Information
In a Nutshell
Cinnamon Cooper taught herself to sew on her Holly Hobby sewing machine when she was a wee lass. She made the cutest outfits for her cats and dolls. When she got older it took a while for her skills to catch up with her style. Eventually she realized that sewing handbags and totes was great fun because they didn't have to fit her hips or her waist. About the same time, she got huge urges to help save the world and began making and donating bags to raise money for non-profit organizations. The ego boosts she received from these sales, combined with an ever-increasing fabric stash, made her swallow her fear and create www.Poise.cc — a small handbag empire where politics are fashionable and where handbags are designed to suit your purse-onality.
Cinnamon Cooper is:
- more than 36-years-old.
- married to fabulous man. She prefers to call him her spouse instead of her husband.
- currently living in Chicago.
- happy to have two cats to cuddle with during Chicago winters: Boos and Bella alternate between loving her and loving that she feeds them.
- one of the original organizers of the DIY Trunk Show.
- delighted to share her love of food by writing a food column at Gapers Block. She loves the irony of writing recipes, since she never follows them herself. Her favorite recipe is still Whole Roast Chicken.
- thrilled to occasionally write about crafty reuse projects for Time Out Chicago.
- surprised that she started keeping a blog in June of 2001 and has kept up with it sense then. She's not normally so focused. Maybe turning 30 had something to do with it?
- one of the original REAL Hot 100.
- a maker of sturdy, cute, sweatshop-free, ethically produced, functional, real-life tested handbags, purses, totes, clutches, and more.
Poise.cc is:
- one of thousands of small business across the country that have sprung up since 2002 that focus on selling handmade items.
- named after the N'Awlins pronunciation of the word: purse. Cinnamon is grateful to the wonderful owners of Banana Courtyard for telling her this in 2002.
- a founding member of the Chicago Craft Mafia.
- proud to sew everything on a Juki TL-98E.
- or at least was, featured on HGTV's Crafters Coast to Coast in February 2005. Cinnamon demonstrated how to make The Roni.
- happy to make a bag for your nonprofit organization. Please send an email to cinnamon@poise.cc.
- happy to have anything mailed to:
Poise.cc
PO Box 668
Evanston IL 60204-0668 - blushed after being profiled by Megan Reardon on Design Sponge in November, 2007.
- is happy to share all of the business information, sewing information, life information, and cooking information she has gathered in her life. It's likely that your question is answered on her blog, but if it isn't send an email to .
- also has goods available for sale at Etsy, Bagadoodle, and at craft shows in the Chicago area.
- immensely grateful to Naz Hamid of Weightshift.com for his generous creativity in making this website as beautiful as it is. We're also grateful to his unending support and friendship of many years.
