FAQs: making bags

There's definitely a list of Frequently Asked Questions about Red Delicious. So I'll start answering some of them here.

First: how long does it take to make a Red Delicious bag? The answer is probably not as long as you may think.

When I started out it took literally days to make a bag. But I was figuring out designs and techniques, with lots of unpicking and resewing involved. All these years later I've sharpened my skills, honed my techniques and developed patterns so that the bags have lots of features but don't take too long to make.

This last part is crucial because it enables me to keep the bags affordable to you, but also make a living at this.

I make the bags in small batches of two or three of the same style in the same base color (black or brown) at a time. That's faster than doing them one at a time. And I have a head start: my assistant who cuts out all the fabric and interfacing pieces. That saves a great deal of my time.

And I'm always figuring out ways to make the making faster. You may not find some of my techniques in any sewing book but they save me time without, very importantly, sacrificing the quality of the finished piece.

The other major time factor is my mood, believe it or not. If I'm focused and motivated I can really crank them out. If I'm not... well you can guess.

So the facts: at one end of the spectrum a card holder takes no more than 10 minutes to put together. At the other end the Tote and Large Messenger, comprising lots of fabric and many more features to sew, take an hour or more.

And it's important to note that the time it takes to make a piece is somewhat reflected in the price, but so are many other factors. More on pricing in a future post.