Monday, May 19, 2014

Eclectic Elements Fabric Tote

About 6 weeks ago Paula and I meet at Scrapbook Island in San Jose, California. She was teaching some classes there and I went to help and she brought me the soft, beautiful, vintage fabrics for me to make Quilt Market samples…I couldn't wait to get home and start sewing. 

Now to get inspired and make some projects to showcase the fabrics. So...inspirations can come from many places and Pinterest is a great place to see lots of inspiration fast! So I opened a Pinterest account and started pining. Now I'm totally addicting! My Pinterest is "CaliArtGirl" "Richele Christensen" if you want to see what i've been pinning. This tote was inspired from a few places, Pinterest and a photo Paula Cheney sent me that Tim had liked. So I was off and sewing. 

Eclectic Elements Fabric Project 2…
A deconstructed tote using fabric from both collections and a little osnaburg fabric. I sewed random strips together and even some raw seems out. It was fun sewing with no real plan and measurements. 

The strap is a leather belt Paula picked up at Goodwill then I cut it in half lengthwise with a rotary cutter. I was amazed at how easy it was to cut. I went to Home Depot and found a snap clip then the local shoe cobbler sewed it onto the strap for a small fee. 

Totally in love with the fabric lining, it's one of the new ones. 

I added some hand stitching using embroidery floss. Also fraying edges of the fabric is a fun. 

Eclectic Elements fabric has great details to key up on like the number 2. 

Here is how the snap clip attaches to the tote. 

This is the inspiration for the tote from Pinterest. 

This is the piecing inspiration. 
Love how this tote came out I actually had a hard time sending it off! 

Thanks for all the nice comments, I love hearing from you!
Have a great week!
Richele