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Black Sewing Network is a platform that celebrates and amplifies black voices in the sewing community. We host daily sewalongs on social media that encourage and motivate members of the sewing community to sew daily!

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The BSN Bag Girlies

Tiktok: Nikki D

Tiktok: Lanae

Tiktok: Tanisha

Lisa Woolfork

Lisa Woolfork is an associate professor of English specializing in African American literature and culture. Her teaching and research explore Black women writers, Black identity, trauma theory, and American slavery. She is the founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black lives matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers on Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she actively resisted the white supremacist marches in her community, Charlottesville, Virginia. The city became a symbol of lethal resurging white supremacist violence. She remains active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the Community Engaged Scholars program. She believes in the power of creative liberation.

Insights from this episode:

• Why the Bag Girlies love bags and how they started their sewing journeys
• Nikki’s gorgeous bag sets and details behind each bag
• What NCW stands for and its different sizes and styles, as well as, the reason behind its popularity
• Different materials that the Bag Ladies use in making their bags
• The balance between functionality and form in bag-making
• The creative process behind the Bag Ladies
• The “Melesi Tote” sewing technique
• Insights about the “Could I Be Any Clearer?” stadium bag
• Sew Motivee’s design modifications that are being done by Tanisha
• Nikki and Tanisha’s collaboration on designs
• Details behind Lanae’s “Fiona Foldover” bag
• The Bag Girlie’s different styles and how they’re all connected with a strong line of creativity and clean sewing.
• Insights about the “T-Rex” bag style and why Nikki loves it
• The difference between zipper-sewing in a bag and zipper-sewing in a garment
• Some final words of wisdom

Quotes from the show:

• “I do love how you each have your own style, your own different origin story for coming to bags, but, the thing that I find so, just so remarkable about all of your work is the way that it’s kind of connected with this strong line of creativity, a clean sewing, they’re really ambitions, they encourage people to try something new” – Lisa Woolfork, Stitch Please, Episode #204
• “I think that it represents a really great aspect of the Black Sewing Network; that you all are Bag Girlies, but you are as different from one another, right, and you’re not all sewing the same things, you’re all doing different things. You’re using different fabrics and even if you use some of the same fabrics, it would be different outcomes. If you use some of the same shapes, it will look a bit different” – Lisa Woolfork, Stitch Please, Episode #204
• “Just do it! Just try it! Even if you are scared, like, I was scared to death to start bags, but I just did it. The first one, very questionable, but I did it. And the second part to that, is “Take your time!”. I am doing a bag right now and it’s taking me forever. I think Nikki asked about it on one of my Tiktoks. It’s fifty million pieces, but I’m not a quitter, so I’m gonna finish that bag. But take your time because you wanna make sure that you grasp whatever concept it is that’s telling you to do the bag or the process, and then you wanna make sure it sticks and then that will help you in the end, as far as other bag making.” – Lanae, Stitch Please, Episode #204
• “Give yourself grace! You’re not gonna be out the gate perfect at anything, you’re gonna have that first test run. So, give yourself grace and be patient.” – Nikki, Stitch Please, Episode #204
• “Enjoy the journey! I’ve been growing my hair for nineteen years, so, same rules apply with bag-making. Do not try to go from “brand new” to “professional” overnight, it ain’t gonna happen, plus you’re gonna skip learning so many amazing feels. Enjoy the journey, enjoy that first bag you make, enjoy that first wallet you make, enjoy that first hand-bag you make.” – Tanisha, Stitch Please, Episode #204

Resources Mentioned:

• Necessary Clutch Wallet
• The “Melesi Tote” sewing technique
• Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/
• Sew Your Bag https://sewyourbag.com/
• Etsy https://www.etsy.com/

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Lisa Woolfork

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Lisa Woolfork 0:10

Hello stitchers. Welcome to Stitch Please, the official podcast of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black lives matter. I'm your host, Lisa Woolfork. I'm a fourth generation sewing enthusiast with more than 20 years of sewing experience. I am looking forward to today's conversation. So sit back, relax and get ready to get your stitch together.

Lisa Woolfork 0:37

Hey, friends, hey, this is Lisa from Black Women Stitch, the Stitch Please podcast. And as I say every week, this is very special episode because this episode is continuing our happy celebration of the one year anniversary of the Black Sewing Network. And we are joined by none other than the Bag Girlies who are here to help us all get our stitch together. So I'm happy to welcome Nikki D., Tanisha, and Lanae welcome. And thank you for being here with us at the Stitch Please podcast.

Tanisha 1:10

Thank you for inviting us.

