Ruffle Totes

I love ruffles and this week I decided I to make a couple of ruffle totes.

I was inspired by a purse I saw at Magpie in San Jose. It’s an adorable store; you should stop by when you’re in the area. There was an oversized linen ruffle purse there…it was a little too big for my size and a little too expensive. So, I was determined to make one this week. I went to several fabric stores this weekend to find the right linen. Joann’s had the best selection. 

I made the purse without a pattern…I used some of my totes as models. I started by making ruffles.

Then I cut out the main body.

Next, I sewed on the ruffles to the body, added the handles and then added a draw string closure using some black and white stripped ribbon. I’m happy with how it turned out.

As I was shopping for the linen fabric, I came across this remnant piece of blue and white ticking fabric for $8.

I thought the blue and white ticking fabric would be perfect for another tote, so I had to buy it, too.

For some reason, I tend to start with the ruffles first. I ripped 3” strips of fabric.

I sewed a basting stitch down the middle and gathered up the fabric. 

Below is how the ruffles look sewn on the body of the purse.

Next was to sew a top piece to the purse.

The finished ruffle tote…

Two new ruffle purses to add to my collection of totes!