Thornbury woman has taste for making purses
Thornbury, PA — Spoon-feeding the seemingly insatiable female desire for unique fashion accessories, a retired teacher and her friend are designing and selling purses whose handles are made of stainless steel spoons.
Shirley Rozelle, who taught special education classes in North Jersey, first started making rectangular fabric purses with stainless steel forks, riveted together, for handles.
Toni Law, her friend and a Thornbury resident, took one look at the design and believed that Rozelle had a winning idea, with one crucial change.
Law suggested that Rozelle make the handles out of spoons instead. (Tines of the fork kept catching on sweaters and other delicate clothing.)
Rozelle and Law formed Metal Works Designs in November 2007 to manufacture and market their Spoon Purses, available online at MetalWorksDesigns.com for $30 plus shipping. (Rozelle owns one-third of the company and Law, two-thirds.)
“I had seen various creations using flatware,” Rozelle said — among them wind chimes, spoon rings and bracelets.
“In ancient times, the spoon was a symbol of love. A nobleman would give the woman he loved a spoon as a symbol of his devotion. I decided to combine my fetish for purses with this ancient belief.”
The pair found a Chinese manufacturer through a U.S. trade representative. Samples cost $200 each to make plus $100 to ship, the 37-year-old Law recalled during an interview. “Selecting the fabrics was exhausting because we got 100 different samples,” she said. “It was dizzying.”