Lisa Woolfork 1:11

I am so glad to be here with you all because I think that bags represent a certain type of entry into the world of sewing. There are some who might feel as though maybe garments are just too much. It's just so much going on. But a bag feels like something is a little bit more containable. Do you think that that is the case? And if so, why am I right? And that's really basically the only answer that the question you know, this is what we call a lead-in question. I am leading you to agree with me. And so please do tell me a bit about basically why you love bags. Clearly you love bags. That's why you do it. I can see your love of bags when you are sewing them. Whether it's The Bag Girlie Brunch or other different programming things that y'all are doing. It is clear y'all love bags. Tell us why and help us love them too.

Tanisha 2:04

You want to go first Nikki or Lanea?

Lanae 2:06

Sure. I mean for me, I'll be honest with you, bags is not how I started. The first pure Bag Girlies I met were Tanisha and Brittanie. I'm a jewel of all trades. I started out with home decor. I made curtains for a very long time and then kind of graduated to bags and really have settled here for a while. I've only really been making bags, probably three, four years. And honestly it is, the joy I get from it is just having that they, I'm a big old purse hag. I love purses and totes. I'm a big old Dooney girl like, I love a good tote. I love it for the office. And you know, now I work from home and I'm bummed out cause I can't walk around with my totes. I'm telling you, it is--

Lisa Woolfork 2:52

All of these totes and nowhere to tote em.--

Lanae 2:54

--nowhere to tote em honey. You know I make up for when I go to conferences or travel for work and honey, I'm strutting around the place like oh, you know.

Lisa Woolfork 3:01

You came to bags differently. So for you, Lanae or Tanisha, you all are like exclusive or primary bag sewers. How did that come about? For you?

Nikki 3:01

I can go if you want.

Tanisha 3:04

Yeah.

Nikki 3:07

I actually did not start making bags until this year.

Lisa Woolfork 3:15

Oh my goodness, you're a convert.

Nikki 3:17

I started off, funny story, and I tell people this all the time. So my husband and I bought a house and I could not find any pillows that I wanted. And he's like just, your're crafty, just make your own and I'm like okay, so he bought me a sewing machine and I started making pillows and then the pandemic happens. It was just like everything happened so fast. Everyone started making bonnets and masks out the wazoo. Just everybody wants a mask. Everybody wanted a, it had to have their name on it or had their zodiac sign or something on it. So--

Lisa Woolfork 3:51

Yes, their school colors something like that. Yes.--

Nikki 3:54

I started making a lot of masks and then I said well, let me see if I can make like, some clothes because, outside of the bonnets, the bonnets are pretty easy to make. So I said well let me challenge myself and start making clothes. So I started making clothes here and there, and then I was like, I don't know if I really like making clothes because it's complicated. It's not a one size fit all thing but then I stopped with the clothes and then I was like well let me start with the bags cause I'm really intrigued. So earlier this year is when I actually started making bags, I love it, just want to make all kinds of bags. So that's how I got started.

Lisa Woolfork 4:31

Well Tanisha then, that does that mean you are the bag veteran here you know we got Lanae who's just like super proud and just getting going, and Nikki was able to convert. You know, it's long history of sewing and other arenas and adopt it to bag making. How about you? What have you been a Bag Girlie from beginning, middle to end? Or is this something that's an adaptation of your other creativity too?

Tanisha 4:52

Lisa Woolfork 5:59

Listen, the point of those cash pouches was to help save money. Tanisha has gone off and spent way more money than one might have anticipated that a $10 class.

Tanisha 6:08

It did not save there, not a penny. I tell people all the time I have two hobbies, I have plenty more, but my two biggest hobbies are making bags and collecting supplies to make more bags, so.--

Lisa Woolfork 6:18

Hey, listen, it's all aligned. It sounds aligned and divine to me. I mean, how else are you gonna make the bag if you don't have supplies, that's makes it makes it very difficult. One of the things I love about my sewing space, people like oh my gosh, it's like you have a store in here. I'm like, I like to be well provisioned.

Tanisha 6:33

I like not to turn this camera to the left. That's all I'm gonna tell you. You can already see the cutting table a little bit but we're not going to turn this camera to the left cause it looks like I have a vinyl shop on the left hand side of me right now.

Lisa Woolfork 6:45

We're not gonna turn this camera. Mine is not going anywhere either. Mine is like, what you see is what you get.

Tanisha 6:50

Everything is like--

Lisa Woolfork 6:51

--absolutely orderly. Do not look behind these gigantic shoulders I got on right now. Okay, strategic shoulders. So when you think about a bag, I wanted to talk about one of the ones that we have. If you're a Patreon supporter, you get to have the delightful treat of looking at our four gorgeous faces. And you get to see a really amazing set of wonderful bags. Looking at the bags before we began recording y'all, I was like, wow, there's a lot of really great bags. I know how to sew, I can make some bags. Oh, that's cute. I can make that. That's cute, I can make that too. So you are gonna have a lot of that in this episode because there's some really fantastic bags here. And I'm so excited to go through some of them with you all. But we could start with this set. This is a really great set. I think this comes from Nikki, can you talk about what this set is? I love the shape. I love the way that you have the double zipper at the top. What is happening here with this gorgeous set?

