Joanna Umpleby — owner and maker of Umpie Handbags.

I grew up on a Yorkshire farm, spending summers at the side of my gran, Mabel Hobday — a seamstress with patient hands and an eye for detail. We started with dolls' dresses, then mini skirts in the 1970s, and somewhere in those hours of cutting and stitching, a lifelong passion took hold.

I went to art school, then to London — and in 1982 I joined one of the country's leading handbag companies, working my way up over twenty years to become their Design Director. Handbags were always my thing. But Yorkshire never really let me go.

Now I'm back home. Back in Northallerton, back to my roots — and for the first time in my life, making bags entirely on my own terms. Every Umpie bag carries all of that with it. Gran Mabel's craft, decades of professional design expertise, and the quiet confidence of someone who knows exactly who she is and what she makes.

These aren't mass-produced accessories. They are handcrafted pieces with a story — made in Yorkshire, made to last, made to be loved.

The fabrics I choose are as individual as the bags themselves — William Morris Victorian botanicals, authentic Kilim prints, luxurious metallics. I source them because they stop me in my tracks. You won't find these designs anywhere else, and once a fabric is gone, it's gone. Every piece is one of a kind.

Browse my complete collection of handmade bags to discover your perfect style, or explore my William Morris Handbags — iconic Arts & Crafts prints, individually made in my Yorkshire studio.

This is Umpie. And it's been a long time coming.

— Joanna