Trueline™ | Handmade Soft Traveler Bag

Paws in the grass, nose up, ready for anywhere

Front and center on this cream-quilted duffle sits a black-and-white Shih Tzu puppy rendered in extraordinary layered appliqué — ink-dark fur patched against bright white, a round charcoal nose, and two soft white paws resting in a strip of green quilted grass dotted with tiny yellow wildflowers. Scattered across the ivory background are hand-appliquéd paw prints in terracotta orange, slate blue, and sage green, each one individually padded and stitched. The handles are wrapped in a delicate floral cotton braid with a thin chocolate-brown cord running the spine. Claire and Riley found this piece and knew immediately it belonged in the shop their mother Margaret opened here in Cape May back in 1978 — the kind of thing she would have put straight in the window.

• Layered Puppy Appliqué — The Shih Tzu's face is built up in multiple fabric layers so the black-and-white fur has real depth and dimension you can see from across the room.
• Details — 19" × 9" × 9", roomy enough for a long weekend and soft enough to squash into a car boot.
• Colorful Paw Print Scatter — Individual terracotta, slate blue, and sage green paw prints are appliquéd and lightly padded across the cream quilted body, so no two sides of the bag look the same.
• Floral-Wrapped Handles — The double top handles are covered in a small-print floral cotton and edged with a twisted brown cord that ties the whole earthy palette together.
• The Last of This Run — We took what the workshop had left. Once these are gone we will not be getting them again.
• Looking After Her — Spot clean with a soft damp cloth and let her air dry. No tumble dryer — it flattens the quilting.

Picture sliding this onto the baggage carousel in a sea of black rollerbags — the Shih Tzu peeking out from the quilted cream canvas, and the woman behind you leaning in to get a closer look.

⚠ Because every bag is made by hand, small differences in colour, stitching and placement will happen. That is not a fault — it is the proof a person made it.

This is not the cheapest bag you'll find, and we won't pretend otherwise — the hand-appliqué work alone takes real time and skill. It's for the woman who has a dog she loves, an eye for craft, and no interest in carrying the same bag as everyone else.

“We put it on the counter and our dog people just lit up.” — Claire & Riley, Cape May