Nikki 7:49

So those are three different patterns. That purse she see the Boronia Bowler and that's just a bowler bag, double zips on that one as well. I like that pattern because of the space in that purse. As I'm a T-Rexer, so I rarely will put long straps on my purse. I love an arm, crook of the arm purse. So the Bowler, the Boronia Bowler, was great for me. The middle pattern is the NCW that's the regular size and NCW, was just you know, your typical wallet. Opens up, I have a divider, the zip pocket and all the credit card slots as well as money slots. And then that overnight bag, the spending the night bag is actually a Tribbiani Traveler and that sincerely, Jen. This set was actually made for a trip for work. And I was only actually able to bring the Boronia bowler and then NCW because all my clothes didn't fit in the --

Lisa Woolfork 8:45

--the traveler. Oh, goodness. Oh my gosh. It's the agony. It's a stylish bag, though. Maybe for a shorter trip?

Nikki 8:53

Right. I take it when I go home and visit dad, you know?

Lisa Woolfork 8:56

Yes, exactly. Exactly what it's really fantastic. Well, since you mentioned those infamous letters, y'all, I'm not sure if you heard the letters NCW. NCW, I can tell you as somebody who pops on very often, the Bag Girl Brunch, or who has seen Tanisha and Linae's programming on Tik Tok sewing in the comments. I feel like in almost every bag room there somebody's gonna say the words or the letters NCW. They talk about the NCW, y'all I don't know what it's talking about NCW, the WNBA, the FBI, the SNCC, the NAACP, all these different initials that was happening in the NCW and I'm sitting here like NCW is that? What is that? And it refers to, apparently, what could be considered a viral bag that is so popular that there are so many ways to make it and it seems like it's an instant hit. So with, on the Patreon right now, I'm showing you all a video, actually, can you tell us about the video Lanae since you sent it to me, what is this and what are we looking at here because this little wallet looks amazing. Can you tell us more about it?

Thank you. So this is the mini NCW. Like you said you can do it in various sizes so the one we saw previous was Nikki making the regular size and then this is a mini and then I think Nikki is found an extra large as well so you can make it bigger, you know. And then you can make it into like a crossbody which is what I did with the extra large. So this one, I think, is more compact and you can still fit a lot of stuff in there. But that pattern is just so versatile that you can do a regular, to mini, extra large. I've seen people do a 2X, make it into a crossbody so I think it's addicting because you can do so many things to that one pattern and have so many different options.

And I asked you about this earlier Tanisha you were saying that you have declared a bit of a moratorium for yourself on making the NCW. Why is this the bag that you love to make but also if you share it, something happens.

People love this wallet. I don't know if it's because it's very simple. It's a classic wallet that most people know you can hold your cash, your change, your cards. The regular size, you could probably put your phone in it, depending on how big your phone is. It's a very, very popular wallet. And because I'm a nerd, mine tends to have nerdish stuff on the front so as soon as I post a picture of one, people want me to make more. And then after you make the same one so many times, you're just like I need a hiatus. I need a hiatus from making this for a little bit. Let me make something else. If you have a vending event, make at least ten of these cause they're gonna sell quick. People love this pattern, love it.

I think it's really great to have a bag that you can have be reliable. That you know that okay if I were to make this, this is gonna be a success. This is something that people can recognize. They can see how it fits within their life really easily. Like I'm a small bag person. I'd rather not carry a purse. I'd rather carry like, have some good pockets and I have my cards on the back of my phone. Let me have my hands free. And in the absence of that, something small that could go cross body or something like that. And I do love the T-Rex. I'm gonna use from now on cause that's so funny. Talk about the T-Rex. I like having myself close to my elbow sometimes you know, and not have to strain the shoulder as much. What I do love about bag making, and I wanted to ask about this from you Tanisha, and I think Lanae as well. Looking at working with materials, now Lanae, in the previous image it looks like you were working with a, was that a faux leather, or a vinyl What were you working with in that in CW he say exactly what the NCW is and what it stands for? And we'll be sure to put a link in the show notes.

