Fifty shades of red...

Following a visit to a well known purveyor of floral bags (you know who!) my friend at work decided she'd prefer me to make a bespoke bag - most flattering to be chosen over you know who  -  so she could have exactly what she wanted! She had already seen the bag below and wanted me to use this beautiful Morris & Co fabric called Honeysuckle and Tulips in a russet colour-way.
We stole a few minutes at work to look at this website to choose the bag design and then to find a co-ordinating fabric to make the top band. On screen, I thought we'd nailed it, until I got back home and put the two together in the 'flesh'! Not a good match after all...

She chose this russet coloured Honeysuckle and Tulips fabric...

And this classic "Beaujangle" bag design. We thought the same top band would match our Morris fabric.

A dilemma-If I couldn't use the original fabric, what should I choose to replace it and that would go with the available haberdashery?

I thought I knew which to use, but took a few samples to work with me, just to be sure!

We stole a few more minutes at work which was just as well, as my friend chose the wine red corduroy (at the top) to complement the background and I had nearly run with the orangey red linen (second from bottom) to match the leaves!
So it's now full steam ahead...with the right sort of red! Come back soon to see the finished bag!