A foxy tote

Our town recently made plastic shopping bags illegal, so everyone is making the shift to reusable bags. I decided to make a nifty bag for myself so I would be more inclined to remember it and use it.

I had a piece of heavyweight bright orange linen that I wanted to use up. I got it at thrift (of course) for about three dollars, and it sat in a drawer for about a year because I kind of hate the color orange and I couldn't think of a single thing I wanted to make with it. Once I decided on that color, I got excited about fall and foxes. Then I found the perfect picture, and things just fell into place.

The perfect picture to work from.
I don't know who the artist is, but I would love to give them proper credit,
so if you know, please speak up! 

I don't do a lot of applique; this is maybe the third project of the sort I've ever done. Of course I had to find a really tricky, multi-layer image to work with, because I'm a sucker for punishment or something. I struggled a bit with how to transfer the picture to fabric before I suddenly realized I could just transfer it onto the fusible interfacing and then things just fell into place, literally. So here's what I've got so far:

Figuring out the layers and fabrics. "Fat quarters" from the craft shops quilting section were a big help, and I used some wool scraps that were in my stash.

The finer details, outlining, and face will be sewn in soon. I can't decide what color to make the rosehip-type flowers. In the original picture, they are gold, and I wonder if they won't be lost in the orange background. Hmm. We'll see.

I'm very pleased with the handles. I cut them out of leather and rolled and stitched them with sinew. Brass screwed fasteners hold them in place. Deluxe, and comfortable in the hand.

Yeah, I should probably have made him a little bigger. He's still very smart-looking, though, even without a proper face.