Yeah, so the NCW is unnecessary clutch wallet, buy in the line bags. But on that wallet, I use a vinyl on the back, the main fabric was a vinyl and then the flap was cotton. And again that resembles like a denim so if you didn't pay attention, you would think that the outside was a denim but no it was just a purple cotton that resembled denim. You can use denim, you can use cork, you can use vinyl. There are so many materials that you can do with certain bags. Now some bags are very specific as to what you use. But most bags, you can turn any, use cotton n use any type of material that you can turn into a bag really,

it's really great. And what I appreciate about that is that it makes it like a stash buster. Like say for example like myself, who sells a lot of apparel and then quilts might be the next thing. I keep all of my scraps you know, all my off cuts. And the idea that you can go through the off cut bag and find something to make a flap. You know to make a card divider or something like that. That, itdoesn't take a big investment of fabric to begin with but you could also cobble it. But you can kind of like you know, assemble it together. Cobble it together and it'll still look really good. Now is this also a form of vinyl or is it something different?

No, this is all marine vinyl. It's a smooth marine vinyl and a pebbled marine vinyl. And then the strap I did what's known as a double strap. So marine vinyl the pebble marine vinyl on the outside cotton woven on the inside and I just interfaced it to make the cotton woven a little bit stiffer. So it would work as a strap. That's actually a crossbody bag. It can be a crossbody bag or it could be a wristlet. Your choice how you want to carry it but I made that for a bag swap and the person never shared what I made. And I was like, thank God I took pictures because it was amazing.

Ooh, wow, shame, shame, shame. I am very glad you took pictures as well. And you know what I appreciate about what you're sharing is, look at all the care and detail you put into a bag you are exchanging with someone for free. You weren't trying to send this to a client. You didn't make it as part of a collection that you were trying to sell or promote. This was something that you share from the goodness of your blurty heart and your love of Disney villain princesses or Disney princesses or whatnot.

Well, she, the person I researched, like when you do bag swaps, you get a person you're sending one to and someone sends something to you. So it's not the same person. So I cyber-stalked this person and they loved Maleficent. There was like Maleficent posts all over their social media. And I was like, I got it. I know what I'm doing and--

You nailed it, what are you talking about?

There's nothing that comes out of my house that I didn't put my 100% into. Even if it was just for back swap. I was like, nah, she gonna love it, this gonna be fire. I heard nothing. And I was like--

I'm gonna just say that the crickets must be, because some terrible thing happened in this person's life. They lost it. It was stolen before they received, who knows?

Right.

But I feel as though this is the kind of thing that you would absolutely acknowledge receipt of. And so I'm really glad that you kept your own documentation. And for the double strap, so you made a tube out of the Maleficent fabric and then you made a tube out of the pebble vinyl and stitched them together or is that, am I describing the process wrong? Cause I'm just saying what it looks like. But I don't know if that's what you actually did.

It's not a tube. It's a I think this was a one-inch strap. So it was a two-inch wide piece of vinyl, a two-inch wall or a one and a half-inch wide piece of cotton woven, folded them both to the middle and then laid one on top of each other and stitched down the sides so that they--

It's like putting two like bias folded pieces together, one bigger than the other.--

Four times folding it over twice. I folded both of them over once and then stuck them together. So it looks like two tubes. So yeah, again, the thing about bag making is, people think it's easy and it starts easy. Usually you start with like a little zipper pouch or you start but, you learned so many sewing skills that can transform from bags to clothes to. Nikki said curtains, and Lanae's pillows. Like, all the little skills you learn in making a bag. can be used anywhere. And I am a lover of taking multiple pieces of different crafts. Like right now I told Nicki I was trying to learn trapunto just so I can make a bag and I started it. I even posted a picture on my TikTok like, y'all I told you I was doing it. Here's my first sample. Like, I like taking skills from one aspect of crafty and mixing it into my bag making so like, this was applique on top of bag making, I now wanna learn trapunto to add it into my bag making. Like, I wanna learn other skills to enhance what I'm already doing.

Like, this technique that he showed here on this strap. I know a lot of Garment Girlies are not in love with top stitching. But I'm gonna tell you, if you're a Bag Girlie, top stitching is kind of like, that's what you do all the time. And this technique in particular is one that definitely will enhance your skill with top stitching.

I like that and because you're right, it shows the ways in which top stitching is not only a decorative stitch. I think one of the reasons that garment sewers may dislike top stitching is because it's so crucial. It's absolutely important. If you are gonna put top stitching on something for a garment, it is typically both reinforcing, but it will absolutely be seen. It is meant to be visible. And if it is slightly crooked, or if your needle is not as sharp as it should be, or if you didn't clean out the bobbin, it could be any old thing and your top stitching will look like you have, you know instead of trying, like you've been shaking, shaking, shaking like a box of Cheerios. You know, and it's kind of rumbling and like going from side to side, and not at all tidy. But this is incredibly tidy. It's incredibly clean. And for those of us who do care about how the sewing looks, the top stitching will tell the truth about you. And thop stitching is a way to help shape and reinforce and the bags don't work in the same way without it. How do you find a balance between functionality and form? Like, how do you decide on a bag, a size of bag, a shape of bag? Do you just follow for aesthetic curiosity and interest? Does it have to be something that, okay I gotta make sure it can hold, you know my phone is really giant so I've gotta get a big one I gotta make sure my air buds can fit in there. Is that something you think about when you're deciding which bag to make?

