When Tom gave me this sign, I decided that I would form my own one-person Dorcas Society and make some bags which could be sold for charity.

My chosen charities are Pet Rescue (in memory of our beloved dog, Roxie), Royal Flying Doctor Service (in memory of my Dad), and Unicef for Children with Ebola. Of course it would be much easier to just donate money to these charities, but I like the idea of creating something that other people can use and everyone knows that it is benefiting these charities.

To date I have made 14 Japanese bags, which are all reversible, and 3 totes. They are all made from stashbusted fabric scraps, and followers of this blog may recognise some of the fabrics. The Japanese bags take 0.7 metre of fabric and the totes take a metre, and nearly all the bags have pockets either on the inside or outside. I also blinged up a couple using some broken jewellery donated to the cause by Gabi at Heaven Wrapped.

Gabi offered to sell the bags in her shop and I have to say that her styling and displays are lovely.

I am currently doing an evening collection – this consists of three or four silk bags – not much of a collection! I made myself a leather version and I might explore making a couple more. It will be interesting to see whether anyone buys these – they might finish up being given to the op shop! Having said that, one had already been sold, so I am hopeful.

If these bags do prove to be appealing, I have some ideas for some different shapes and sizes…