Art Gallery Fabrics – A Tote Made From Jeni Baker’s Curiosities Collection

Go anywhere “Curiosities” tote.. Great for the beach, but perfect for running around town.

Art Gallery Fabrics recently contacted me and asked if I would like to create a project from their new Curiosities Collection. The new fabric line is from the ever-so talented Jeni Baker. As soon as I saw the fabric, I knew I had to make a tote.  The collection is adorable – soft, whimsical and very versatile.

Isn’t the fabric great? If you look closely, the turquoise and white fabric has bunnies on it! I follow Jeni Baker on instagram and know how much she loves her bunny George.  Close up the bunnies are perfect and round, but take a few steps away and the design becomes organic and fluid. Great for any project! The bunny fabric comes in 2 colors and are such a fun addition to her collection.

The fabrics I chose to use are: Curious Bunnies Calm / Caught Snowflakes Navy / Fireflies Dark. Note that I didn’t use the Fireflies in the tote.. A great opportunity to sew another project and share later 🙂

I love sewing casual, slouchy bags that have some give. I switched it up this time around and gave the bag more structure than I usually do. I lined the bag with a durable cotton canvas, added Pellon 926 – extra firm sew in stabilizer for the facing and gave the bottom of the bag a stronger platform with Peltex 71F. I like how the bag turned out and will play with various interfacings in my future projects.

I love the mix and match feel with the bunnies and snowflake pattern. Jeni’s collection was “Inspired by the many small wonders in life and invites us to explore the world around us..”

Playful, right?

By adding navy webbing to the straps, I made the bag have a more professional feel. The webbing shows on the exterior and I love how the snowflake pattern peeks out just a tad. An added feature is the extra durability that webbing gives to the straps. Next time, I’ll add some pockets to the outside of the bag and may a closure of some sort.. Piping along the side seam maybe?

I shot these images in Santa Monica on a very sunny and windy day. I wasn’t sure how they would turn how, but the light turned out ok and I’m happy with the end result. Let me know if you would be interested in the pattern.

Make sure to check out Jenni Baker’s new Art Gallery Fabrics collection called Curiosities Collection. Available now! Need more inspiration? Check out her look book – Jeni Baker Curiosities Look Book.

Please note that Art Gallery Fabrics sent me the fabric for this post, but all opinions are my own.

Well, that’s it today. I hope I’ve inspired you to sew something fun.