Yes. I don't wanna answer for everybody but bag making is just like clothes making. Depends on what you're gonna use it for. What is the person you're selling this bag or making this bag for gonna use it for? I literally made a whole backpack for a friend of mine. On live over like, three weeks. And if you jumped in that live, I was asking her in the live. "Hey, I decided I don't wanna do this. I want to do this. Are you good with that?" And she was like, "Sounds good. Try it." And I literally made stuff during the live, based like, because I was like, you said fleece but I know she's gonna put her switch in here. So it needs to be foam so it can be protected. Like, so you're gonna go through those same steps in bag making that you went in garment making. I think people just don't because they're not familiar with everything we put into it. They don't realize. They're literally the same. It's just that we ain't got to worry about your measurements. We just gotta worry about the measurements of what you're putting in.

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Exactly. And Tanisha's in like a very different headspace as far as the Bag Girlie world goes. Again, I've only been to one bag three or four years. My aesthetic is very different. I think all of us have a very different aesthetic and decision making process when it comes to bags. For me I'm more of a classic look person. I love a bag that I know you can go, and this is probably just from my work, I want you to be able to walk into any boardroom with your bag and sit it on the table and folks like, "Oh, this, look at that." You know what I mean? I'm very much classic. I'm not into like all the animated stuff. I'm very you know, stick to the basics, which is not everybody's cup of tea. And on this particular bag, and this is the same technique Tanisha used, is what I used on this bag.

Can you talk a little bit about it? What is it called again?

It's called the Melesi tote. And what was interesting and what was important to me about making this bag is this is actually a pattern from a Black owned sewing pattern company that helps sew your bag. And this was the Melesi tote. I made this with a marine vinyl, which we all love. A marine vinyl and an ankara that I got from, I wanna say I got it from a place in Atlanta, and this was the last pieces I had of it. This is what I used it for and it turned out really nice. It was this bag, I love structure in a bag, I love how this sits up on its own. I have no use for a floppy bag. Absolutely none. That's just not me. But yeah, I really liked making this bag not only because it was a Black owned pattern company but because of the product. I mean it came out beautiful.

Absolutely did. And I really love the pop, you know we talked about like a pop of color. What I see in this one is a pop of culture when you sit on the bed when you sit this on the boardroom table you're like you know what, me and all my Blackness is here.

Absolutely. And what's nice in this bag also is there's a divider now that was a new kind of technique for me. This is not an open tote, there's a pocket in the middle and then you have two sides on that tote. So I really, I enjoyed making that for learning that technique. And now I've done it let's keep it moving. You know.

It's so so beautiful. It's so beautiful. And now Lanae, you have shared a really lovely bag here that you've done. The one that's, this one this amazing, it looks very much Beyonce Renaissance as that is what it is giving. I think you said it was clear but all I see is like glimmer and shimmer and wear silver because it's Virgo's Groove time. Can you talk about this bag, it's adorable.

So. Thank you. So this is the, "Could I be any clearer" Stadium bag by Sincerely Jean. And it is a clear jelly vinyl. So marine vinyl is a little bit different than jelly vinyl. Jelly vinyl to me is a little bit more easier to work with. But it works really well with this. So this was a really easy bag to make. And of course the color choice was kind of easy because I was using it for a specific purpose. But when I'm choosing colors or style of a bag, I honestly since I'm so new, I am really just testing them out to see if I like 'em. And if I like 'em, I'll make more of them. So, but this one's specifically was for one thing only. I will probably still, you know, wear it, but I made it just for that purpose. So that's where that comes into play. But choosing a color and a type of material is really based on one, my first thing is I'm gonna go by what the pattern says to do first. And then if I liked the pattern, then I will go back and make others and make adjustments based on what I found, or what I discovered while making, kind of like a muslin. I normally do that, is I will see a pattern, and then I will make it based on what the instructions say, and then I will go back later to make any adjustment.

I think that's a great idea. Just you know, let's like, I'll do it your own way, I'll see what you know, I'll give you the best. I think that the reason that pattern makers suggest fabrics is because ideally, these are the fabrics that they have tested the project with, and these are the things they know work well. And so by following their advice and recommendations, you can have a good outcome. And once you've had your hands on it, then you know like, okay, I think this will work for this purpose, even though they didn't say that. But you'll never know unless you try what they've suggested the first time, you like knowing the rules before you can break them kind of thing. I absolutely love that one. I wanted to ask also Tanisha about this one bag. I think this one that looks like a leather biker jacket. And it's really adorable. And oh, look, I see you have your nameplate on there. Can you tell us about this one? This is a really fun bag that just looks incredibly fun. And so it's a really fun example of form and function coming together in a really inventive way. I think people see this bag and they don't soon forget it. Can you talk a little bit about what we're looking at here?

