I've copied the text from the story after the screenshots, it's a little too small to read.... enjoy!
In an age where cheap and sometimes foreign labor is used to manufacturer almost everything the average American consumes, it is reassuring to know that some out there prefer to go against the grain, to make a return to that age of hard work and ingenuity – an almost forgotten concept, once instrumental to the rise and prosperity of this country.
As I entered Carrie Keefe's studio, behind her house on Central Street in Turners Falls, the first thing I noticed was the mechanical wonder in the middle of the room, the anchor of her trade: a sturdy new Husqvarna Viking sewing machine. Strewn along the walls are patterns and fabrics of all sorts, hanging in limbo, but at any moment made ready to be used in the manufacturing of her fine handbags for men and women.
The space is a converted garage that she is just putting the finishing touches on. She hands me a finished product – a canvas handbag, heavily stitched, and as far as I can tell, very well built. Inside are individual pockets made of another material.
Carrie has been stitching together handbags for about three years now, and premiered them last year at the Garlic & Arts Festival and the Greenfield Farmers' Market. While these events are an effective way to get her image out there, she said a good majority of her handbags will be sold through her new online store.
In the past year, Carrie has taken her business image and recently gave it a fresh look. She has launched a new website this November, now under the trade name Margaret & Ellen (Margaret being Carrie's middle name, and Ellen being her mother Christine's middle name).
Carrie took her first lessons from her mother – how to build patterns, choose fabric, and construct different articles of clothing. Christine was classically trained, and much of her work consisted of fabricating clothing for the disabled.
As a trained graphic artist, Carrie said visualizing the end result comes natural. “I've always had an understanding of taking something 2 dimensional, like fabric and turning into something 3 dimensional, like a handbag,” she said. “My method of working is simple: I take a basic pattern and modify it with elements that make it my own... I would never make a bag that I wouldn’t use for myself.”
Carrie enjoys working with durable fabrics like denim, canvas, and uses “fun fabrics” inside her handbags as an accent. These are not only stylish, but rugged and utilitarian with many pockets and magnetic fasteners.
The young entrepreneur said she gravitated away from clothing towards handbags because “the thing about clothing is that you have to make it for the masses. You have to make something in every size. Handbags are one size fits all.”
Along with her new website – which will feature her fashion blog – Carrie plans on connecting people, encouraging them comment on pictures of her designs and inspirations. “You can go through all those glamour magazines and say to yourself 'I can't afford that, but maybe I could make it myself.' A blog can become a good marketing tool for my products. “If people like my designs and my ideas, I can take their constructive criticism and offer them exactly what they want.”
Carrie said she always wants her role in the company to be hands-on, though she plans on hiring a helper in the future to do patterns and cut out fabric.
Like all those just emerging on the scene, part of starting her own business has been nerve-racking; striking out on her own for the first time. Luckily she gets an entrepreneurial spirit (and extra push) from her parents, who own a local plastics company.
Much of Carrie's time is spent finding specific textiles for her designs. She makes daily trips to area thrift shops, like her favorite Salvation Army right down the street from her home; yard sales, and fabric and crafts stores to “connect back to this idea of reusing material that would somehow just get tossed.”
2011 is scheduled to be her most productive year, and she said she will make every attempt she can to make a name for herself. Carrie would like to offer her fine products at local boutiques, to establish her company's brand name. “I've got all the pieces,” she said. “I just need to get it all to come together.”
www.margaretandellen.com.
margaretandellen@me.com
