Toots Totes
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Team Work Works Well!

17/7/2017

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Offering a bespoke service to the Henry Moore Foundation means a visit to the Henry Moore Studios and Gardens at Perry Green, every so often for an exciting 'design by committee' session. I spend hours sourcing the fabrics and haberdashery, then take them along for the team to mix and match the options until they reach a consensus on what works well.
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Everyone loved this moore-esque fabric with a wooden button just for decoration.
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The bag top was extended to accommodate the larger 'mobiles' design. A lovely contrasting blue was chosen for the handles and matching button.
Contributors to the process come from all over the organisation: from marketing, the archive, finance, the CEO' spares his PA, and the Events Co-ordinator and Wedding and Events Manager among others. It seems that whoever has an interest and is free that morning is welcome to contribute their opinion. And it works very well! Fabric is folded and unfolded, wrapped and draped to ensure the Henry Moore designs are enhanced, handle colour is matched or contrasted and buttons added and subtracted, until everyone is satisfied!
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The creamy white button just set it all off to perfection and it had to be red handles for this one!
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A bold fabric choice for this 'Bucket' bag with brown adjustable contrasting handle.
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A thing about Mr Morris

11/7/2017

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Mr Morris & Me
I do have a thing about Morris & Co fabrics. The colours are vibrant, the cotton textile is of excellent quality and of course the fabric design is exquisite. Although my partnership with the gallery has been terminated, (I choose my words carefully) I can't resist creating more bags in these iconic combinations of floral loveliness.
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Back view - just as pretty!
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Front view of my version in Corncockle
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Lovely ochre stripe lining
A friend at work requested a CK copy (Ooh unthinkable) and I had to make a prototype, just to check it worked in fabric, as the original was in raffia. Out came one of my favourites: Corncockle in golden hues. She loved the prototype so much she had that instead of her original choice of dark grey!
She's keeping it as her weekend posh bag as its too good for work she says!
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Morris & Co Strawberry Thief
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Two open pockets and a zipped pocket inside.
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Back view
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Pretty as a picture!
Next - everyone's favourite - Strawberry Thief. I coupled it with a dark denim and green leather handles and vintage button. It's currently on Etsy waiting for someone who also has a thing about Mr Morris to snap it up.
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    Author

    Hello, I'm Ruth Overton. My nickname as a child was 'Ruthie Toots' which is how the name 
    Toots Totes'
    came about!
    I come from a family of artists and artisans and the creative gene has resulted in a desire to make stuff. There's nothing I love more, than to sit at my old treadle  machine, sewing. It was handed down to me, through the family having been bought by my Grandad for Grandma in the 1930's. (See my blogs about the machine here.)
    More recently I have turned my attention to designing and creating bags and 'Toots Totes' began. 
    I'm going to blog about how ideas for bags come about and how things happen in the sewing room, so join me there if you want to, or bypass this to go to the store or the gallery, if you prefer - I won't mind!

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