So I made one of these on live with Nikki and the Black Sewing Network with the designer who is Renee from Sew Movid V. So she's a Black designer as well. And while I was making it, because I don't like to follow directions. I kept saying, you know, you could have done this and we could have done this. And they were like, Well, how about you do those things? So for a couple of weeks, every Monday in my live, I was like, "Okay, y'all, what do y'all want?" So I showed them how, the modifications I would've made and that's what this came out to be. Then somebody out that front zipper pockets, the two pockets on the initial pattern, you can only put chapstick in there. In my live, I turned that into a hoodie. So you can go from one zipper to the other zipper now in this particular one that I made. And then while I was making it, I was almost done, they were like are you going to add a gusset. And I was like, I wasn't planning on it. But in the middle of the live, I went and cut a gusset and we added a gusset and turned it from a clutch into a crossbody bag with the hoodie pocket and then I made it so that the, my way of doing it was, so that they wouldn't have to use edge coating if they don't like to edge coat, which is basically painting your vinyl. So we made a lot of modifications. And I did this during my live on Monday mornings for Black Sewing Network. I talked to my audience, I'm like, "What do y'all want, you like this colored zipper or this colored zipper? They picked the zippers out. They picked the pools, the zipper tape. The color was the only thing I chose.

If this was a result of collaboration, this is a very successful collaboration. That is one great thing about the Bag Girlies, they've got some great zippers. And Brittanie has shown me, on camera like, Lisa, it's not hard to put the zipper head on the zipper tape. Yeah, it's not hard for you. For me, it's like, you know, asking me to calculate some very difficult physics problem because I just will not, no. Get somebody else to do it. Tell me what you remember about this collab Nikki of sewing this alongside Tanisha?

First of all, I cannot say enough what an awesome job she did kind of modifying this pattern out because she hit all the high points that are important for me and bags and it's clean line. I don't like things that don't look finished. What she did with this is she you know, turned this thing on its ear and made it you know, clean and finished in places that I wanted it to be finished. Now in the collab with the designer, for me, I made garments, and I was getting confused. But I think that was because of my headspace right now. You know, I'm more straightforward with just you know, the shapes that you use for bags right now. But I think for a Garment Girlie, this pattern will probably make sense to them as they put it together. But there's a left side there's a right side, they have to be mirrored. And you don't do a ton of that in just straight up and down bag making. I mean, these are your shapes, you're putting these shapes together. It took some brainpower to do this, but I enjoyed every bit of that process. And that's the thing I think I love about you know, making bags and especially working with that designer, is the process because it was just you know, kind of just figuring it out, taking our time, going you know, step by step.

Now how do you, I think that all these little tiny things like, the name to the tag, what do you actually call this? This thing I'm pointing to right now that has your name.

It's my name plate. Yeah, my business means Yes I Made It. Those are the initials for Yes I Made It. That's why I'm known as YIMI everywhere.

Oh, that's wonderful. YIMI, Yes I Made It. Oh my gosh. So genius.

I actually lived through my assets from, I bought them from someone off Etsy. They are Fabulous Vendor, she's super sweet. We'll send you your mock up and say, Hey, is this what you're looking for? If you need rivets, and funny enough, I was buying the smaller, smaller rivets and I found out the small size, regular Tandy Leather rivets will fit. You just gotta push it a little bit. I was like, Oh, perfect--

Oh, wow.

I just use the rivets. You can actually, it has holes on each end. So if you don't like rivets, you can just sew, buckle the holes down.--

Okay. Okay.

Ultimately, this was cost effective for me, I do wanna eventually get leather or vinyl named patches. I also wanna get the kind that has the plumes so I could use prongs instead of rivets. But again, where I'm at in my journey for my business side, this was cost effective and super cute. So that's what I went with.

Well, it looks fantastic. I mean, there's absolutely no critique there. This is it. The way that the details, the rivets, all of these things work so beautifully. And I'd love to turn over to this bag here from you, Lanae, I think you called it the Fiona Foldover.

Exactly, you are just looking in the background.

Yeah, so this is a video of a bag, a bestie bag that's almost done. And she needs to add its straps to it. And she flipped it over for us. Like, this bag, you say is almost like two in one. Can you talk a bit about, this is like hyper functionality. You know, it's one bag doing kind of two jobs. Can you share more about it?

