Upcycled textiles - sewing for profit

I'm in the middle of a project sewing together handbags, totes and clutch purses out of vintage and repurposed textiles to sell through the local not-for-profit recycling organization Reverse Garbage.

The label I'm sewing under is Made by Midge Lloyd, which is a name that I've been kicking around for a few years now. 

In September I bought this fabulous book of bag patterns from which I made a birthday present for my mum. She lived it and even better it was super easy to make and really stylish too. And then suddenly there was this invite for new artists for an upcoming exhibition, so it all seemed like a confluence of good omens that I just had to run with. 

So here I am at 1am making a tote bag out of an upcycled curtain, jeans pockets, thrift store found zippers and destashed cotton fabric donated from my great aunt M. This will be bag number 6, and tomorrow I need to make a couple more to bring the total closer to 10 items for the upcoming exhibition opening next Saturday the 30th.

I think I'm using up my own stash, but at the moment it's hard to tell. Each time I start a new bag I begin with a ritual of reorganizing all the boxes and piles of fabrics and assorted tools before commencing cutting out. I'm laughing at my OCD as I do it, but also don't feel comfortable with the new project until things are just-so around me.
I've bought two new pairs of scissors and two new rotary cutting tools since I got going. The extra expense was definitely not meant to be the aim of this exercise. It was meant to be about reducing my own fabric stash and make some income from sewing.  I have that terrible feeling that no-one will buy my bags and it will all end in crushing failure. Go me! Way to keep the positive flowing.