Cley is a hybrid between the satchels of the wartime years and vintage bags fishermen would have used
My best-selling pattern by far is a messenger – or crossbody – style, a traditional satchel shape, like the ones we had at school but with a Charlie’s Aunt asymmetrical twist. I am talking about the Brancaster Messenger Bag which seems to have hit the right note in terms of shape, size and classic design.
So, many months back, I started work on two more bags based on the same sort of shape. The Edingthorpe Bag – with its more classic symmetrical styling – and now my latest design, the Cley Messenger Bag.
Why ‘Cley’ Messenger Bag?
The bag is named after Cley next the Sea, one of those idyllic looking villages on the north Norfolk coast. It is awash with brick-and-flint cottages, handsome properties with Flemish gables from when it was one of England’s busiest trading ports, plus the iconic and much photographed Cley windmill. Nowadays, the village’s internationally renowned nature reserve with lagoons, marshland and reedbeds make it a haven for wildlife – and bird-watchers (twitchers).
Inspiration for the bag
Crossbody bags were the original ‘utility’ bags and were used by all manner of professions from soldiers to fishermen, lumberjacks to postmen. Anyone who needed to store or carry the ‘tools’ of their trade. I like to think of Cley as a very useful hybrid between the messenger bags/satchels of the war years and the bags you might have seen fishermen utilising many moons ago. It has that perfect blend of practicality but a lot of functional style about it too.
I’ve made the sample bags up in a lovely mix of English wool plaid tweeds, with herringbone weaves for the pockets. The palette I chose was greens, blues and rust to match my chosen background for the photoshoot (more on this below). My favourite bit of this pattern is the flourish of evenly spaced buttons on the flap and pocket. It took a while to get the placement of the pocket and snaps spot on but now I’ve hopefully made it easy to follow, you should find it a satisfying sew. Having taken on board what some customers have requested, the snap is placed on the pocket before the bag is assembled (rather than adding it at the end), so the only thing to ensure is that you stitch the pocket in exactly the right place, following the guide marks on the pattern templates.
The photoshoot location
The pictures for the new Cley Messenger Bag were taken alongside part of the Dilham canal in north Norfolk, next to the former Ebridge flour mill and pond. Although the building has now been converted into residential properties, it still bears the signage of Cubbitt & Walker Ltd who ran the mill from 1869 – 1998. It’s such a tranquil location and somewhere I’ve long wanted to photograph. I’m really pleased with the way the pictures have come out – the colours of the bags seem to blend in with the surroundings so well. Jim (Charlie’s Uncle) did a great job despite my reluctance to ‘perch’ on the very wet lock bridge!
The bag itself
Cley is stylish and practical, and can be made in a variety of fabrics, with a contrasting pocket and/or strap. I’ve made one sample with a self-fabric strap and used a leather strap for the other. Cley features the Charlie’s Aunt signature asymmetrical styling on the flap and front pocket. Inside there is a zippered pocket, and the exterior pocket doubles as an interior patch pocket, so you have a choice or can add one of each.
Purchase the Cley Messenger Bag or any of our other crossbody bags in the Charlie’s Aunt Etsy shop or email Emma for more details.
