It all starts with a cut
A fabric does not enter the studio because it is available, but because it makes you want to touch it. In practice that means cuts bought one at a time, often roll ends or Japanese imports, with limited yardage and no guarantee of restock.
A three metre cut yields eight pouches. That constraint defines the run size, not the other way round.
1. Washing the fabric (2 hours)
Before anything else, the fabric goes through the machine and the iron. Cotton shrinks by 3 to 5 % on its first wash: shrinking it before cutting stops a perfectly fitted pouch deforming the first time you care for it.
It is the dullest and the most essential step.
2. Pressing and interfacing (30 minutes)
The fabric is pressed flat, then fusible interfacing is applied with the iron, piece by piece. Without it, a quilted pouch has no structure and creases inside a bag.
3. Cutting (45 minutes for a run)
Cardboard templates are laid on the fabric, looking for the best print placement. A good part of the final result is decided here: a motif cut through the middle of an element ruins a whole piece.
Across a run of eight, the placement shifts slightly from one piece to the next. That is why two pouches of the same model are never quite identical.
4. Quilting (1 hour per piece)
For quilted models, the wadding is sandwiched between the outer fabric and a thin backing, then stitched in even diamonds, line by line.
It is the longest step and the one you do not see. It gives that bouncy softness you feel immediately under your fingers.
5. Setting the zip (25 minutes)
The zip is placed between two layers of fabric, pinned, sewn, then topstitched along its whole length. Both ends receive a small folded fabric tab: the reinforcement that keeps the zip from tearing out when you open it sharply.
6. Assembly and lining (40 minutes)
The outer shell and the lining are sewn separately, then nested right sides together and turned through an opening left in the lining. That opening is then closed by hand with an invisible stitch.
It is the only moment when the machine is set aside.
7. Finishings (20 minutes)
Threads trimmed, corners reshaped with a point turner, bottom seam pressed, woven label set into the side seam, and hand numbering for limited editions.
8. Check and packing (10 minutes)
Every piece is opened, turned inside out, inspected inside and out. A pouch with a wavy seam does not ship: it stays in the studio or becomes a test piece.
Packing is done in tissue paper, with a handwritten note.
The total
Between 3 and 4 hours for a quilted pouch, fabric washing included. That time, and nothing else, is what explains the price gap with a pouch that leaves a factory in minutes.
What it changes for you
A piece sewn one at a time can be reworked, modified, adapted. A raised hem, an added pocket, a fabric you supply: none of that is possible on an industrial line, and all of it is possible here.
That is also why custom pieces exist: the process is exactly the same, except the fabric is chosen by you.