Alexia Petrakos: Sewing Unique ARRRT! Handbags
For Christmas 2005, Alexia Petrakos received her mother’s old sewing machine and learned to sew by making her first handbag. She’s created twenty to thirty bags this year, mostly in her favorite utilitarian style with a little flair. “I just stare at my fabric until I see something I like. Then I start putting it together. Occasionally, a style will form in my head and I sketch it out.”
Alexia, whose company is named ARRRT!, was born in Montreal, Canada, but moved to Michigan when she was two. After a year in Greece, she went to high school in Daytona Beach, Florida and college in Atlanta, Georgia. When she’s not making handbags, she works full-time as a webmaster and project manager.
“I never went to design school or art school, so I don’t have any of that influence.” Alexia taught herself to make handbags by researching online tutorials and work by designers such as Jordy on Craftster, Queen Bee and Lynda at Little Odd Forest, “…and anyone who makes really playful bags.”
The past year has been a learning experience for Alexia. “I can actually sew a straight line now! My seams are looking more professional and I’m actually creating my own patterns now—stepped out of the Jordy bag box.”
She still struggles with her dislike of cutting fabric and her “habit of sewing my linings inside out.”
“There’s a wealth of info and tutorials on Craftster and other places that will get you started. I do, however, recommend a good sewing reference book. I didn’t get one until last month.”
Alexia sews using “an old, very heavy Montgomery Ward machine that my mother had forever and never used. That’s the one I’ve made everything with so far. I recently bought a used Baby Lock Companion, and although I haven’t made anything on it yet, I have a feeling the one-step buttonholer is going to be a Godsend!”
Alexia belongs to an online message board for women in the crafts business that helps her think of handbags as a business rather than just a hobby. “I started selling to friends who loved what I made. I’m still learning about the business side of this stuff, and I’m hoping to learn more in the near future. I have two fabulous mentors that are really helping me out.”
Incorporating screen printing and original art into her designs is something else she plans for the near future. Bumping up her marketing is another goal. “Right now I sell by word of mouth [and] the Blue Frog Gallery in Marietta, Georgia. I’ve started applying to shows and I’m working on my website right now.”
For anyone who would like to get into the handbag business for themselves, Alexia stresses that originality and personality are the best ways a designer can differentiate herself the in the increasingly competitive world of handbag design. “It’s a tough field, as I’m finding out - lots of people are doing it because it’s easy enough to sew two pieces of fabric with a nylon webbing strap and call it a bag. I think the way to go is to come up with unique designs -something that is uniquely YOU. And have fun.”
Alexia’s ARRRT! website can be found at www.finearrrt.com. She also has a blog and photos of her bags posted on Flickr.
