bags. Items found in Hope Town Canvas were once used as sails on even the most rugged boats. Although due to growth in the business the company has now begun to purchase sailcloth. “When we first started, everything was made from recycled sail cloths because we had that available to us. It’s a great material to use, it’s authentic and it creates no waste. About two years ago, we decided we would purchase sailcloth as well because we wanted to make bags out of fresh new strong material. The recycled sail sometimes has its downfall where it’s sometimes too worn that it doesn’t’ make a larger bag. Now with the new sail cloth, you can get a stronger, more durable bag that can last you a lifetime,” Nakia says.
Nakia is the owner of a popular homemade bag store, Hope Town Canvas; located on charming Hope Town. For those of you unfamiliar with Hope Town, it is a small town located on the small yet remote island of Hope Town in Elbow Cay, Abaco. A true Bahamian in all forms, Nakia was born in Nassau and spent summers in Hope Town as a child. When her parents retired, they moved to Abaco and Nakia joined them full-time in 2006.
For as long as she can remember, art has always been her passion. Although recalling her very first piece is difficult, she wagers that it was probably a piece for her mom involving horses, another one of her loves. “I loved going to school and doing artwork and stuff like that. However, as much as I loved art, I opted not to go to art school. I wished I had gone but when I was done with high school (St. Augustine’s College), I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do so I did my general education classes to start. I decided that the best degree to get a job would be marketing so I went to business school, it was after all the closest thing to my artsy world. I always took an art class here and there because I’m an artist. I love to draw, paint and colour but I went to business school so I’m also very entrepreneurial. Working and doing something I can create has turned out to be the perfect mix,” she says.
Nakia fondly recalls how she stumbled across the idea of creating bags out of sail, “The inspiration mostly came from my backyard. My husband’s grandfather owned a sailboat rental company in the 70s, ABC Charters. It has since then shut down, but we lived on their property and there were always stacks of old sails and my husband and his family had thought before on how they could utilize it and make it a great idea. At the time, I was working at Home Fabrics, Marsh Harbour which I opened and worked there for five years and I was very much into the fabric world. So, with the sails sitting there I thought of making sail-bags but I didn’t know how to sew, so at that point, I began to self-teach myself how to sew. I started experimenting and learning with the help of my husband, Andrew Wilhoyte and his father Clay.”
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