Bags of fun

When Alexia Durtnell started making her own cardigans and bags, little did she know she would soon be turning a fun hobby into a vibrant new fashion business.

She is only 28 years old and already has her own Cirencester-based company, Originals by Alexia, which is going from strength to strength. Alexia makes handmade bags for all ages and occasions using pretty fabrics which change with the fashion seasons. These are adorned with an assortment of unusual buttons, ribbons and knitted flowers which have been sourced from all over the world.

Alexia, originally from Kent, came to live in Cirencester to undertake a degree and later a Masters at the Royal Agricultural College. After successfully graduating in agricultural business, her career took a different path and she trained as a teacher before getting a job as a deputy supervisor at a nursery school in Filkins near Lechlade.

In her spare time she started jazzing up tired old cardigans and jumpers with beads, ribbons or sparkling brooches and also made children's clothes and bags.

"I got fed up with the clothes in the high street stores and wanted to have something different," she said.

"I started embellishing my clothes with trimmings, beads or sequins to create something unique."

The pink cardigan she is wearing, she explains, was fairly ordinary so she cut the bottom off it, removed the buttons and sewed a pretty lace trim around it. A sparkly brooch to pull it together in the middle finished it off perfectly.

Friends were so impressed with her creations that they commissioned her to make clothes for them.

"I was doing it in my spare time and I really wanted to make a go of it. I had done a few Christmas sales and some commission based work. The demand was such that I knew I had to take it further," she said. Alexia bravely took the plunge and left her teaching job to set up her own business in July.

She has a small workshop at her home in Cirencester from where she does her commissions and her work is also sold in selected shops. For her winter range of bags, Alexia has sourced quality tweeds in a range of colours from a woollen mill in Scotland.

After making her tweed bags she finishes them off with velvet ribbons and bows or crocheted flowers.

But if there is something specific that her clients want she will make it to their specifications. Often clients approach Alexia to design a special bag to match an outfit they are wearing to a wedding.

"I make day and evening bags and can work with the clients to come up with a unique design that suits them," said Alexia. "People say the bags are really alluring."

She uses many vintage buttons and silk trimmings and is always on the lookout for unusual accessories wherever she is.

On a recent trip to Paris Alexia bought some old fashioned ribbons and last year she bought some leopard print material from Zimbabwe. Prices start at £45 for a bag.

For more information visit Alexia's website at: www.originalsbyalexia.com or call her on 01285 642603.