VinAlly

Before VinAlly, I worked 12 years in the Canadian Oilpatch, using my geology degree to do quality control analysis on geological databases for information service companies. I left that to raise my children. When my kids were still small, I started taking night classes towards a Certificate in Visual Design from the University of Calgary.   It took me nearly a decade to complete as family schedules, and my own chronic illness of fibromyalgia made it difficult to attend evening classes.

I first got involved recycling billboards when I wanted to find an inexpensive cover for our bicycles because I didn't have access to our garage. Also, I wanted to have something to show for the certificate  that I just earned.  So, I thought I'd start a small business. I found one of the larger billboard companies had a billboard from their "toss list" that I could have. The first thing I made was a shopping bag, and I am still using that bag today, as backlit tarps are extremely durable. 

The shopping bag was successful and I wondered, "What else could be made with it?" Turns out, a lot of stuff. I thought that I would write a blog about my experiments, My blog is a how-to on how to recycle the material. Vinally.blogspot.com. I learned that this material can't be recycled conventionally. At this point It either covers hay bales or goes into the landfill. Billboards have such great attributes. waterproof, durable and fade-proof. An ideal material for wallets and soap bags!

I started cutting with a hand-held Fiskars cutter that I could drag over the billboards. Then I purchased an automated cutter and software which would help me to cut more neatly, faster, and repeatably. 

One of the products I thought might be useful would be a travel container for soap. Anyway, I knew from being on Etsy that handmade soaps need lots of air so they don't get mushy.  So my design needed to have a way to dry the soap before storing it. My husband suggested a fold out mesh flap that hangs down from the inside of the bag. Thank you, dearest.

I started experimenting with drying meshes from the produce section of the grocery store, and laundry bag mesh from the dollar store. At that time I used three different machines to put them together: domestic sewing machine, a 1948 Singer, and a serger.  The early closure was a zipper and had piping in the seams! I then determined to try and find a more efficient way to manufacture them.  The idea came to me to cut the drying mesh into the billboard vinyl itself instead of having a separate mesh material. Make the machine cutter do the grunt work. The mesh could have lots of design possibilities to go with the style of the font I used, or with the pattern of the tarp.

My first design was on white tarp. I decided to bevel the edges on a whim to depart from a square shape. Suddenly that bag shape reminded me of my mom's white handbag from the 60s. So it called out for a matching retro font like on Simpson's Sears stores.  Also, the 60s was the era of the decorative concrete divider wall. I decided to copy that pattern for the mesh.  Now I had a Mid Century Modern mini handbag for soap. Style and function together! Now I have several files of different meshes patterns that I can use for soap totes, and for notebook covers.

I heard a good quote that said you'll make a lot of crap before you start making something good. I agree with that as I look back on my earlier iterations of the soap tote, and I am proud of the soap tote product.