The Bag Bar

Retro ceiling lights have finally been completed and have arrived at their final destination!

On the floor, making one of the biggest lampshade we have ever done. So big it needed two people to hold it down!

Say hello to our LEDA Bag (2.0), the sister bag to the LEDA Bag (1.0), which we launched last week.

This is a twin series in our collection, available in Blue and Mustard. The bag is reversible, making it a versatile choice for any occasion.

The name of this bag was voted on by the Bag Bar Community, and our winner was .

For more details on the bag, please visit the link in the bio and search for ‘The Leda Bag 2.0’.


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It was so lovely to see someone carrying our bag around. And, like a stalker, we took a photo of it!

For more details on the bag, please visit the link in the bio and search for ‘Mini Tote.’

We have a winner!

Congratulations to for receiving the most likes in the Name The Bag Challenge.

The name of the bag is LEDA.

Leda is named after the Spartan Queen, known for being beautiful, simple, and practical! How wonderful is this?!

This is a twin set available in Black and Green.

For more details on the bag, please visit the link in the bio and search for ‘The Leda Bag.’

Once again, congratulations to for winning yourself a makeup bag worth RM60! We will DM you for your details.

And thank you to those who participated in our mini challenge!

Good news!! We are raring to launch some fantastic new bags this May! To celebrate, we have a little challenge for you: a “Name The Bag” competition!

We’re always trying to come up with bag names and sometimes it can be tricky! So we’re thinking this is definitely something The Bag Bar community will be up for. If your bag name is creative and suits the bag, you stand a chance to win a Make Up Bag worth RM60!

Let’s go! Get cracking with them names guys! Let’s make this the most stylish naming party ever!

Condition:

Only ONE name per participant.

The challenge is until Saturday, 11th May 2024 and the winner will be announced on Sunday, 12th May 2024.

Light up your spring with style! Enjoy 25% off on all lamp shades.

Illuminate your space with our vibrant lamp shades at a discounted price!

Hurry, this offer won’t last long, until midnight of 30th April only!

Valid for KK customers only.

To purchase, visit our online shop. The link is in our bio.

Light up your spring with style! Enjoy 25% off on all lamp shades.

Illuminate your space with our vibrant lamp shades at a discounted price!

Hurry, this offer won’t last long, until midnight of 30th April only!

Valid for KK customers only.

To purchase, visit our online shop. The link is in our bio.

Our recently launched Orla Bag (Retro Series).

Those who have joined in the poll, we thank you!

To purchase, visit our online shop. The link is in our bio.

After the last sling bag we tested out with the Giant Stem Orla oilcloth, we were so pleased with it we immediately cut out an entire series containing all the colours. Can just see them now in my mind’s eye, all lined up in a row, just being cute. 😍😍😍

But for now, there’s only the light blue and mustard ones done. They’re coordinated with these amazing linen cottons featuring mushrooms. The colourways were just perfect for the blue and mustard.

On to the next ones, coming up! We’ll have a total of 6 in this series!

The Orla oilcloths are so pretty and versatile we made the black one into a style we have been meaning to try for a while now.

Inspired by Noodlehead’s Oxbow Tote, a pattern that’s very popular and has popped up so constantly on our feed that we just had to try it. Didn’t purchase it though ( let’s be honest, the RM hasn’t been stellar lately🫣), just made our own dimensions and added in leather finishes as cherries on top. It’s such a staple and simple style that’s a joy to make, it’s easy to see why it’s so beloved.

Great as a work tote and fits a 16” laptop. Why get stuck with a boring black work bag hey?

This style is still a work in progress!

A stitch in time saves nine.

This hand-stitching process has always been a passion for one of us at The Bag Bar. It started during one winter in 2005 when, instead of going out to sit in a bar or start a hobby, it was decided that the latter was a better option than drinking in the bar. However, other events in life intervened, so the process was put on the back burner until recently. During a brainstorming session for our next bag collection, one of us decided to revive the hand-stitch project.

And so it begins...

Look what just arrived from the UK!

A selection of oil cloths by Orla Kiely.

What’s cooking? Something blue…

Reunion Dinner-themed placemats at your reunion dinner this Chinese New Year? So ‘on point’! ❤️🧧😁

We have just put two sets of placemats in the online shop. Only available online. We hope you like them.

** There’s been a slight mishap with the photo we took for the Lucky Bag ‘Card Game’ pattern, so we had to take the post down. Oops!**

Our Lucky Bag reminds us of a 钱袋💰💰💰. This time, it comes with the CNY theme, and a mauve pink interior to brighten up your new year, ONG ah!

A collaboration with allows us the whole suite of Chinese New Year-themed fabric featuring Card Game, Mahjong Tiles, Year of The Dragon and our favourite, the Reunion Dinner.

Pix 1 : Lucky Bag ‘Dragon’ pattern in honor of the Year of the Dragon.

Pix 2 : Lucky Bag ‘Reunion Dinner’ pattern depicting a reunion dinner of family members from near and far, usually celebrated the night before Chinese New Year.

