Project Tote Bag- Start to Finish

Raw Materials - fabric, leather, beads....
The finished "main attraction"...the part that took me the most time.
Detail of the finished tote bag...note the embroidery and vintage rhinestones 
This is the tote bag that I made for the Craft Swap Beta that my friend Van organized. Five talented ladies had one month to make a tote bag to swap. The girl who I was making the tote for has a similar color aesthetic as me. Her style is very Anthropologie-esque -which inspired me to use beautiful colors and fabrics, vintage accents and hand sewn elements for the bag.

I used a sturdy thick woven fabric with a nice sheen as a base in a light aqua and cream and lined it with a really cute dark green tiny polka dot fabric. For the detail work, I spent most of my time beading the center embellishment. I love to cover surfaces with seed beads- you end up with a really beautiful piece that has this amazing weight to it.  It is layered on a piece of dark green leather that matches the lining.  Other embellishments around the border include the "cretin" embroidery stitch on the top and bottom and a vintage rhinestone necklace that I stitched on for a little extra sparkle.