New designs added to the collection

Most of my products come about as the direct result of my own life experience. That's how I started designing bags and how I continue - if I need it, stands to reason that other women do too.

I took a short vacation in January - a few welcome days of sun and sand. However the night before departing I found myself scrabbling around my apartment at 1am trying to find a clear pouch to take my toiletries through the airport security line.

Added to that was my toiletries bag being an ugly old thing from an outdoor store that was falling apart. And it was hard to identify my standard black rolling bag from all the others in the airport, and particularly in the plane's overhead bin.

So I spent some of my time on the beach brainstorming, with the help of another designer friend, the first two ideas for my new line of travel accessories: a travel toiletries case and a luggage tag.

Like the rest of my collection, I wanted these to look great and also be very practical, usable and durable.

The travel toiletries case comes with options of two or three pockets with zip closures. It opens out to be laid flat on a surface or hung from a rail or hook. One of the pockets is in clear vinyl, which can be detached for airport security screening.

The luggage tag can be easily and securely attached to any bag or suitcase and has a clear vinyl pocket to put in your name and address.

Both items are made to be robust and durable and I'm using lots of fun fabrics, like the lovely new fabric featuring Japanese Geishas pictured here, which fit with the rest of the Red Delicious collection.

I have plans to add more items to the travel accessories collection - stay tuned for these.

For now these new items will only be available at my Pike Place Market booth.

FAQ: From first idea to final new product

I'm often asked about how I came up with a design. Having just gone through the process of designing some new products and getting them ready for sale, the answer is very fresh in my mind.

It's amazing how much effort is involved in taking something from the initial idea to having an inventory ready to put on sale.

The steps include:

• Figure out the design - usually inspired by something I need to make life better
  
• Consider the materials and hardware needed
• Make a prototype
• Realize that it's way too complicated and expensive to be sold at an affordable price and completely revise the design
• Make a new prototype
• Test the product - in other words use it for a while
• Tweak the design to the final version and make patterns
• Source materials and hardware, and buy a bunch
• Decide on price points, based on materials, labor and marketability of the product
  
• Cut and make a quantity ready for for sale

This final step involves a steep learning curve. I know how to make each product, but getting it down to the fast, smooth and efficient process I'm used to with my other products takes a while. It usually involves patience, frustration, long hours, and liberal use of the seam ripper.

And a handful of each new product will not do. There has to be sufficient to create a good display - I've learned that a meager number of items do not attract buyers. That's a lot of production hours to get up to speed.

Along with all this I have to figure out how to display the products at my Pike Place Market booth. These new products are quite different to my usual bags, so this is all new. Not only does the display have to be effective, it needs to fit with everything else and be sufficiently light, portable and durable to be packed away at the end of each day.

Finally, I have to produce price signs. Pretty easy, except that this week my printer died. And that - donated by a friend - was the replacement of my previous printer which died a couple of weeks ago. My printer karma is low! Such wrinkles are common when you are running your own business.

So what are the new products I've been working on, you ask? Stay tuned - I'll post about those very soon.