Old Fabric and New Bags

I'm so enjoying working with my collection of vintage fabrics. These are the only 2 "big" bags I've made with them lately, but I love them both. The first bag I designed completely around the fabric print. I love that wrought iron gate behind the flowers, so I created an arched shape for the center of the bag. Then, to give the bag a more "girly" shape, I cinched in the sides with a little belt. I'm really happy with it.

The second bag has been brewing for a while.........I had the barkcloth with the red and pink leaves for quite a while. I hadn't been used to working with red and pink together, so that took some contemplating. Plus it's a really large scale design. Then I had this little remnant of what I guess was a tablecloth--the piece with the big peonies. Same colors.....hmmm........had my red and white pillow ticking in my big pile of working materials.........and then it all came together! I like the different scales of the graphics, and the contrast of stripes with floral. I think it works. Because of the shape of the table cloth piece, I was kind of stuck with a square-ish shape, and the bag became a big tote. I can't leave well enough alone, so I pleated the outer corners a bit. It needed some type of large closure piece, so I played with my vintage buttons til I found this stack. I added lots of pockets inside and a little one on the outside (I love those for keys or phone) and it's done. I like it!

If you want to see more pics, go to my Artfire Studio. They're both for sale on my Artfire site, but if they don't sell, I wouldn't mind keeping them!!!