A few months ago, I was looking at photos from Renegade Craft Fair’s summer show, and saw a photo of a small zippered clutch that I’d contemplated buying for the reasonable price of $30. Under the photo, someone had commented:
“$30? EACH?!?!”
And, of course, that pissed me off. Mind you, it wasn’t my product (my bags actually cost a lot more), but whenever someone attacks the pricing on a well-made object, well, I get upset.
So, here’s a little video that shows you all the steps that go into sewing just one of my bags. If this bag were sewn by a factory – either here or abroad – a couple of steps might be skipped (for instance, the fabric would be cut perfectly before printing, pinning might not be done, and a an industrial iron would press the finished bag in one fell swoop), but there would still be a significant amount of labor involved. It’s something to think about the next time you buy an inexpensive, “fast fashion” piece of clothing, or poo-poo the “high” cost of something someone else has made.
Amen! As a maker of bags created using recycled leather, I can second the fact that each handmade bag is well worth it’s price and then some. Nice post.
Not to mention handmade items don’t fall apart like factory made items, making them last for a long time.