Stripes – Everyday Quilted Tote

Hi friends! This is Luci from Sea Garden Sewing, and I’m so happy to show off a project I made with some of the new Stripes basics added to Riley Blake’s collection.

I’ve always been a fan of using stripes for binding fabric, so it was quite exciting to see that the collection was expanded! There’s a vibrant set of tonal stripes, stripes on ivory, and my personal favorite- the new rainbow stripes.

As a lover of all things rainbow, it was a no-brainer to incorporate the new rainbow stripes in my project. While fortunately most colors go with rainbow, I decided to pair it with the Amethyst tonal stripes as I’ve been shy of purple in the past. With stripes, a little goes a long way- I think a project would be very ‘busy’ if it was all stripes. Because of this, I leaned in on a coordinating solid and selected the Amethyst Confetti Cotton print.

For my project, I chose to make the Everyday Quilted Tote by Knot and Thread. I loved the look of the binding and could definitely see myself using this tote in my life. For the zipper, I was fortunate to access an aqua zipper from the Lori Holt Happy Zippers pack.

I’ll be honest- I’m not always a precise quilter. Sometimes my lines get wonky, and then I get all perfectionistic and frustrated about it. For this tote, I decided to work smarter not harder and use a serpentine stitch on my machine. It’s much harder to find wonky lines when they’re all curvy!

With stripes, it’s important to make sure that your pieces are cut in the orientation that you want. Many projects are written with non-directional prints in mind, so you may need a larger fabric allowance to complete a project with stripes.

I decided to feature the solid Amethyst Confetti Cotton on the front and back of the bag to let the rainbow stripes shine, and then have the tote lined with the Amethyst Tonal stripes. For a little more added color and fun, I had the gusset all in rainbow stripes.

I’ve never sewn anything with a gusset, so this was an exciting first for me!

Here’s the finished creation:

I could see myself using this tote in a lot of ways- sliding in my work laptop and clipboard for a client visit, carrying snacks and sunscreen for a day trip, or stocking up on a few needed ingredients during a grocery store run.

These stripes have brought me a lot of joy, and I hope to use a lot more of them in the future! If you’d like to see more of my quilting projects, you can follow me on Instagram at @SeaGardenSewing.