Etsy's Handmade Blog
Handmade Portraits: Reiter8
Story by reiter8, weirdwolf
Published on April 11, 2008 in This Handmade Life

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(music by Jukeboxer, Lineland)

Katherine Rasmussen of Reiter8 takes sailboat sails, that would otherwise sit the dump for thousands of years, and has created a line of bags and pillows with the upcycled materials. The idea came to Katherine during a trip to visit her family in Maine. She wound up collecting sails all along the east coast during her drive back to New York City.

 

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Tags eco, etsy, handmade, Handmade Video Portraits, Jukeboxer, Lineland, reiter8, sail, sailboat, Tara Young, THIS HANDMADE LIFE, upcycle, upcycling, video, weirdwolf
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44 comments     Login to add your own!

April 11, 2008 at 6:36 p.m. Itybitybags

Wow! What a wonderful video portrait! I am now in love with her bags! What a unique and beautiful piece of everyday art!

April 11, 2008 at 6:44 p.m. weirdwolf

Katherine your my upcycling inspiration! I love your fantastic use of unusual materials. Thanks for sharing your story and opening our eyes to the resources all around us.

April 11, 2008 at 8:27 p.m. nydampress

So beyond fantastic!

p.s. The handmade portraits are by far my favorite feature of the Storque. Keep 'em coming!

April 11, 2008 at 10:58 p.m. bittystarr

this is like seabags.com!

April 11, 2008 at 11:09 p.m. PickalaPoopa

Such a nice story, handmade portraits are great. Liked seeing the dutiful mate helping when needed. And an artist helping the environment.

April 12, 2008 at 8:59 a.m. 1ofmykind

Wow...just WOW. Fabulous story, gorgeous product and just can't wait to see more of these handmade portraits...especially those involving environmentally friendly vendors.
Best wishes reiter8!

April 12, 2008 at 11:21 a.m. DinnerTimeChimes

This is great! Love seeing the faces and workspaces behind the stores on the EcoEtsy team

April 12, 2008 at 2:04 p.m. cloud9designstudio

Awesome video and article! I love to see The Storque highlighting eco-friendly etsy sellers! You can search "teamecoetsy" to find more likeminded sellers! :)

April 12, 2008 at 6:10 p.m. pouch

love this article, congrats!
It's a good job you have such a lovely big room to work in :)

April 12, 2008 at 6:20 p.m. LoucheLab

This is such a cool video and it's awesome to see other people at work - thanks so much - Tara, you rock!

April 13, 2008 at 9:44 a.m. reiter8

Thanks, Tara for your wonderful video magic!
Thanks, Etsy for shining the light on upcycling!

Would love to hear from other upcycler - recyclers!

Also check out the Storques new featured column Earth Tones: http://www.etsy.com/storque/section/e...

April 13, 2008 at 10:16 a.m. spittingimage

I think that is amazing and I am quite impressed. This is definately a case where upcycling is used at it's maximum potential. Reiter8 - good name too! Way to turn waste into beauty.

April 13, 2008 at 6:28 p.m. youmeyou

So inspiring.....Thank you for sharing!!...xo

April 13, 2008 at 7 p.m. bobnstitch

All of these videos are wonderful!!!

April 13, 2008 at 7:55 p.m. daniellexo

Great work!

April 21, 2008 at 3:35 p.m. missbatch

What a great piece, thanks for sharing!

May 27, 2008 at 11:55 a.m. zJayne

Absolutely, positively enjoyed this piece. Thank you so much for sharing! Love your bags...especially number 5's!

Best,
zJayne

Jan. 11, 2009 at 10:45 a.m. beachyrustica

Wonderful work and video! Thanks for being a part of JustBeachy Team!

March 24, 2009 at 4:52 p.m. BululuStudio

I looooooooooove this shop

March 24, 2009 at 6:01 p.m. ruthely

Is amazing how the lives of people like us (hand made) are so alike. I live it. is like a big family.

March 24, 2009 at 6:26 p.m. judemcconkey

Actually very inspiring! Excellent to watch and read about.

March 24, 2009 at 7:33 p.m. sudiosu

Great video, love the shop, too!

March 25, 2009 at 2:25 a.m. parltradet

Nice portrait. Inspiring work. Great idea to make such good-looking and probably durable bags made out of used sails. Both practical and eye-catching! Congratulations Reiter8! (You make me want to start a shop for sewn products. Maybe I will.)

March 25, 2009 at 3:53 p.m. AmyJaneClayAddict

Reiter8...your work is inspiring! Thank you for educating alittle on recycling vs upcycling! Fab bags...keep it up!

March 25, 2009 at 8:31 p.m. baconsquarefarm

Wow, what a great story, so inspiring too~! Enjoyed the video as well, continued success with your shop too~! Love your bags & shop~!~!

March 26, 2009 at 3:39 a.m. MyArtShoppe

Wow, What an inspiring story! I grew up in Maine! I love Maine ,I love boats, what a cool idea this is!

March 26, 2009 at 8:55 p.m. MyJunkyTrunk

Really amazing work!!!

March 29, 2009 at 7:25 p.m. gutsche

Where on earth do you get used sails?

March 29, 2009 at 7:31 p.m. Fishstikks

That is truly fantastic!! What a great story!

March 30, 2009 at 11:10 a.m. reiter8

I get a lot of my sails through my donation program:
Donate a sail and get a free tote made from your sail in return. :)

March 30, 2009 at 1:08 p.m. orangepoppy

awesome!

March 30, 2009 at 5:18 p.m. ZuzusPetalsCreations

Such an inspiring story! Love your bags and the video! Makes me want to sew!

March 30, 2009 at 10:38 p.m. leuckit

Hip, Hip, Hooray for upcycling!!!

March 31, 2009 at 1:21 p.m. Emburr

That is fantastic. It warms my heart to hear a story like this one. Hoorah for recycling.

April 1, 2009 at 2:41 p.m. woolhug

So impressed how she use the material beautifully!

April 3, 2009 at 3:22 p.m. sewsillydesigns

I had alreay hearted your shop, my daughter and I love your bags, they are awesome! Thanks for sharing your video, it was interesting!

April 5, 2009 at 8:57 p.m. jodieflowers

Awesome shop!

April 6, 2009 at 9:30 a.m. SleepDreamPlay

i fell in love with this shop the first time i saw it.
She has just absolutely great products

April 6, 2009 at 11:47 a.m. PDXfabricdeli

Totally inspirational - thanks for sharing.

April 6, 2009 at 4 p.m. cicadastudio

Utterly fabulous!

April 6, 2009 at 4:10 p.m. whimsyandspice

yay! I love our flea-mates and Brooklynites, Reiter 8!

April 7, 2009 at 12:43 a.m. Artdefleur

Love your bags!

April 7, 2009 at 4:57 a.m. saraaires

Great video! Upcycling seems perfect, how could we let these wonderful materials waisted outhere? Lovelly basement too, so much light!

April 11, 2009 at 1:57 p.m. JuliaMichell

Really interesting to listen to how someone has made it work, thank you very much.

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