Many successful businesses are based on the principle of filling a perceived gap in the market.

Farmer’s wife Lucy Robertson of Galalaw, Kelso, saw a gap which her seven-year-old daughter filled with plastic carrier bags.

“Jeannie seemed to be constantly trailing her belongings around in plastic carriers. It wasn’t a good look and I decided she needed something tidier, so I made a bag for her out of fabric.”

Lucy had indeed hit upon a gap in the market; another mum admired Jeanie’s bag and asked Lucy to make one for her own daughter. Having made the second bag, Lucy soon had the bit between her teeth, made a few more and took them to a shop in Kelso where the shopkeeper was delighted to stock ‘Jeanie Bags’.

The bags went down a treat with customers and the stock was soon having to be topped up on a weekly basis. When that business closed down, Lucy found an outlet through Tweedside Tackle in Kelso.

It may be no surprise that Jeanie Bags were instantly successful. In her 20s, Lucy trained as a saddler at Cordwainers’ College in London and worked for the Queen’s harness maker, in Oxfordshire, looking after the driving harnesses for the carriages and coaches in the Royal Mews.

“We stripped off the brass buckles and emblems and replaced the leather. It was lovely to work with such beautiful harness,” she said.

Years later, living in the Borders, Lucy worked from home making soft furnishings. When she turned her attention to making bags, she had the flair, the experience and the equipment needed to turn out attractive, high quality bags for dressy occasions or practical, everyday use.

After a time selling through shops, Lucy realised she was giving away a substantial share of her profit and looked around for other ways of selling. The craft fair route was the obvious first step and that got the direct sales ball rolling. Now, Lucy is a member of an innovative co-operative craft venture. Melrose based The Crafters had been trading for seven years when Lucy joined 12 other craft workers five years ago. The group runs a shop in Melrose, staffed by members whose work includes jewellery, glass, illustrations, name plates, salt dough, pottery, children’s clothing, baby blankets, scarves, knitted accessories and ladies wear.

The Crafters co-op holds its own craft and design fair at Kelso showground at Springwood Park, in November. The two-day event, well timed for Christmas, is home to 50 stands, handpicked for quality.

In 2005, Lucy first exhibited at the Royal Highland Show and in 2006 received a silver award for her display in the Crafts from Scotland marquee.

Jeanie Bags come in five styles, from small evening bag to large day bag, carried on the hand or slung over the shoulder. “I try to create a new bag on a yearly basis – some work well and then the shape is repeated regularly, but I like to look for new shapes. If the new design doesn’t work at the first attempt, and if I have to fiddle about and change bits and pieces, the chances are that I’ll never be really happy with it.”

“I look around for inspiration, but something that works well in leather may not work in fabric, because of the seam allowances and the need to prevent cloth from fraying.

“I always have new fabrics for summer and again for winter, so that instantly changes the look of the range. When I go to a fair, my stand may have up to 200 bags and no two will be the same.”

Lucy sources her fabrics carefully, aiming to buy fabrics produced in Britain, preferably Scotland and often in the Borders.

“I look for quality materials; I put as much work into a bag whether it is a good or a bad fabric, but the good bag will last while one made with a poorer quality fabric will fall apart with continued use. All my bags have brass feet to keep the bottom of the bag cleaner. I try to source affordable fabrics, but in the past two years some prices have gone sky high.”

Ardlanish organic farm shop on Mull supplies Lucy with organic tweed to make bags for the shop. She also makes bags on commission for customers, if a suitable fabric can be found.

“I use Harris Tweed from Donald John MacKay in Luskentyre, on Harris, and I buy handwoven fabric produced in the Borders by Sue Fox, a lady with a loom in her garden workshop in Birgham, between Kelso and Coldstream. I love using fabric designed by a young couple, Brian and Anna Hinnigan, who trade in Selkirk.”

Lucy tries hard to balance the demands of her business with that of life as mother of Jeanie and 13-year-old Archie. “I stop work when the children are on holiday to spend time with them, and when school goes back, I can prepare for our Crafters’ Fair and a number of other charity fairs in autumn. I attend fairs from Inverness, where I have a very good clientele and always do good business, to Aberdeen, Perth and around Edinburgh. I meet a lot of the same ladies again at the Highland Show. It’s always nice to see customers coming back.”

For more information, go to www.thecrafters.co.uk