As we continue with our Sewing Tiny Accessories theme, It seems natural to include tiny totes and purses. In this installment I'll be adding a creative twist by incorporating a popular 2025 trend, quilted elements! The use of quilted fabrics adds texture, design interest, and a custom twist to any basic tote bag pattern. Follow along as I share my latest passion, English Paper Piecing, in miniature of course!
To learn more, read the Top 10 Tips For Miniature English Paper Piecing blog post!
Now, back to my tiny tote project!
Follow along in the video below as I give a short overview of English Paper Piecing and explain how I am going to use it in my tiny tote project!
Resources for this project:
Pattern: Sew Urban Handbag
For this project, I created a swatch of fabric using my 1/4" app hexies to use as the front of the Sew Urban Tote bag. I needed about 100 hexagons to cover that section of the pattern piece.
I positioned it so that it was sewn to a solid lavender chambray right along the bottom of the bag. I notched my pattern piece to show where the box pleats would be sewn, this helped me to position it exactly where I wanted it. The lining and the fabric strap were cut and sewn as specified in the pattern instructions.
Once I had my new "Body" fabric, I followed the instructions in the pattern to complete the bag.
A few notes:
- The app fabric swatch could have been backed or covered with a fusible interfacing to add stability. I had already fused interfacing to the fabric, so I skipped this step int he video. I did press the hexagon fabric with steam to really help set all the stitches.
- Be sure to pull out all the papers and trim back bulky layers along the top and side seam lines. It can be a little difficult to topstitch and push put the box pleats with eh seams are bulky!
Overall, I LOVE how this tiny tote turned out! It's such a fun use or fabric scraps that I had and the colors work together really well!
Paper Piecing Supplies:
- I purchased my supplies from Paper Pieces website (but in person at the Quiltcon Show)
- 1/4" Hexagon Template
- 1/4" Hexagon Papers
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Sewline Glue Pen (this link is to Amazon, but it's available at a lot of places!)
- Fabric: Tilda Fabrics - Pie In The Sky Collection (gold tones, from a Jelly roll). This one is likely sold out at most places, but you might find fabrics from this collection on Etsy!
3 Comments
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Helen
March 23, 2025
How exciting to learn a new craft that you can incorporate into a doll project. I love your little purse! My mother did paper piecing, but not the hexagons. Great job!