Friday, February 22, 2008

Significant sewing: Army Bags

I love memory art and recycling, but this company goes one step further...mourning.
Using a loved one's clothing can become a treasure, a catharsis, and part of the healing process.
Camp Follower Bags and Quilts make bags for army widows--a meaningful gesture to offer gratitude along with a useful piece of memorabilia from their husband's uniform.
Owner Tia says, "I make 'Hero Bags' for the widows and wives of Fallen and Severely wounded service men. On the whole these bags are free of charge to the widows. A portion of each bag I make is set aside to cover the cost of fabric for these bags. I also get donations from Amy Butler and Westminster Fibers for my Hero Bag cause."

Army wives with healthy husbands are also welcome to place custom orders.
"I transform uniforms in to functional art while following my mate from one military assignment to the next."
Note only limited quantities of custom orders are accepted at one time.
Though the website currently lists orders as closed, I am told she will be accepting again soon.
Her shop.

I went through pics of bags on her flickr.com pages, and honestly, there are just so many incredible bags there, it was really hard to choose which examples to post here.
She also makes civilian bags, so check those out too.

Molly Bag


Patriotic Molly



Sam Backpack


Nicole Bag


She has this bag entered in the current Amy Butler Sew Inspiring bag contest.
Tia says, "Amy Butler's fabric and style always has such a grace and peace about it, that is very soothing. Many of the bags I make are for ladies whose husband's have been killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. Her fabric reflects the peace and beauty heaven evokes."
Click here to read more about it.

6 comments:

  1. HI There Barb, Great little showcase of my stuff. Thanks so much for featuring me. I will link your blog to mine.
    Cheers!
    Tia

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  2. HI! This is Jana from Lola..again! Thanks for putting my link in your sidebar. Just a note, the bag isn't actually Amy Butlers...it's mine. (I used her fabric though) The pattern is on the link to download free!
    Thanks again!!

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  3. Hi,
    This is a great post, facinating story and use of fabric.

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  4. These are awesome! My husband served for a brief while. I would love to make something out of his camis. What a tribute these are!

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  5. I love this idea. Both my parents were in the military when I was younger & I wish someone would have thought of doing things like this 15 years ago. If I still had my dad's camo's I would definitely order one of these bags for my mom. They are both still living, but I'm sure Mom would love one of these bags, just so her purse stands out at work.

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  6. Wow!! Really nice!! US Cavalry provides best variety of bags...

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