back together like a puzzle.  For future projects I plan to experiment even more on incorporating pockets and other features already on the apparel to my bag designs.  I already have plans for another two jackets that I scored today. Can't wait to get started!

New Harris Tweed messengers are available at the Pesky Cat Designs . The one above has a sweet bird on a branch applique made from wool felt and a pretty cotton floral print interior.   Wear it across the body messenger style or on your shoulder.  All our Harris Tweed is imported directly from Scotland. Harris Tweed is a cloth that has been handwoven by the islanders at their homes in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, using local wool.

Autumn has officially arrived here in northern Florida and so have some new fall-inspired bags. Even though I'm still wearing sandals and T-shirts, in the next couple of months it will get cooler. Last winter the fountain downtown grew some icicles so it can get pretty chilly.  Just in time for autumn celebrations, I've added four new cross body bags to the   Pesky Cat Designs shop ! And last but not least, my new tower of happiness. It holds 66 large spools and has made my life in the studio so much more pleasant. No more digging through my storage box to find the right thread!

Just added a couple of one-of-a-kind Harris Tweed patchwork bags to the Pesky Cat Designs shop. It will be the perfect bag to pair up with your favorite fall or winter coat and add a pop of color to your day. To create the flap I cut out squares of Harris Tweed wool and interface each piece. Then I play around arranging the different colors and patterns. That's the most fun part. When I am satisfied with the result I begin to sew them together. And that is how the patchwork flap evolves. Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend ahead. Enjoy!

Last week I received a shipment of faux leather that I selected after reviewing several swatches that were sent to me from my supplier. This faux leather is pvc-free and has a really nice textured surface. Since moving to Florida from NYC I do not have the same access to fabrics shops so I depend on online sources a lot more.  I always request swatches first before ordering. I love perusing my samples while imagining what they will be transformed into. To see the new bags and my entire collection, come visit the Pesky Cat Designs shop! Vegan Faux Leather Tote with Handmade Faux Suede Applique

Today's photo shoot took place at Anastasia State Park , my favorite place on the island. We biked from the studio with our panniers filled with bags and a camera. It was an absolutely beautiful day with sunny skies.  I also added a couple of new bags to the Pesky Cat Designs shop today made from PVC-free faux leather. Overall it was a productive and enjoyable day.  Come see the video Tom created of the photo shoot here !

I just added a couple of messenger bags to the Pesky Cat Designs shop. The one shown above is made from a home decor fabric in pure linen that I picked up at Gray Line Linen located in the Garment District, NYC. They have a huge selection of linen in all types of weights, textures and colors. I'll be adding more bags created from this lovely textile to my shop next week!

What do vacations and handbags have in common? Both are necessary in life of course!  I closed my shop yesterday to take some time off to rest and recharge. I'll be taking a road trip at this time and I also plan to spend some time in my studio experimenting and trying out some new design ideas. My shop will reopen the week of May 11th.  For my upcoming road trip I decided that I would treat myself to a new handbag from the shop.  The lilac purse posted above is my current everyday bag. I've been using it for about a half a year.  If you were wondering if I use my own handbags, I do!  That is the reason I starting making them in the first place about a year and a half ago.  I wanted a unique one-of-a-kind handbag for myself so I decided to buy fabric, did some research on the internet on how to sew a handbag and made my first simple tote bag out of sage green cotton velvet with a bird on a branch applique. Everyone loved it so I decided to start up a shop and sell them online. ...

I'll be adding some new Offbeat Messengers to my shop this afternoon. The bag shown above is made from cotton corduroy in a camel color with an ultrasuede applique and a vintage button. All the new messengers have an adjustable strap, two interior pockets and a key clip. The key clip is a new feature that I added to my messengers to help keeps things organized and easy to get to. I'm working on some new Wayfarers this week and hope to have them in the shop this Friday. They now come with two interior pockets. I am adding more functionality to all my designs. Function + Design = A Great Bag!

                            The Pleated Everyday Bag in True Blue                                    The Messenger in Cornflower Blue  I've added a few new handbags to the Pesky Cat Designs shop today. Spring is just around the corner so I've made a couple in different shades of blue inspired by thoughts of warmer weather and bright blue skies. Enjoy!

Posted above is my newly designed messenger bag! I'm really happy with it. It has a large flap that goes over the front of the bag like a classic messenger. There's an adjustable strap and two interior pockets. I'll be adding a couple to my shop tomorrow afternoon. In the past few weeks I've received a lot of requests for my messenger bag in corduroy. As of now I am all out of corduroy fabric:( But I am expecting a shipment in the next week. Corduroy is one of my favorite textiles to work with so I am really looking forward to having it back in the studio.  

T he corduroy messenger bag posted above is a new design that's now available in my shop. More of these in a variety of fabrics and applique designs will be available in the shop very soon. I'll be posting work in progress and finished pieces throughout next week.