Bags, Bags, Bags!

Thursday night we had our first official class ever here at Bolt & Spool! We all had so much fun, and we’re excited for our future classes! Our wonderful neighbor over at Juma Gallery, esteemed bag and accessory designer Kelly O’Toole taught a class on the Kelly Tote, a bag she created specifically for us!

We started off with some delicious snacks.

And then then learning began!

We had a great group of students, and Kelly is a fantastic instructor. We acquired two new Bernina machines for our classes, and they are so great to sew these heavy totes on!

One of the most important steps to making the totes was PRESSING EVERYTHING!

Kate acquired some beautiful vintage striped canvas, and paired it with our orange dotted organic cotton by birch.

The Sue Kirchner took our class! She bought a Tibetan quilted scarf from Kate at Stillpoint Gallery and made her own floppy tote out of it! It’s so beautiful, and she took advantage of the loose threads of the scarf to give her bag some fringe! She’s going to look so stylish taking this tote to her studio!

Kate’s finished bag is a fun play with stripes, it looks so good! She made several bags with her Tibetan quilts before this, so she’s already a pro.

Another student, Jill, was inspired by my whale shorts and followed one of Nan’s fabric combination suggestions, the Nanny Tucket Bag (which I think she named after herself).

I forgot to get a picture of Mary Pat’s bag, but trust me, it was adorable! Our first class was a total success, and we can’t wait to host more! Our next class will be Thursday, May 2, in the art of French Cartonnage. We’ll be making beautiful needle cases. We’re so excited!