From Amsterdam: Interview with Katie from Morelle Handbags

Pictured here: "The Charlotte", one of the handbag designs from Morelle Handbags. Available for purchase at Trina&Friends.

My name is Katie and I'm the designer of Morelle Handbags. Morelle started as a way to express all those designs and creations I had in my head. Since I was little I was always working on something: knitting or sewing. I just had to use my hands to make something. When I moved to Amsterdam one year ago, I took my obsession a little bit further. I bought a sewing machine and started to sew my own clothes and eventually made my first Morelle bag.

The past few months have been challenging as I've had a full-time job and on the side I've been spending hours and hours in front of the sewing machine creating new items and experimenting with new designs. My goal has been to make functional yet stylish handbags. These months have been valuable as I've learned a lot about the textiles I'm using, how to treat them and how to make a comfy yet sturdy and functional bag. I can spend hours fiddling around with fabric trying to achieve the ideal bag.

I like to keep my designs simple yet I like to add some functionality to them, even if it's just making a bag big enough to fit a laptop. Considering the needs of the modern woman, small purses do not really do it anymore. I believe that handbags serve more than just accessories to compliment an outfit; they carry all that stuff around that we need. Women need a nice, comfy, spacious yet stylish bag to carry all this stuff in. And this is what Morelle Handbags are all about!"