Marie Wiggins Crafts Unique Bags and Clutches

Marie Wiggins’ large home in Sunapee Harbor serves as an art gallery in the summer and her studio workshop year-round. She works alone, creating functional stitched items, including handbags, from a pile of new and upscale fabrics with just enough production to satisfy her creativity and a few galleries.

A longtime League of New Hampshire Craftsmen member, Wiggins usually displays in the Living With Crafts exhibition. “I haven’t had a booth for years, but I usually demonstrate at the fair. It’s contemplative work, and really I enjoy working at home and also sharing the joy of working with one’s hands.”

Wiggins prefers to stitch with her vintage, refurbished Singer that has been electrified. But it’s the handwork that she relishes the most. “Most people do machine embroidery these days, but hand-stitches really make my pieces unique; people recognize my work,” she adds.

Each of her bags come alive with a mixture of fabrics. Fine cottons, deep velvets, soft satins and shiny rayons are combined for a rich, Victorian quilt look. Her clutches and other bags, with accommodations for iPhones, run the gamut of sizes, colors and design with no two looking alike. The addition of unique buttons and beadwork add the candy to her creations.

Find her work at League of NH Craftsmen shops in North Conway, Meredith and Nashua.