Challenging Arts & Crafts: Toile de Jouy Bag

Toile de Jouy is a typical french design printed on a cotton fabric that normally comes in red, blue and black. It originated in Jouy en Josas, a small town southwest of Paris and was first produced in this little town known for its water quality towards the late 18th Century. Literally, these 3 words mean Toile = cloth, de= of, and Jouy= the name of the town where it was produced. The original designs depicted country & pastoral scenes, events and mostly about the rural life of the locals.. later, other designs were also added. In today´s modern times, this fabric is as popular as ever. Interior designers still love its effect in their decorating schemes and I think they are very classy in itself evoking the European feeling.

For this bag, I´ve chosen a blue toile fabric, adding blue and white stripes for the piping and bag straps. This bag is machine quilted.. all in all, it´s composed of 4 layers of material including the lining.

I have added a lace with flower embroidery that matches the color of the bag. The bag will make a good statement as a stylish fashion accessory especially if worn as part of a blue jeans and white blouse/shirt outfit.