Waste Not · Early 2000s Handmade Crazy-Quilt Patchwork Tote
Hand-pieced crazy-quilt patchwork · leopard, lace, brocade, velvet, corduroy and fur scraps · silk rosettes · fully lined, velcro closure · untagged, handmade early 2000s · 38cm x 34cm, straps 25cm · stitching intact throughout
No two inches of her read the same. A square of leopard print sits against a fold of black lace, which sits against a triangle of gold brocade, which sits against corduroy worn soft at the rib, each scrap held to its neighbour by a line of stitching that wanders slightly and never once lets go.
This is crazy-quilt piecing, the old make-do method of joining whatever fabric is at hand rather than wasting it, worked here in black canvas scattered with a tiny printed rosebud and built up front and centre with genuine offcuts: velvet, netting, tapestry ribbon crossed like a small brooch, a scrap of black faux fur, a single gold button standing in for a jewel. Two silk rosettes anchor the composition, one black, one rust, both left to fray at the edge on purpose rather than hemmed smooth, the kind of deliberate undoing that reads as considered rather than careless. Untagged and clearly made by hand, sometime in the early 2000s, when this scrap-built, shabby-chic instinct was very much in the air.
She is fully lined inside with a velcro closure to keep the opening secure, and the black canvas straps drop 25cm for an easy carry at the shoulder or elbow. The stitching is not machine-perfect anywhere on her, lines wander a little patch to patch, but every seam is intact and doing its job, which is rather the point of a piece built to prove that nothing here went to waste.
Material
Black canvas base with pieced panels of leopard print, brocade, corduroy, velvet, lace, netting and faux fur scraps, two silk rosettes, gold button detail, fully lined interior
Care
Spot clean only given the mix of delicate fabrics; do not machine wash or submerge. Keep away from direct heat and steam, particularly around the fur trim and rosettes. Store stuffed lightly to help her hold shape.
More on looking after vintage pieces in our care guide.
Size
Measured flat: Measured flat, she runs 38cm wide by 34cm tall, with straps that drop 25cm for an easy shoulder or elbow carry. A full-size tote rather than an evening piece, roomy enough for daily use.
Our size guide explains how vintage sizing is read here.
Condition
Very good. All patchwork sections and both rosettes are securely attached, and the velcro closure and lining are both intact. The frayed edges on the two silk rosettes are original to the design, not damage. Stitching wanders slightly patch to patch, in keeping with the handmade construction, but every seam holds.
Our condition lexicon explains the grades we use.
Before it reaches you
Someone loved this before you did, and I try to honour that properly. Each piece is hand washed, or cleaned in the way that the fabric permits, then steamed until it softens and straightens and feels newly attended to. Wherever a button was missing, it has been replaced with a vintage one from my long-kept collection. Wherever a hem had given way, I fix it by hand. By the time it leaves this room it is genuinely clean, pressed, whole, and looked over one final time before I let myself believe it is ready. Not restored. Not made new. Just returned to a state where it can be loved again, by someone who was not there the first time.
Every scrap on her front was saved from somewhere else, a hem trimming, a sample square, an offcut too small for anything sensible, and none of them know they were ever meant to be thrown away. They have formed a small society instead, leopard beside lace beside a rosette fraying happily at the edge, each one insisting it was always going to end up exactly here. She carries like she means it. Nothing about her was ever going to be wasted twice.