5 minutes with... Plus 1 Design

The Adorn Purse

Who are you & what do you do?
My name is Kirrily and I spend a lot of time sewing! My business goes by the name Plus 1 Design. My sewing mostly involves making girly things like handbags and purses. I'm not all that much of a girly girl, so I often have a giggle at this, but after sewing a lot of different things, I have decided that this is truly what I love doing.

How did you come up with your business name?
I went to see a band one night and my friend's name was on the guest list with a +1 next to it, so when we were going in, she introduced herself to the door person, and introduced me as +1. At the time I thought it would make a good tshirt. By the next day, I thought it would make a good business name and have been using it ever since.

Can you please walk us through making one of your products, from conception through completion?
The first step is usually the hardest - deciding what to make! As my range increases, this is becoming more and more difficult. Often though, it is dictated by a piece of fabric. So I'll choose one, then let it tell me what I should make it into.

If it is a handbag, then the next steps are deciding which of my patterns to use, or whether to draft a new one. This decision comes from a combination of things - what will work with the chosen fabric and what hardware (o-rings, d-rings, closures, feet etc) and coordinating fabrics I have available. Once that is decided, the fabric is pressed, cut out and interfaced where appropriate. Next is the sewing part which takes many hours. Then there is more pressing, adding the hardware, more sewing, tying off threads and a final press.

I'm a little bit pedantic about small details like making sure things are top-stitched, sewn straight, reinforced, centred, spaced evenly etc etc. This adds to the time it takes me to make something, but the perfectionist in me just can't let it go and I'm glad about that because to me, these little details make for quality work.

Where can we find you?
Etsy and my blog.

What are you looking forward to showing off at Mountain Makers?
Everything! But especially my Adorn Purses. I'm really looking forward to people being able to touch and feel my work. It's something that you don't get when you sell online. This will be my first time showing my work like this so I'm a little nervous, but it should be a great experience.