This bag should have come out in 2025.

You liked this design on the Work & Play Shirts and loved it on the 100% cotton kaftans—now I'm pleased to bring my textile design, Prism Petals, to you as a satchel. As I mentioned in previous emails, 2025 was about figuring out how to get production help by working with local manufacturers. You might remember my challenges with getting the Eclipse Crossbody Bag produced. Through that process, I found a reliable factory right in my area, and once I knew I was in good hands, I took the risk and placed a second, bigger order—this time for satchels. Prism Petals is among the first bags produced from that run.

I mentioned previously that I'd like to keep some ready-to-ship inventory in stock. Being a one-woman show around here makes that very difficult, so I made it a goal to figure out how to make this happen. If it had not been for a grant from NEST, I wouldn't have been able to do it. If you have a small business and you're reading this, I encourage you to keep an eye on opportunities through NEST. I won a Maker’s Future Fund Grant, but there are others.

The Prism Petals Satchel is in stock and ready to ship, along with the original version of Inky Florals, Rough Check, and crowd favorite Cozy Canines. They’re made of cotton canvas, are fully lined in my signature logo print, have a handle but these have gotten an upgrade. Instead of two internal pockets, this new deluxe version has FOUR internal pockets.

Since I was getting help with manufacturing, I also needed to place a bigger fabric order (another investment) so yeah, you get more pockets on these.

I selected these prints because it made sense to invest in things I know people already love. When working with a manufacturer, you're paying for inventory up front and hoping it sells. And to get the best price on production, you need to place an order bigger than you might be comfortable with. Materials costs cascade as well. It's a risk, but choosing what gets produced based on data makes it slightly less risky. Shout out to NEST again because the grant I won came with business classes, which helped me figure out how to the insights gleaned from my sales data to make better business decisions. But even with all of that, you never know and there are always outside forces, both seen and unforeseen.

This is why I'll continue to make project bags in my studio while also working with the manufacturer. We'll be a team—they'll step in when I need them and I'm certain about designs.

I'm proud to say these bags are all made in Sunset Park, Brooklyn — my actual neighborhood. We're letting the dollar circulate in our local community.