When we were young teenagers Kitty and I would hang out at each other's houses in the evening and at weekends to do 'textiles homework' together. This actually meant playing hours and hours of dance mat (Much Mambo Sway was our favourite). Kitty is a wizard at dance mat - she wins every single time with an A++. Even on the expert level.
We always sewed for fun and started making little tote bags to use at school to carry our books. A few of our friends liked them and then somehow we started selling them to other kids at school. We would buy cute prints from the local fabric stores at the weekends and spend late nights at the sewing machine listening to loud music while we stitched. We would also play a few rounds of dance mat when we needed a little break.
We always sewed for fun and started making little tote bags to use at school to carry our books. A few of our friends liked them and then somehow we started selling them to other kids at school. We would buy cute prints from the local fabric stores at the weekends and spend late nights at the sewing machine listening to loud music while we stitched. We would also play a few rounds of dance mat when we needed a little break.
We called our business K+F. I remember my locker was filled with these bookbags I felt like such a wheeler dealer getting them to out to show the other teenagers who bought them for £3 each. They took us a couple of hours each to make, we definitely undersold ourselves. One time we even did a Sunday Market - Kitty's mum drove us there in early hours and we set up a table with our handmade goods and got really excited when someone wandered over to have a look. Making bags and being a small business owner seems to have always been my thing.
Fast forward 16 years to 2021 and after living together at uni and then both living abroad for a couple of years we moved in together again, Kitty is now a teacher and I work from the studio space we set up at the front of our house. We do sewing projects together at the weekend when our other housemates are out...and then play dance mat. She still always wins. Some things never change <3
One evening I sit down on the sofa next to her and say I've made a new bag what do you think I should call it? "Kitty" she replied. There is now a running theme to name new designs after some of my closest friends and family, so it fit and I was happy to name one after her. But, as a month or so went on I started to think how perfect the name was for the bag ~ it fits the essentials (purse, phone, keys, lipstick) just like a little kitty ~ but the best bit is that it can be clipped to wear around the waist ~ perfect for dancing ~ just like the real life Kitty.
Kitty loves to dance and not just on a mat ~ I would sometimes walk in to the kitchen and find her having a little groove by herself or if she just came in the door she would always have something dance-y on her headphones that she was bopping along to on the way home. In the pandemic, if we were getting a bit cabin fever-y in the house, she would make use grab our headphones and head to the local park to have our own silent disco. We would sync up our playlists and stomp out any frustration we were feeling. We might have had some strange looks from the dog walkers but we were having so much fun we didn't care ~ we were always smiling when we returned home.
This bag is for anyone that loves dancing as much as Kitty ~ whether that be at a party / festival / wedding / kitchen / park / bedroom / kitchen or on a mat and needs to keep their hands free sometimes for waving them in the air.
This bag is for anyone that loves dancing as much as Kitty ~ whether that be at a party / festival / wedding / kitchen / park / bedroom / kitchen or on a mat and needs to keep their hands free sometimes for waving them in the air.
