New Machine

I finally bought the machine I've been looking at for over a year. Its a compound walking foot machine with self oiler and reverse. Now I can applique on the Pfaff and do the burly construction on this without switching out thread every 30 minutes! Thank You Uncle Sam.

Jess's Elephant Family Bag

This is one of the most endearing bags I've made to date. It features mommy and her two babies walking. The detail is just enough and the colors look great!

Molly's Millencolin Bag

I made this little pink number for Molly. It is an ode to one of her favorite bands Millencolin.

Go Patches

Alex Nosse made a great lino cut a few years ago and during some testing with a two-part screen printing ink decided to print a boatload of patches on sailcloth and salvaged vinyl coated vinyl.

Tool Pouches for St. Louis Lock-In Polo Tournament

Cleveland sent a carload of hooligans to the "Show Me State" for the lock-in tourney. Of course they won at everything as always, but mostly they took a few tool pouches with them to share with the crowds.

www.forestcityportage.com

Jon Boble @ www.jonathanbobel.com began construction of the website and soon to be permanent internet home of Forest City Portage today! More pics of bags to be taken this week and testing should be happening soon... Look for updates and new products in the coming weeks!

Fatty's Daddy Baggy

My dear friend Brian welcomed his baby girl Clover Jane into the world recently and to celebrate the birth, his loving wife got him this rad baby baggy. It is special for a few reasons. First, it utilizes magnetic snaps instead of velcro for the closures to eliminate that obnoxiously loud noise which can easily wake your baby after hours of trying to get her to sleep. Also, the interior features a series of removable pockets and pouches including a bottle holder and a dry bag as well as a movable divider for partitioning the insides. Not only do these make organizing babies things easy, but since they can be removed, the bag can double as a courier bag during and after the baby bag part is needed. Finally, it has a series of D-Rings and Clips for toys, pacifiers, etc.

Painting at the Shop

As fall turns into winter and business slows down and sewing becomes less frequent, fun chores at the shop arise such as reorganizing fabrics (check), overhauling machines (check), and painting the walls to spruce up the bones of our old factory we call home. My dear friend Alex with whom I share space, helped paint and design the accent wall on the West wall of our shop. We used old paint he had around for his mural projects and just went to town making fun colors and bringing some vitality to the space that had been dominated by pressboard and metal studs. We still have a few hours of painting left to finish the wall but I think it is already starting to look amazing.

Sugar Skull Hip Pack

This sweet Hip Pack was a little late to its owner, but I think it turned into a nice X-mas gift in the end. The design is really intricate and took some time to complete but the final product is awesome! Thanks for your patience Gregg.

Wallet

The boredom of winter has led to the latest and greatest: recycled sailcloth wallets. They are super lightweight, bombproof, and cute. Soon to be available in inner tube as well, wallets are $12.