It all started last August, when I accepted an Arts feature assignment in Mansfield. I spent an hour or so with Michelyne, a talented designer and seamstress who makes original bags and other accessories. As we talked, I admired her stash of vintage fabrics (which I also love, but which I would never ever get around to actually using for anything) and the handbags she had cooked up from old skirts, remnants, random hardware and a bit of bling. They were functional, kicky, and really cute. Her signature feature? Pen pockets in every bag. The bags appeared to glow in a beam of heavenly light; how practical can you get? Michelyne’s creative way of combining prints and re-purposing existing items got my own wheels turning. And I definitely wanted one of her bags. I’m a writer, after all. I need pen pockets, don’t I? You bet I do.