8 x 8 Test Swatches from Spoonflower

If you create with Spoonflower, you eventually collect a load of 8 x 8 test swatches of fabric designs.  An 8x8 test swatch of any design uploaded to Spoonflower must be ordered so that the designer can actually hold the swatch in his or her hands and decide if that design is what was desired, i.e., does it look okay on fabric, not just on a computer screen.

What to do with the 8x8 test swatches?  I found a pattern in "Simply Sublime Bags" by Jodi Kahn.  She calls her purse design the Barney Bag.  She used place mats to make her bag.  I sewed 4 8x8 test swatches together to get the desired size of the bag, then I ordered two bamboo purse handles from Etsy.  After the test swatches were sewn together, I ironed on  fusable interfacing to stiffen the Kona cotton -- I wanted it flexible, but sturdy.  For the lining of the bag, I used a square cotton napkin.

My Collage Collection can be seen at my shop Summersgaze on Spoonflower.

Here's a picture of my Barney Bag:

My version of the Barney Bag.