haylie waring

my visit to the savannah college of art and design was one of the most inspiring trips i've taken in years. the students in the fibers department quite simply blew me away with their dedication to craft and tradition. one of the students who stood out most to me was haylie waring. it's hard to describe that feeling you get when your gut tells you "this is someone with something special" but that's the way i felt about haylie's work. she had such a distinct style and feel to her work that instantly appealed to me. haylie recently launched a blog where she's showcasing some of her work- my favorite being this line of bags made from recycled heavy duty feed sacks. designed as a reusable grocery bag (though i'd proudly tote it as an everyday bag), haylie's bags play with the idea of altering an object that once carried goods to carry food once again, but in a new context. each bag is hand dyed using natural dyes to achieve a linen color, then screen printed, appliquéd, and hand embroidered. in addition, each bag is lined with matching commercial fabric- a reproduction of a traditional feed sack floral. i can't wait until these are available in one of my neighborhood stores but until then, haylie is selling these original prototypes for $125 each. you can choose from E for eggs, T for teapot and M for meat (sadly the cake and strawberries just sold). click here to check out the rest of haylie's work or shoot her an email right here if you're interested in purchasing a piece or would like to discuss working with her on another project (someone should definitely scoop her up while she's still available. if i had my own design firm i'd already be asking her to work for me). [thanks, haylie!]