Yes. So I actually made this bag for a bag sharing thing like Tanisha talked about earlier, where you do a bag and someone sends you a bag, I think it was for September. So this is a recent bag, but it's called the Fionna Foldover because it does actually have, like a two in one. So if you open the bag up, of course you see the zipper down there at the bottom. That's one compartment and then you have the main bag down at the bottom, which is made of the vinyl. So you do get like a two for one. And it's super easy if you just wanna put you know, like your lip gloss and your keys or something in that top part. And then you have all your other things in that bottom part plus the zipper, the zipper pouch in the middle. So I love that bag. I think that's like the third or fourth one that I've made and it's a pretty easy pattern.

And do you use it as a clutch? Or do you add a strap, a wrist strap or something like that?

You could use it as a clutch. I have just always made the crossbody straps for it. But you could easily turn that into a clutch. I think it'll be pretty easy to turn it into a clutch.

I do love how you each have your own different origin story for coming to bags. But the thing that I find just saw remarkable about all of your work is the way that is kind of connected with this strong line of creativity, a clean sewing, they're really ambitious, they encourage people to try something new. And I think that it represents a really great aspect of the Black Sewing Network that you all are Bag Girlies but you are as different from one another. Right, and you're not all sewing the same things. You're all doing different things, you're using different fabrics. And even if some of you use some of the same fabrics, it would be different outcomes. If you use some of the same shapes, it will look a bit different. You know that Nikki is able to do like, what we see here with her T-Rex, a T-Rex bag here that stands up by itself. Can you talk about this one Nikki? I think it's looks like it's absolutely perfect for fall. What's going on with this one? What's the fabric?

So this was a fabric that actually Carmen, I think she's talked about it before on BSN. It's like an upcycling place where you get as much as you can and you pay what you want. And one of these fabrics she got was this, it's actually upholstery. So that outside is an upholstery fabric and so is that vinyl. Got it from the same place. This is all up from upcycled materials and what's funny is, in the Gag Girlie community anyway, we're not gatekeeping in any way. I know you can be a part of some communities where people can gatekeepe on you a lot. And I've been looking for like, a bag tag or you know your bag, your name plate kind of option. And Tanisha, right away go to this lady on Etsy. Go ahead and get her. And I did, n like she said, this is like my first option. I'm gonna kind of test this out. And same as Tanisha I would prefer to do a leather. I did a sewalong here just recently with a wallet. And when I put those rivets in, it was really pushing in on the foam of the vinyl and I didn't like that. I needed something with maybe prongs or a leather tag. So this bag is just like a BSN Family Bag. Carmen gave me the stuff. Tanisha gave me the nameplate. So yeah, and it has on it actually a long strap option. When I get to my granny years and I got some grandbabies and I can throw my bag over my shoulder.

That's right. You put the mitts in there and all kinds of good stuff.

It has a matching NCW too.

And she made that one on live. That was during the Marcia Barrel Bag live.

Oh, this is so wonderful, y'all. I am so grateful that we got a chance to speak today. I thank y'all for walking us through your creative process and helping us all, I think a bit more, at least you've helped me to think more creatively and more broadly about bags and bag making. And reminding us that, you know, there are ways for us to extend the sewing skills we already have. There's ways to, you know to make bags that can be very profitable things that you know, that will sell and move well. Things that make great gifts and I also like, I just wanted to note that, one of the things I think that intimidates sewers, new sewers, garment sewers, especially is putting zippers in things. I know some people that are actually afraid to put buttons in things, which I find a weird thing to be afraid of. But, you know, but the zippers, they just like, "Oh no, it has a zipper. I can't make it." All of the bags y'all showed had zippers, I wondered if you could talk just a little bit about zipper sewing in a bag versus zipper sewing in a garment. Or is zipper sewing in a bag a way to get confidence from making zippers for garments you think?

I will say it is because we use more zipper tape, and you guys use more like invisible zippers. Zippers that are already structured. If you're making it in a bag, the zipper tape gives you a little leeway to make a mistake and you can bounce back from that. So that once you start trying to do like, an invisible zipper, you're a little more comfortable with inserting a zipper. So I will say yeah, make a couple of zipper pouches, little ones with zipper tape is vague like zippers can make your bag go from, "Oh, that's nice" to "Oh my God that's so cute. Where'd you get that zipper tape? Oh, ..

I was gonna add to that. I think the hardest thing sometimes, when you are making a bag, is choosing the right zipper. Like, what's gonna go right? That is like some people think the installation is hard. It's not as hard as what zipper tape or what color zipper is gonna make or break. Cause that is the hardest decision. The installation is nothing. Choosing the right zipper, that is, that's the hardest part.

