Local Mother Creates Hand Crafted Designer Bags, And Hopes To Inspire Others

Artist and Designer Sydnie Peebles hit a career milestone after more than a decade creating incredible leather shoes and more recently, handbags.

But her journey is so much deeper than the stitching.

"I was getting my art degree at the time, and I didn't know what I fully wanted to do for school," said Sydnie Peebles, founder and creator of Sydnie Banks.

Sydnie stumbled upon a YouTube channel of a leather shoemaker.

"I watched video after video after video and I thought this is what I want to do," Peebles said.

She dove in and came to Oklahoma to study the craft and make cowboy boots. 

She trained with custom boot maker, Lisa Sorrell. 

"If you can learn to make a cowboy boot, you will be able to learn how to make anything," Peebles said. 

In 2012, she lost her younger brother in a tragic accident. 

"He ended up passing away; he drowned in a waterfall at the age of 16,” Peebles said. 

She created a baby shoe brand named after his favorite pair of shoes, the logo being his baby footprint.

Then in 2015, Sydnie's life changed again when she gave birth to her stillborn son, Banks, and her creating came to what seemed like a stop. She spent months recovering and then putting her focus on her next pregnancy.

"So, I stopped making shoes at that time to try to keep my baby alive," Peebles said.

She now has four beautiful children and in 2020, she was ready to start creating again, this time making handbags.

"Being able to create sculpture with leather, it just hit me again and I thought I am supposed to do this."

She then went to Europe and trained with the best in handmade bag creation and found her inspiration for her brand. She named it Sydnie Banks, in memory of her son.

"All of these things have happened and been such a huge part of my life and each of these bags has a story each one has to do with something of my life," Peebles said.

Now those bags have been featured in New York Fashion Week. 

"I don't think there is anyone in the world who is doing only one of one bag completely hand stitched with the type of techniques that I am using," Peebles said.

She wants every mother out there to know, you too can chase your dreams.

"I knew the thing that I wasn't wanting to give up was time with my kids and so I decided okay, I will be with my kids. I will be a full-time mom during the day and into the night and when they are asleep, I will do this," Peebles said. 

Peebles wants anyone who has faced tremendous loss to know your life still has meaning and purpose.

"Rather than feel like my light was being taken out by watching other people create on social media, to then just take my time to actively put it into something it just brings life to me," Peebles said. 

To learn more about Sydnie Banks and how to purchase visit: https://www.sydniebanks.com/