The Trendy Tote in Black Bamboo Fabric
- Artisan: Rachel Shelton, Sew Good and Trendy
- Product: Eco-friendly, stylish bags, totes, purses, and more
- Online: Main Website, Etsy shop, Facebook page, Twitter feed
Rachel Shelton is a St. Louis-area native who designs and creates amazing bags that are made from eco-friendly materials. These bags are beautiful as well as functional. The totes easily work as reusable grocery bags, carry farmer's market finds, handle homework, books, or a laptop, and double as diaper bags. The purses are available in a range of styles to work with your personal style.
You can catch Rachel of Sew Good and Trendy at a trunk show at the Botanical Gardens this weekend: July 25 and 26. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days, Sew Good and Trendy is setting up shop by the Garden Gate Shop. Be sure to go check out her products in person and grab a stylish, eco-friendly bag for yourself and a friend.
If you can't make the trunk show, you can find Sew Good and Trendy products at Show Me Handmade (located in Crestwood Mall near the movie theater, www.showmehandmade.com). Rachel says: "My bags are now available there along side many other cool and lovely handmade items. This store is really cool and I love that there is now a place to visit in person to find quality handmade things!!"
Read on for the interview and learn about how a busy wife and Mom finds inspiration and time to create these handmade products. Don't miss finding out about the bonus that comes with all of the Sew Good and Trendy purses (question #6)!
1. How did you learn your art/craft? I have always loved sewing and being crafty. My parents gave me my first sewing machine when I was in first grade. It was a child’s machine and I drove it into the ground. They later gave me a Singer and I sewed and sewed. My Grandmother really inspired me to sew, showing me how to quilt, cut out patterns, and so much more.
2. What was the first item you made? I started sewing so long ago that I have no idea what the first item I made was, but I would bet it was a dress for my childhood doll Katie. More recently, the first bag I made was a hot pink reusable shopping bag. I am still using it and I love how bright it is!!!
3. What is your motivation? To make lovely functional bags that look mainstream, but are good to the planet. I love it when people are surprised to learn that my bags are “green.” My mission is “to show the world that environmentally conscious choices can be made without sacrificing convenience and personal style.
Often, I can find inspiration at local thrift stores. I love to walk around and see all of the lovely materials there to re-use. When I see a piece that really speaks to me, I know exactly what I will create with it!
4. What makes your items green? My creations encourage people to use reusable shopping bags. The bags are created with as much eco-friendly materials as possible. I also ensure that I use as much eco-friendly business supplies as possible; from my bag tags to the paper I print invoices on. I even work to recycle all of my shipping materials so that I have as little environmental impact as possible.
5. What other items, if any, do you plan to add in the future? I am working on making lovely snowmen ornaments for the holidays from recycled light bulbs. Everyone I know is replacing burnt out bulbs with the new compact fluorescent bulbs. Why pitch the old ones to just waste away in the landfill when they can become a fun and decorative part of our holiday decor? I am also working on a line of eco-friendly holiday stockings.
6. What makes your handmade items unique/valuable/useful/beautiful/etc.? There are three things specifically that I think sets my bags apart: 1 Improve and increase the use of reusable shopping bags - I don’t think people will really embrace reusable shopping bags unless they are easy and fun to use. As an engineer, I love to solve issues, so here is what I came up with: - I never seem to remember my bags until I get to the check out line, especially when I just need to run in and grab a few things. To solve this problem, all of my purses come with a cute coordinating lightweight shopping bag that folds inside one of the purse’s interior pockets. This way you always have one (and it just happens to be super cute and trendy). - Keeping track of and loading reusable bags also seems to be an issue for some. I know my traditional canvas bags seem to play hide and seek in the back of our van and whenever I tried to load my traditional bags, they always flop over and I end up balancing my eggs and trying to find the top of the bag. To improve this situation, my shopping tote designs roll up into their own interior pocket for easy storage in your purse. Also, one of my tote designs (The Chic Sack) even fits onto a typical plastic shopping bag stand for easy hands-free loading!
2. The use of as many eco-friendly materials as possible in each design - My bags are as green as they can be. I really go the extra mile to use eco-friendly materials. All of my fabric is either natural, organic, or reclaimed. My buttons are either tagua (a natural vegetable ivory), reclaimed, or other natural materials. I even use a recycled soda bottle/cotton mill scrap canvas for interfacing. My bags look beautiful and you will feel great using them knowing they have as little impact on our planet as possible!
3. My bags have tons of style and functionality - I think there are so many really fun eco-friendly bags out there, but I could not find a large selection of bags that I felt were trendy and sophisticated…a bag I could carry to work and a bag that had all the pockets I need to keep organized. It was my goal to make my bags look very elegant and main stream and to be full of pockets!!
7. When/where do you work on your art/craft? I sew whenever I have a free moment, which is usually when my little girls are sleeping or at Nana’s house. Lately I have been waking up around 5:00am so I can get an hour or so of sewing in before the girls wake up. My sewing studio is in our basement, adjacent to our little girl’s playroom. I should also say that my girls have a little craft table of their very own in my studio so that they can be creative right along with me.
8. How do you try to live a greener life? Our family recycles, has switched to florescent light bulbs, and we do our best to keep down unnecessary energy use. Most importantly we are trying to teach our girls to make earth-friendly choices. I believe that children hold the future, and if they start recycling, choosing eco-friendly goods, etc., they will be doing it for a lifetime and then teaching their children to do the same. I just started to really think about the environment around age 30. Just think if our kids start doing this at a young age how much of a difference they can make!!!
9. Would you like to share a bit about yourself? (Family, background, hobbies, etc.) My story is a bit unique. I was born and raised in Union MO, a small town outside of St. Louis. Several years ago, I attended the University of Missouri-Rolla where I obtained a B.S. in nuclear engineering. I spent about five years working for Lockheed Martin in Up-State NY supporting our nations nuclear NAVY. After having our first daughter, I decided to stay home but I still needed to get my engineer/problem solving fix. I also really wanted to do something that taught my kids to be good to our planet. Sewing eco-bags seemed like a perfect fit. I wanted to create bags that were functional, eco-friendly, fun to carry, and made it easier for people to embrace reusable bags and see how lovely eco-materials can be.
I also want to show my children that no matter what obstacles we face, they can be overcome. One I deal with everyday is Stargardt’s Disease (juvenile onset of macular degeneration) which has significantly decreased my vision and is uncorrectable (technically I am legally blind). I have not let the disease slow me down. And now I want to show the world that ANYONE can make a GREEN difference!!
A big thanks to Rachel of Sew Good and Trendy for taking the time to interview with St. Louis Green Living. Now get outta here and go check out those amazing bags!
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