In Bay Shore, on Long Island, a love of creating has grown into a small handmade business. Loretta Fay DeGregoria is a mother who loves to design, and she has built that passion into a line of handcrafted handbags. For her, the work is more than a product, because she says she puts her own personality into each bag she makes, treating every piece as something personal rather than just an item to sell.
The craft itself is hands on from start to finish. She works with different fabrics, colors and patterns, and she handcrafts each bag herself rather than mass producing them. That attention means no two creations are quite the same, and the variety of materials she chooses gives her room to keep experimenting with new looks for the people who buy her work.
Her range covers a wide spread of styles. She makes all different types of handbags, from wristlets to crossbody bags to totes, so there is something for different needs and occasions. Among all of them, the Long Island tote has emerged as a hot seller, becoming one of the standout pieces that customers keep coming back for.
Behind the business is a personal source of calm. She describes sewing as her therapy, and she spends a lot of time at her machine. To make room for the work, she turned her two car garage into a dedicated sewing room, creating a space at home where she can focus entirely on designing and stitching her bags.
Getting the bags to customers has taken her to a mix of places. She has sold them at the Long Island Welcome Center, putting her work in front of visitors to the area. Beyond that, her handbags can be found online and at local farmers markets, where she connects directly with the people in her community who buy them.
The roots of the hobby reach back to her own childhood. She learned how to sew at a young age, and over time she got her children into it as well. What began as a personal skill has turned into something the family does together, passing the craft from one generation to the next within her own home.
For DeGregoria, that shared time is part of what makes the work meaningful. She enjoys working alongside her sons, and she points out that the hobby gives her something many parents miss, the chance to regularly see her grown children. Calling it a pleasant addition to her life, she says she wants to keep going stitch by stitch, continuing to build her handmade bags together with her family.