I was having a discussion with my factory manager in India one day about where to find interesting fabrics. A lot of the time I provide the fabrics for my bags which I have sourced myself on various textile hunting trips to Italy, France and over the UK. I do use a lot of Scottish Tweeds for example, which look fabulous when trimmed with a soft calf leather.

What about other sources?

One day I thought to myself: Isn’t India famous for producing fabulous cottons in amazing colourful weaves and embroideries?

I asked my factory manager if he could take me to look at some real Indian fabrics that were being sold for the local market.

This is what I found

The market was awash with colour. There were over 100 stalls along the roadside selling everything from ditsy cotton floral prints to intricate ikat weaves. I was immediately taken by these amazing multi coloured cotton fabrics with embroidery over the top. I bought about 300 metres altogether 🙂

Inspired!

As I have said before, the inspiration for a new design often comes from the fabrics and leathers that I find. Now that these fabrics are ‘in stock’ I have already started to use some of them for new designs. I’m also just looking at the rest with a lot more ideas of where to use them: too many ideas! I hope I bought enough metres!

What inspires YOU?