Sarah Reay lives in West Lothian, is passionate about environmental sustainability, and specialises in making beautiful handbags from waste material.

She began in the time-honoured tradition of making a quilt from the silk offcuts from her bridesmaids’ dresses. From there she progressed to large bespoke wall-hangings, embroidered pictures, scarves and cushion covers.

Sarah made her first bag while on holiday in 2006 (Yes, she does take her sewing machine away on holiday!). A year later she had made dozens of bags and Black Dog Textiles the business was born.

Sarah says: “The best thing about bag making is that I can put even the smallest scraps of material to good use. I love it that forgotten, potentially useless pieces of fabric can be made into something so beautiful and functional.

Above all I want to make bags that people love owning from fabric that might otherwise have gone to waste.”

The material she uses comes from a variety of sources; remnant bins, charity shops and from redundant sample books. Her designs are inspired by patterns and textures of the waste material she collects.