THE HARVEST SERIES

(all photographs by jeff allen)

to view the full collection and get additional information please visit my website.


the harvest series is a special collection of 6 different bags that are all based around a small selection of beautiful antique harvest bags that i stumbled upon one day this past summer.

these particular canvas bags were used on a family farm in northeastern new hampshire during the early 1900's. their primary function was to carry and store apples during the harvest season. printing of both the family's name and the farm name were incorporated into the bags when i originally found them as well as a number of areas of intricate hand-stitching where a repair was made to the bag many, many years ago.

my goal with this series was to create new tote bags that highlighted the beauty of the original canvas and the long history behind it. i tried to do this by keeping things relatively simple.. classic styles paired with some of the greatest antique leather that i've ever seen (and i spent many hours taking apart an incredibly well crafted swiss backpack from the 1930's to retreive said leather!).

these bags are all listed on my new big cartel shop. i'm hoping to create special collections every few months and when this happens i'll always list them on big cartel. but other than that i'll still list everything on etsy!

oh and just in case you missed it up there - go to my website to see more photos!

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 15

sarah meadows takes some of my absolute favorites photos. if you haven't seen her work before you should really take a look.

this weekend went by real quick. i spent most of it working on a special project that i'm excited to reveal this upcoming week! i'm anxious to start talking about it.. but it'll have to wait until wednesday or thursday. i'll be sure to post here as soon as everything is ready.

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 12

i've always been fascinated by war times and actually went to school for history (i wrote my thesis about the GI movement during the vietnam war). the bags that i end up being really, really excited about are those with the most history behind them.. hence the long-winded blog post about the bag that i just finished sewing.

i've been looking forward to constructing this bag ever since i set my eyes upon that linen postal bag. parts of it were tattered beyond repair, but luckily the section with '1937' printed on it was still very much intact. these old linen mail bags are by far the best material i work with (and the hardest to come by). even though it's so old, the fabric is still so sturdy. and they always smell really incredible! like a nice old barn.

i came across this barber strop a few months ago at the flea market and it was one of those finds that almost made me tear up. i immediately put it aside until i found the perfect fabric to pair it with. the leather is approximately 100 years old but it's incredibly soft and the woman who sold it to me was able to pass along a bunch of details about its history. also.. it's made out of seal leather. now i'm not one to support seal fur/leather anything.. but i'm looking at this as a historic piece and in that respect the seal leather aspect totally blows my mind.

so basically.. bags like this one are why i spend so much time searching and digging and trying to find beautiful old materials to work with.

SWORD + FERN

you can now find a small selection of forestbound bags at emily baker's beautiful shop sword + fern in portland, oregon.

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 4.

real into these suede oxfords by you must create.

(via totokaelo)

EACH AND EVERY DAY.

recent tattoo by liam.

JONATHAN LEVITT.

jonathan levitt takes some of the nicest photos i've come across in a long while. especially his wake to songbirds wake to crows series. makes me long for farm life real bad.