Good Water and Co. began as the brain child of Sami and morphed into a daughter-mother adventure. Sami has had a knack for sewing interesting colors and patterns together to make something new ever since she discovered her mom’s fabric stash. This led to her getting her first vintage child’s sewing machine. She has since added to that collection with a number of Singer Featherweight and Wilcox and Gibbs machines. Her love of sewing is matched only by her passion for vintage needlework. She is a self taught fiber artist, and has never met a bag she hasn’t admired. Her passion for sewing, embroidery and appliqué has led her to create unique, funky and innovative project totes, pouches and and accessories for fiber art enthusiasts. In keeping with the traditions of the arts and crafts movement, Sami is always striving to create pieces that add joy and color to everyday life using simple patterns and designs inspired by vintage designs and brought to life with traditional techniques. We use historical natural dyes and dye processes to create a range of colors that are colorfast and lightfast. We believe that not only does a bag have to be a statement piece, but it has to be functional and crafted from materials that have a low environmental impact. Sami’s keen eye for design and meticulous attention to detail is what makes her bags so unique. All of the bags and accessories are made in small batches, Most of our bags are constructed from linen we botanical dye or waxed cotton from responsibly sourced cotton and low impact manufacturing. You can usually find one of us in a workshop working on a new design, playing with fabric combinations, naturally dying linen or, lately, block printing and stamping our own designs on linen fabric. Of late, we have begun to use our botanically dyed linen to create traditional quilt patterns as the basis for some of our bags. We always have the help of one or more of our adopted shelter pets! The shelves of our workshop are filled with fabrics, wool felt, upcycled trims and buttons, vintage quilt books, fifteen hundred vintage fashion and needlework magazines, botanical inks, stamps, stencils and interesting items we come across to add uniqueness to our bags. The design wall is covered with sticky notes of new ideas, patterns and prototypes. Another wall is filled with embroidery floss of all kinds and colors and thread, lots of thread. When the weather is nice you can find us on the porch often lost in the rhythm of hand stitching. If you happen to drive by on a nice day you might see some of our natural dyed linen blowing in the wind to dry. Based in central Pennsylvania, each Good Water and Co. bag is handcrafted by us from start to finish in State College. Our bags are an antidote to mass production relying on simple clean designs that are visually interesting. They are meant for everyday use and aimed at makers looking for something unique. We botanically dye linen to create one of a kind fabrics. Once sewn, our bags are then hand-embroidered or appliquéd to give them a bold, energetic and contemporary feel. Each of our bags has a unique character and no two are exactly alike. The focus material that we use is 100% quilter’s grade cotton or linen, which means that the designs are sharp and don’t fade over time. The felt we use on some of our bags is genuine wool felt and much of our embroidery floss is botanically dyed by another small fiber artist. We source our waxed canvas from Halley Stevensons, who have pioneered waxed cotton and weatherproofed fabrics since 1864 and who pride themselves on “responsibly sourced cotton and low impact manufacturing.” The waxes then use are fully biodegradable and inflict minimal environmental impact. Our embroidery designs are inspired by needlework patterns from vintage fashion magazines from the late 1800’s to the 1940’s and the world around us. We aim to minimize waste and choose sustainable, eco friendly materials.. The closures we chose are likewise upcycled or vintage buttons whenever possible. Our packaging is bio degradable and the tags on our linen bags are printed on plantable paper. We are regularly asked how we got the name Good Water&Co. The answer is simple: Sami has an affinity for 1930s aesthetics. Hobo code is a big part of that time. She liked the symbol for good water, and alas it became our logo and the name of her company.