“Renaissance Totes”

Over the past few months I’ve accumulated a few pieces of gorgeous, thick fabrics, with tribal/Southwestern designs. I just loved the look and feel of these fabrics, which radiate richness and a feeling of luxury.

However, I wasn’t quite sure how to use them in a way that will do them full justice. I incorporated a couple as flaps for messenger bags, such as the one I gave my mom:

Or the one I listed on Etsy:

But although I liked the results, I didn’t feel that messenger bags truly showed the beauty of these fabrics to their full extent.

A few weeks ago, as I was surrounding myself with piles of fabrics on my studio’s floor (a favorite pastime!), I suddenly notices one of these pieces lying next to a beautiful velvety one. Normally I might select the later as the underside of a flap, where it would be practically invisible, but seeing the two pieces lie one next to the other gave me a new idea.

I frantically started matching fabrics:

I soon realized that framing my lavish, color-and-design-intense pieces with other pieces of matching, solid colors enhanced the beauty of the center pieces, and really brought out the different colors in their design. Putting them next to solid fabrics with luxurious-feeling textures elevated the effect further.

I liked what I saw so much, that I went on to search for all the other pieces of this kind, and found matching fabrics for them as well.  I enjoyed this a great deal, for drowning myself in fabrics and matching them together is one of the best parts of creating!

For the last four weeks or so I’ve been working on this new series, which I call “Renaissance Totes” for their sumptuous feel. This new collection includes eight totes, most of which are still works in progress. The work has been slow, partly because these totes are composed of many small pieces that need to be sewn together; partly because I am sewing some of the leather handles on by hand, which is arduous and time consuming (I have to use three thimbles simultaneously, and just broke my second needle ever!); and partly because there were many school vacations over the last few weeks, and my kids have been home more than they’ve been at school (or so it feels...).

Yesterday I finally managed to finish the first tote in this series, and am really happy with how it turned out! Here is a picture of the front:

And of the back:

I am hoping to be able to finish all eight in time for my next crafts fair, which is coming up on December 10th. I think they will go really well with winter boots and coats!