Nothing says spring is coming like a whole bouquet of Magnolias!
When this fabric landed on my doorstep from Michael Miller Fabrics, we were knee deep in snow and spring was a distant thought. However, it sure warmed up my sewing room as it inspired me!
Now before I show you how amazing this fabric can be in your projects - here is the link to see all the beautiful prints in this line. I only had some of the prints to play with, but my gosh when I saw them all, my mind went nuts.
I came up with a few ideas of what to play with, and honestly, I kept coming back to the Logan Sling Pack - the natural look of this Layered Ferns print paired with the Magnolia Leaves just needed to be a ladies hiking or travel sling, I couldn't resist (I even slipped the Maidenhair Fern print into the lining). As I laid out all the options - I figured that was the time to share the excitement and ideas with everyone - so did up this live video to show all the colors and combinations of materials that would potentially come out of this collection.
I knew that when it came to hardware, this needed the antique brass, it had the perfect golden undertones with the rugged natural feel to it. I generally default to nickel, but this NEEDED the antique brass. So I landed on the headed to Emmaline Bags online to start digging through my options to find the perfect combinations.... and yep, I shopped, and even bought faux leather that I thought would coordinate perfectly!
Boy did those purchases nail it! Everything came together perfectly for my large George Carryall! I featured the Magnolia Border print on the front pocket panel, allowing me to use the Magnolia flowers themselves on the body of the bag, and accent it with a perfectly coordinating faux leather. My stepdaughter couldn't take her eyes off this bag when she saw it at my house (I'll definitely know where it has gone if it vanishes).
Now, I knew that I needed to play with the focus fabric of the collection, Magnolia Bouquets - but what would be the best way to play up the colors in that one? Burgundy - I needed to bring out that gorgeous rich burgundy shade. But I didn't have the perfect design - so it was time to come up with something new. I wanted to feature that fabric front and center!
Introducing my upcoming design - Jesse Crossbody! Jesse is a brand new design that's in testing with my team RIGHT NOW! She features this large flap, perfect for a print like these Magnolias, and ideal for a large flip lock, right up front and center. I even blinged it out with the grommets to attach the strap, just because I could LOL I think I managed to frame those beautiful flowers just perfectly! I am now officially in love with that large flower print - every piece I cut has a completely different feature.
Working with these fabrics has been an absolute delight, I found that the Maidenhair Fern and the Basket Weave prints were perfect linings - nice and light with the perfect amount of movement in them. And those feature prints all coordinated beautifully with different vinyls, faux leathers and corks - oh wow, did I have my hands full choosing which material to pair these with.
Michael Miller Fabrics are definitely Making it Fun with these amazing fabrics!!! Be sure to ask your quilt shop if they have them in stock, or can bring them in as they are available right now. I still have some of these fabrics leftover, I'm thinking about making a small quilt - so stay tuned, you never know what still may come out of this sewing room with beautiful Magnolia flowers on it!
Love your bags.