London Boat Show

Great news! It has been confirmed that Dr Bean's Bags will have a small space on a stand at the London Boat Show, 9 - 18 January 2009.

The bad news is that we will spend most of Christmas on the sewing machine. . .

Classic Red Canvas

This is a new version of our 'shipping forecast' bag (with shackle and number) - in a nice red canvas that is reminiscent of classic red-sailed yachts and barges. It also looks good as a bucket bag.

Sadly, the weather is not good today for taking photos.

Coffee v Bags

We understand that there might be some confusion over the fact that Dr Bean has two main interests in life. It seemed natural to us, but we can see your point. 

So, after much discussion, (over coffee, naturally) we have decided to create a new website, which will be for Dr Bean's bags and include a shopping facility. . . and probably be called 'Dr Bean's bags'. When I say we, I'm actually referring to Judith, our very patient website maker, who is hopefully delighted to be working with us again, so soon after producing our first site.

We'll announce the new arrival in due course.

Christmas ideas. . .

New Bags

Many apologies - it's been a long time since our last post. The weather here on the Island has been very good in October, with lovely warm and sunny weekends - warm enough to go in the sea.

The workshop (without heating) is fortunately still plenty warm enough, thanks to solar power (ie; big windows), but we'll have to see what it's like as we get into winter. 

We've been working on some new bag designs recently. Following the popular 'shipping forecast' bags of the summer (which are still available, incidentally), we realised that the possibilities of text-on-bag are endless - quotes, lyrics, conversations etc. We're starting however, with segments from the easily recognisable Alice in Wonderland and recipes taken from Nigella's TV series book (which are cake-related, so it's not actually that far removed from Alice in Wonderland). We're also experimenting with a beautiful Liberty Tana Lawn lining to the bag.

We're still trying to get an online sales option up and running, so hopefully that will start soon, but in the meantime, here are some pictures and you can always contact us via the website if you are interested in purchasing.

Selvedge Magazine

Just a quick post to point out that Dr Bean's bags have a (tiny) mention in the lovely Selvedge magazine - the bible for all things textile-y. In case you can't find it, you need to look for page 15 - in an article about using alternatives to plastic bags, which is exactly where a Dr Bean's bag comes in.

Mudfest at Bestival

The 2008 Bestival was rather different from our previous experience. We tried to ignore the weather forecast, thinking that there must be a mistake - the Isle of Wight Bestival is always bathed in the glory of an indian summer. This year, however, the site (and everyone in it) was bathed in glorious mud. And there was an awful lot of it.

It's amazing what people put up with in the pursuit of a weekend of fun (we like to think that a cup of Dr Bean's coffee helped them through) and although many left early, there was a certain sense of achievement in remaining until the end. Monday, ironically, was a beautiful day.

We would  like to give a huge thank you to the guys on the tractor who towed us (and most of the other traders) out on Monday evening and to Rob, who rescued our trailer and fridge.

Overall, there wasn't a huge amount of support from the Bestival organisers.

It really feels like Autumn now that the Bestival is over, which is a bit harsh as we never really had a summer. Ho-hum, back to making bags.