Pix 3 : Lucky Bag ‘Card Game’ pattern brings back fond memories of families getting together for Chinese New Year, eating, exchanging ang paos, and then trying to bankrupt each other in card games! 😁

Pix 4 : Lucky Bag ‘Mahjong Tiles’ pattern – what is Chinese New Year without a little bit of mahjong? This is to keep the aunties and uncles entertained and earn back that ang paos money they’ve given away. 😁”

We also added a little extra with the ‘Prosperity Knot’ and dice charm, just to wish you plenty of abundance in the new year!

Made some fabric Ang Pows for a food shoot and they turned out a treat. Quite adorable no?! I think I’ll call them Fab Pows. 😂

Our Chinese New Year Collection is launched today!

When it comes to Chinese New Year, we’ve always skirted, nay, danced explicitly around the idea of ‘Money Money Money’. From the ubiquitous wishes ( 恭喜发财）to our Ang Pow ( money packets 🧧) emblazoned with 福. We even hope to gamble in some of that good fortune into the card games we play. Even the most monochromatic-inclined of us will entertain the idea of wearing red. Tis’ the season to be hopefully abundant!

We are baking that abundance into our bags for you. The CNY Collection uses very ‘Ong’ fabric from Santan Studio with their CNY-centric colour palette, illustrations of Reunion Dinner and Card Games.

Added with charms made of dice, knotted in with the Auspicious Knot （ 吉祥结）, we are making sure you go into the new year with as much hope of abundance in the Year of The Dragon!

Introducing our Lucky Bag, Ang Pow-ch and the Dice Drawstring Bag.

Available now exclusively at Limau & Linen Restaurant in Kota Kinabalu and online.

We are offering up this pastel pink floral Orla Tote with a 20% discount as our sample sale!

With canvas fabric both as facing and lining and one internal pocket, it’s the same size as our regular Orla, just without the leather magnetic snap closure and heavier interlining.

Discount applies automatically in the shopping cart on our website, link in bio.

When in London.. if you casually walk into John Lewis, you might find yourself magically pulled into the fabric section. 😘

Sometimes we do get these absolute gems in the pile of upholstery offcuts. Ikat motifs!!! In linen too.

We were going to have 12 bags in our series of The Big Bags but alas, 1 got left behind because we ran out of rivets.

So instead, we had 11 in the lot that debuted at Jesselton Artisan Market and we were so happy all of them were snapped up!

Fear not, No. 12 has now been caught up and it is now newly listed in our online shop, simply as The Big Bag #12.

Thank you to all of our customers who fell in love with the upholstery fabrics. We had no idea this series would receive such a warm welcome. We would hope to add more to the series as soon as we find more upholstery fabrics.

The Tamu Tote was so popular the last time that we made 6 more. Centred around the theme of zoo animals, this collection did well at Jesselton Artisan Market as well. Only 2 available, head on over to our online shop, link in bio.

Another of our new style is The Orla, named after our mutual bag maven Orla Kiely. Inspired by her eponymous line of oilcloth bags, this shape reminds us of Irish quirkiness and genius bag construction. She’s the inspiration behind Sue and I starting The Bag Bar in 2009.

There are 6 pcs in this style, debuted at .

Another new style The Bag Bar debuted at Jesselton Artisan Market Christmas Edition happening this weekend, is the Janice Tote. This series has 6 bags, in multiple colours of a cotton linen retro print, and a set of twins in an Echino canvas.

The retro ones were sold yesterday at the market! But the Echino ones are still available for today.

The Bag Bar will be debuting 6 new styles at Jesselton Artisan Market Christmas Edition this weekend. We can’t wait to show you the series called The Big Bag ( hmmm, TBB? ). It was borne out of a collaboration with one of KK’s soft furnishing companies.

Soft furnishing companies often have a lot of offcuts from curtain and upholstery jobs. Instead of accepting these to go to landfill, TBB works with Peridot Home Sdn Bhd. to create bigger and heavier weight bags. The fabrics are mostly imported upholstery fabrics from reputable brands such as Harlequin, Fabricut, Acacia and Magitex, and beautifully weighted.

The Bag Bar spent time holding workshops with the good folks at Peridot, teaching new skills in bagmaking. You can see some of Peridot Home’s creations as part of our Big Bag series. Made by our students, they are accented with leather handles and they are our biggest bags yet. And fully REVERSIBLE!

Each piece is a one-off. No repeats. Come see the entire series at Jesselton Artisan Market happening 9-10 December 2023 at Riverson’s The Walk.

This is how we come up with some of our bag ideas. Put fabric on the head and see what design comes up.

Thanks to all who voted in our ‘community design’! The black version won out. However, the white version is now available on our online store. Link in our bio.

Made a lampshade with a ducky print we got from a trip to New Zealand. There was also an owl, and a pheasant print too! Fell in love with the ducky print at first sight because it reminded of the ducks just going about their business on Lake Dunstan on a cold winter morning.

Love how it turned out with a shallower shade. And what better way but to have a velvet edge accent as well?

Which colour base stand suits it better, an on-point black one or a dependable white one? Take our poll in our Story!

“THE BAG BAR ( 2012 ) just b4 my ( late )Mum fell ill..it was one of her fave bag, she wouldn't put that Durian into it because she said it's only meant for 'feminine' stuff 🤭💚”

A friend sent us this picture today with the above caption. We made the bag in 2012, and he bought it for his mother. What a sweet memory of his late mother. It's always nice to know that our bags have withstood the test of time. Thank you Uncle Boi for sharing the photo with us.