Category: Vintage Inspiration

Giving it to you on a plate...!

12/4/2018

A clutch bag presented on a plate is a bit weird , I know, but the colours were so good together it had to be done.These plates have got to date from the 50s so a perfect backdrop for a reprint of a Sanderson fabric called 'Festival' produced for the Festival of Britain in 1951, which gave British design and manufacturing a boost after the war.

A couple more pics without the plates just for good measure! The clutch has a removable handle and a dupion silk lining, complete with open and zipped pockets. The flap fastens with a magnet and shows off that great mid-century abstract design.
Come and find it and me at the Secret Vintage Fair on 26th May!

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Shhh!(Say no more...!)

1/4/2018

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I've signed up for the Secret Vintage World Fair.
Click HERE for a link to buy tickets. There's a special half price ticket offer until April 5th.
It's on Saturday May 26th and it's in Colchester. But that's all I'm allowed to tell, until a bit nearer the time or the Secret Vintage Fair Police will be after me.
I do know it's going to be a fun event with oodles of stalls, entertainment, a bar and a salon where you can be beautified in the best vintage fashion!

William Morris 'Snakeshead Fritillery' fabric

William Morris 'Kennet' fabric

I've looked out some vintage and retro fabrics and am busy making suitable items. It's a bit difficult to know which era to concentrate on, so I'm doing a bit of everything. William Morris designs were very popular in the 70's. I have a piece of Sanderson 'Festival' (a recent reprint) which hails from the Festival of Britain in the 50's. I also have some bright 60's floral prints that will catch the eye!

60's Moygahshel 'Heidi' fabric

Sanderson 'Festival' fabric

Don't worry-if you buy a ticket they will email to let you know where to go!
Come and find me and I'll look out for you!

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Sunny days...

31/8/2017

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Sunny days are reflected in this lovely 1970's Pat Albeck fabric, called 'Spot and Friends'. My previous tote bag in this fabric had been pieced together from a small remnant, patchwork style, so I was really excited to obtain such a large piece from MrsRocksBackRoom on Etsy.
A curtain in its former life, this genuine vintage textile is in excellent condition and it's taken a while to decide what to make! I found this yellow ric-rac fabric at Swedish Fabric Designs, which gives it a modern but retro feel and I must say I am quite pleased with the finished result.
Now available on Etsy for Pat Albeck fans or dog or cat lovers maybe? It has a choice of strap colour: yellow, brown or white.
Update: SOLD! in a flash!

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Red Heads...

5/8/2017

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The red barkcloth 'Beaujangle' bag sold very quickly so I've been asked to produce a limited edition. This is no. 2 of 5! (Images of 'Heads' fabric by permission of the Henry Moore Foundation)

Of the more recently acquired vintage fabrics, this cauldron effect flat cotton also sets off the stark design of the 'Heads' fabric very satisfactorily.

Thirdly the giant fingerprints of the David Whitehead fabric coupled with a matt black top results in quite a awesome threesome, wouldn't you say?

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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.

Everyone loved this moore-esque fabric with a wooden button just for decoration.

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!

The creamy white button just set it all off to perfection and it had to be red handles for this one!

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.

Back view - just as pretty!

Front view of my version in Corncockle

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!

Morris & Co Strawberry Thief

Two open pockets and a zipped pocket inside.

Back view

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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'Moore-esque'

27/6/2017

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Image of 'Heads' design by permission of the Henry Moore Foundation.

Suffice it to say the vintage fabrics were received very favourably. Here's the first Bucket bag made from the (unattributed) barkcloth, which the design team thought very 'Moore-esque'. It complements Henry Moore's 'Heads' to perfection!

Image of 'Safety Pins and Treble Clefs' by permission of the Henry Moore Foundation.

This Beaujangle bag features a 50's Marian Mahler design called 'Mobiles' which has recently been re-printed by Sanderson.
Both bags are now available at the Henry Moore Studios and Gardens shop.

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A marmite moment...

19/5/2017

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I met Jacqueline online when I spotted a David Whitehead fabric design in red and black she was selling. We began to correspond and I discovered that she has an amazing textile collection. She took the trouble to view my website, found the HMF project most interesting and offered to look through her collection to help me find some vintage abstract designs to marry up with the Henry Moore fabrics. Several emails later and I am now the excited owner of these lovely 1950s /1960s pieces. Not sure if any will be acceptable to the Team at the Henry Moore Foundation, it's going to be one of those Marmite moments, but it will make for an interesting design session and some unusual vintage style bags will definitely result either way! Looking back at my initial very safe fabric choices I'm amazed at how far I've come...

1950s (no attribution) mid weight barkcloth

1960s Francis Price flat cotton

1960s French Marignan flat cotton

1950s Grafton Homecraft - mid weight barkcloth

1960s (no attribution) flat cotton

1950s Sunlover sturdy barkcloth

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Check out the vintage vibes.

15/4/2017

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Images of 'Heads' and 'Safety Pins' reproduced by permission of the Henry Moore Foundation.

Remember how I had been trying to find some contemporaneous fabrics to complement the exclusive Moore designed fabrics I am fortunate to be currently sewing? I wanted to give more of a vintage vibe to the bags to appeal to those who enjoy vintage style. Well this is the result. As you can see I have used the red barkcloth which is a genuine vintage (but unused) piece dating from the 50's/60's. The lime green was sold to me as vintage but is more difficult to date, however the abstract design works really well with Moore's quirky household objects!
And yes, we settled on some safer checks too!

Each bag has a complementary cotton or silk lining with two open pockets and a zipped pocket with a beaded zip pull. The Bucket bags and Beaujangle bags have leather handles and the Clutch bags have detachable silver coloured cross-body chain handles.
Available from the Henry Moore Studios and Gardens shop now!
A new exhibition starts this weekend, called 'Becoming Henry Moore' and promises to be a fascinating insight into his early work and inspiration. Follow this link to find out more: https://www.henry-moore.org/whats-on/2017/04/14/becoming-henry-moore

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Very Moore-ish...

27/1/2017

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My Moore stash!

Love these - but not sure that any of these greens are right!

Barkcloth has a coarse texture and is very 1950's!

Some safer bets-you can't go too wrong with a check!

Forgive the pun! Just wanting to show that I am also getting ready for some 'Moore' work! The exclusive textiles are quite difficult to find bedfellows for, if you get my drift, and at times I'm buying fabrics not knowing if the risk will pay off! I think I am developing quite an oblique way of looking at textile colour and design and certainly enjoying the search. I have now started to consider vintage (but unused) fabrics, some of which appear quite wacky in comparison to the modern safe stuff! And I'm hoping I this will give the bags a more authentic look - for those that like that sort of thing - we'll see!

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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!

Giving it to you on a plate...!

Shhh!(Say no more...!)

Sunny days...

Red Heads...

Team Work Works Well!

A thing about Mr Morris

'Moore-esque'

A marmite moment...

Check out the vintage vibes.

Very Moore-ish...

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