The Story

All Ribbon Street products are designed in Santa Cruz, California and handcrafted with a passion for functional quality. Dawn works out of her neighbor's garage attic, where she has set up a studio full to the brim with vivid, exciting fabrics, overflowing spools of bright ribbon and, occasionally, a family pet. 

When she's not working on Ribbon Street, Dawn enjoys spending time with her family and creating feasts. Other favorite things include spending time with friends, walks in the forest, fitness, cooking, eating, and laughing loudly.

I have always been a DIY-er who would rather just “make it myself.” While raising a family of three girls, I grew to love cooking and working with my hands, and I truly began to appreciate and celebrate color and texture. This newfound passion manifested itself in a growing collection of fabrics and ribbons, and soon I was sewing them into functional, usable items.

It started with the ribbon bag. While shopping for fabrics at Poppy in Oakland in 2005, I saw a particular striped ribbon that I loved. After asking an employee where I could find “that one,” she replied, “We don’t have that one. But why don’t you make your own stripes?”

And the ribbon bag was born.

That product set off a chain reaction of inspiration that would result in the eventual business of Ribbon Street—one of the defining characteristics of Ribbon Street is the differently sized materials sewn together. This style, plus using smaller yardage of fabrics, allows me to create an ongoing unique inventory. While it is disappointing to see a beloved print go, I have learned that a new fabulous fabric will surely arrive soon. Working with high quality ribbons, dynamic Japanese fabrics as well as American-made and organic fabric varieties, I have continued to focus on function, style and beauty while maintaining the distinctive hand-crafted pieces Ribbon Street is known for.

In the past thirteen years, I have refined and distinguished Ribbon Street’s essential offerings, from ribbon bags, totes, purses, a collection of cosmetic bags in different shapes and sizes, accessories, table runners, placemats and napkins to recently reconnecting to the knitting world and offering knitting project bags. Careful attention to detail and construction are still a top priority when constructing ribbon street items. Sometimes it's necessary to double and triple stitch over high pressure points on bags including where zippers meet, handles attach, and bottom corners are formed. Each seam is inspected to insure proper seam allowance and if it doesn’t meet my standard, the seam gets re-stitched and reinforced. The goal from the beginning was to craft beautiful, durable goods that could be used everyday, and I’m pleased to say that that ambition is still a priority today.

I am deeply grateful for the many dedicated customers that Ribbon Street has garnered over the years. It humbles me to know that our products have reached across the US into stores and even travelled across the globe as gifts. 

I love working with my hands to develop and create distinctive textile items to share, and I strive to continue creating products that I, and my customers, feel satisfied to use daily. Always moving forward, but not losing sight of my original intentions, I still aim to enhance ordinary existence with simple beauty. 

Thank you for your continued Ribbon Street love and support.

– Dawn O'Regan