Miss Fran Canvas Tote

To use one of my sister's expressions, I'm as giddy as a kipper (overly excitable) with my latest crafterpiece!

It all started with an embroidery workshop, hosted by the very lovely Marisa of Creative Thursday. The workshop was a lot of fun! We all worked on 'Miss Fran' - one of Marisa'a characters. Marisa showed us a number of different embroidery stitches, how to applique and encouraged us to experiment with different stitches. (Check out my friend Terrie's super cute version).

I thoroughly enjoyed the embroidery: adding a boucle effect scarf, an applique skirt, a little top... It was totally absorbing, and fun to see this little character evolve.



I was soo happy with the end result that I felt like Miss Fran needed to be put to good use... in a way that her loveliness would shine. I decided she would look very cute on the front of a simple canvas bag. Naomi agrees:



To make her pop, I decided to feature her in the center of a wonky log cabin square. This was a new technique for me, and I found it to be a great way to use some of the bits and pieces of fabric that I have accumulating in various boxes, drawers, shelves... And with each addition, my little helper would pick out the next piece of fabric that I would add to the block. I love that she likes to get involved.



If you've never done a wonky log cabin block before, there is a great tutorial over on Quilt Dad's blog.



My little helper also wanted to have a go at the sewing too. Naturally this was a 'let's pretend' moment with the machine turned off! :o))



The original embroidery fabric had the 'Creative Thursday' description printed on the corner of it. I've seen great projects that incorporate the descriptions from the selvedge of fabric. I thought it would be fun to mimic that idea, cut this out and zig zag stitched to the pocket. Soo happy with how this looks!



Finally, I lined the pocket, and then simply stitched onto the front of the bag. Isn't it a bright and happy addition to this canvas tote. I see more of these types of projects in the future - after all who doesn't need a cute reusable canvas bag to do shopping, run errands etc...



Have a great weekend,
Sam xxx