You know, I came from garments to bags, and to me exponentially easier to put a zipper in a bag than it is garment. You know, it's all just straight lines. That the trick is though is getting the zipper pull on the zipper tape. Now honey, I started out with the fork. I started out with Matisse. I mean I was doing all the craziness, but you eventually, it just, once you kind of get a hang of it. Oh Lisa, you can do it. Pop it on there and zip it down.

I will show you all this, come to my live Monday mornings. I will show you all the zipper tips and tricks that I use. I've done a fork too. I got a zipper jig that I don't even use.

I love tools. I'd love a zipper jig. That sounds like a fun dance and something I could use. A zipper jig? Yes, please.

I like to stick to a zipper pull on my desk and go whoop and just stick it on there with my hands. I don't even use it, but I have it.

And this is why it's so great to talk to people who not only love what they're doing, but are also good at it. They can find the easy ways and they can find the ways to explain it to other people that shares that joyful enthusiasm. So I love that. I am so grateful. I'm gonna wrap up with y'all by asking the question we ask all of the guests of the Stitch Please podcast and it is this, the slogan of the Stitch Please podcast is that we will help you get your stitch together. As BSN Bag Girlies, what advice would each of you all have to help our listeners get our stitch together? And I'll start with Lanae, what do you think? How would you help us? What would you recommend to us to help us get our stitch together?

I would say, actually two parts, I would say just do it. Just try it. Even if you are scared to, like, I was scared to death to start bags, but I just did it. The first one, very questionable, but I did it. And the second part today is, take your time. I am doing a bag right now. And it's taking me forever. I think Nikki asked about it on one of my TikToks. It's 50 million pieces, but I am not a quitter. So I'm gonna finish that bag, but take your time because you wanna make sure that you grasp whatever concept it is that's telling you to do the bag or the process. And then you wanna make sure it sticks and then that'll help you in the end, as far as other bag making. So just do it and take your time. Those are my two things.

That's wonderful advice. Thank you so much. Nikki, how about you? What do you have for the get your stitch together advice?

My advice to get your stitch together is to give yourself grace. You're not going to be out the gate perfect at anything, you're gonna have that first test run. So give yourself grace and be patient just like Lanae said. And Lanae, girl, I saw that pattern and saw that bag. And I was holding back because I was like, I gotta see if somebody else can tackle that one.

Hopefully it'll get done this week. But yeah, that's, that's another thing. Looking at, how many pieces is they? Because that's gonna determine if I make this or not. So yeah, it's the Welkin, the Welkin bag by Lavender and Twine. It's a lot of pieces. And it's coming along, but it's slowly but surely.

You said Lavender and Twine. I love every single one of their bags. There's always a lot of pieces but it's beautiful in the end, so don't worry, it's worth it.

So Tanisha you are nearly 10 year back veteran here with your near decade of experience in bag sewing. What advice would you offer our listeners to help us get our stitch together?

I'm gonna tell y'all the same thing I tell people who decide to grow locks. Enjoy the journey. I've been growing my hair for 19 years. So same rules apply with bag making. Do not try to go from brand new to professional overnight, it ain't gonna happen. Plus, you're gonna skip learning so many amazing skills. Enjoy the journey. Enjoy that first bag, you make. Enjoy that first wallet you make. Enjoy that first handbag you make. Enjoy the first time you go around the curve at a high speed. Did you ever come to my lab y'all hear me say go slow around this curve. Like, I'm going slow around that curve. But once you get comfortable with it, and you're like zoom, that first one, you're... Enjoy the journey, it's so worth it. Because once you look back, like now my very first one was the appliqué zipper pouch about this big. I still have it. But now I'm like even the person who taught me is like, bro, you have had the things that I taught you. You're gonna look back and be like, man, I can't believe that I was so afraid of that zipper. That I was so afraid to add that applique. And now you just zipping through applique like nobody's business. So like I tell people who are growing their locks, enjoy the journey. It's your journey. Nobody can make it for you. Nobody can tell you how to do it.

I love that. And on that note, we thank you. Thank you so much for being with us today. This was such a generous and fantastic conversation. We will, y'all, include links to the bags that they're discussing. I'm especially excited to learn about the Black bag designers that I didn't know about before. So that's wonderful new information for me to learn. So thank you for that. And thank y'all overall for just being here and sharing the journey of your bag sewing journey with us. So thank you.

Thank you Lisa.

Bye. Thank you.

You've been listening to Stitch Please, the official podcast of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black lives matter. We appreciate you joining us this week and every week for stories that center Black women, girls and femmes in sewing. We invite you to join the Black Women Stitch Patreon community with giving levels beginning at $5 a month. Your contributions help us bring the Stitch Please podcast to you every week. Thank you for listening. Thank you for your support, and come back next week and we'll help you get your stitch together.