Necessity is not always the mother of invention.

Sometimes, impending motherhood necessitates the invention — or, in this case, one’s own reinvention.

Kahulale’a is a line of purses incorporating vintage fabrics, new fabrics, leather and high-end style embellishments such as a fashionable nameplate, like the big-time designers put on their accessories.

Kahulale’a is a nascent company, starting just in 2013 when Kehaulani Nielson and her husband agreed she would take early maternity leave from her job as a flight attendant at Hawaiian Airlines.

With all that time at home, "I decided, ‘Gosh, I might as well make my time productive,’" she said.

"I always had said I was going to start doing bags, but there was always the problem of finding time."

She augmented memories of sewing during her youth with studying YouTube tutorial videos, "and it kind of came back to me," she said.

"I started just sewing away" on a machine borrowed from her mother-in-law, and then she took her wares to sell at craft fairs and specialty events including the first Hawaii Fashion Month.

At first the fabrics she used were from vintage muumuu and aloha shirts, and her tag line, "Make your own story," was inspired by her thoughts about the garments she was transforming.

"The whole idea is that people kept these items in their closets because it meant something to them," she said. "They created memories, stories to tell, while wearing them — that’s why they kept them," she said.

She did "huge" business at the craft fair at Merrie Monarch, she said.

Her love for vintage fabric isn’t limited to old Hawaiian prints.

"I love vintage fabrics," she said, and during her travels to Japan as a flight attendant, she goes on "treasure hunts," she said.

She finds old, beautiful and ornate obis, or the sashes that go around kimonos, as well as kimonos.

"I’ve gone so much that I’ve made friends with the (shop) owners, and now we have great relationships," she said. "They know what I like, and they’ll email me pictures" when something that reflects her taste arrives in the shop. "I’m really lucky in that sense," she said.

In their original form, obis tend to be more than 9 feet long and are popular as table runners, which the shopkeepers understand, but they also like that she makes them into purses.

"I think they think it’s cool … that I use it in a modern way," so the fabric won’t be wasted.

With the ornate, embroidered vintage Japanese fabrics as well as the classic Hawaiian print fabrics from many famous-name makers, Nielson at first had a hard time mustering up the intestinal fortitude to cut into the material.

"I steeled myself," she said.

She had collected some muumuu and hula costumes for years, but "as you get older you can’t fit them anymore."

Still, cutting them apart is not for sissies.

Now that she has seen countless customers enjoy what she does with the fabrics, "I’ve gotten over cutting into this beautiful (fabric), and I’m glad that people are able to enjoy" the repurposed garments as Kahulale’a clutches and wristlets.

They range from $58 to $150 at retail, depending on materials used.

A different type of customer, wholesale buyers from around Asia, recently got to check out her products at last week’s Tokyo International Gift Show, where her company was part of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism’s Hawaii Pavilion. She was represented by a Japan sales team this time, but she hopes to go herself next year, she said.

The Kahulale’a booth at the recent Made in Hawaii Festival, her second time there, drew attention with its glimmering obi bags and brightly colored vintage aloha wear bags displayed from the back wall through the front table.

You can look for similar displays at upcoming craft fairs starting from October through the holiday season, but also at retail.

Kahulale’a’s retail presence is in visitor-oriented stores such as Aloha ‘Aina Boutique at Royal Hawaiian Center, as well as at Hau’oli Waikiki and some of the Oasis Lifestyle and Accents stores owned by Food Pantry Ltd., led by Foodland CEO Jenai Sullivan Wall.

"They featured my products … (because) they wanted to feature small businesses" as part of their product displays.

Nielson is grateful to have "a big local company supporting a small local company," she said. "It’s just great for all us little guys."

“Buy Local” each Aloha Friday is about made-in-Hawaii products and the people who make them. Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com, or on Twitter as @erikaengle.