Create Stunning Color Palettes for Your Handmade Bags
The beauty of making your own bags is that you can design them exactly the way you want. As bag makers, we get to choose the color of our exterior fabrics, accent fabrics, lining, hardware, thread, and other details of our bags. The possibilities are endless — but sometimes that can be overwhelming.
You might find yourself asking questions like:
Why are some color combinations naturally more harmonious than others?
Why do two shades of the same color sometimes clash?
Do these colors really go together?
Is there any way to take the guesswork out of this?
Fortunately, all of these questions can be answered with color theory.
What Is Color Theory?
Color theory is the study of how we perceive and work with colors. It tells us how different colors are created, what characteristics they have, and how they work together. Color theory also describes what different colors symbolize and how they make us feel. Some aspects of color theory are purely scientific, while others are more subjective or culturally specific.
If that sounds intimidating, don't worry. You don't need to be an expert in color theory to create beautiful color palettes for your bags, purses, and wallets. In this post, we will cover some of the basic tenets of color theory. More importantly, we will learn how bag makers can put this into practice — without any specialized knowledge or fancy tools!
Prefer to Watch a Video Instead of Reading?
You're in luck! I talked about color theory in last week's episode of the Bag Maker's Workroom, my weekly livestream on the Simply Classic YouTube Channel.
You can watch the replay below, or click here to jump right to the segment on color theory.
3 Types of Colors on the Color Wheel
The basic color wheel includes 12 colors: the primary colors, secondary colors, and tertiary colors.
Primary Colors
No other colors can be mixed to create them. The primary colors are yellow, blue, and red.
Secondary Colors
Secondary colors are made from combining two primary colors. The secondary colors are green, violet (purple), and orange.
Tertiary Colors
Tertiary colors are made from combining a primary color with a secondary color. The tertiary colors are yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, red-violet, red-orange, and yellow-orange.
Color Properties: Value, and Saturation
The basic color wheel shows us how we can combine our three primary colors to get new ones. We can also get new colors by changing a color's properties. Let’s look at an example using the color blue.
The color at the top is pure blue, with no other colors added. When we change its properties — specifically, the value and saturation — we completely change the way it looks.
Value
Value refers to how light a color is. The lighter the color, the higher the value. Black has the lowest value, while white has the highest value. Everything else falls somewhere in between. We can change a color's value by adding black, white, or gray (which is a combination of black and white). The resulting color is a shade, tone, or tint of the original blue.
Shade: Darkens a color by adding black
Tone: Softens a color by adding gray
Tint: Lightens a color by adding white
In our example above, we have a shade of dark blue, a more muted blue tone, and a lighter blue tint. If we adjust the ratio of blue to black, gray, or white, we can create an infinite array of colors that vary in value.
Keep in mind that these definitions are not universal. In everyday language, most people use the term "shade" to refer to any variation of a color, whether it's darker or lighter. In fact, I do exactly that later in this blog post.
Saturation
Saturation, also called intensity or chroma, describes how bright or dull a color is. The purest form of the color has 100% saturation, and we can decrease its saturation by mixing it with another color. The more we dilute a color, the less saturated it becomes.
If you take another look at the example above, you can see what happens when we mix green into our blue hue. Adding a small amount of green gives us a blue that is still quite bright, but not as intense as pure blue. Adding a larger amount of green results in a forest green color that's much less saturated.
Other Ways to Describe Color
Hue, value, and saturation are the three properties of color, but there are many other ways to classify colors. For example, we can think about what the color evokes — like bold red, chic black, feminine pink — and how it makes us feel. This is less scientific but still important to consider when we're deciding what colors to use.
We should also pay attention to temperature — whether a color appears cool or warm. Here's an example using shades of brown. We typically would not pair a yellow-toned camel with a reddish mahogany because they have very different temperatures — even though they are both shades of brown.
How to Use a Color Wheel for Bag Making
At this point, you might be thinking, "Cool! But I'm a bag maker, not a painter. Why do I need to learn about mixing colors?"
That's a fair question, and this is where everything comes together. Learning how colors are created helps us understand how to use a color wheel and why certain combinations look better than others.
When we're deciding which colors to pair together, we always want to make sure our colors are harmonious. A color wheel takes the guesswork out of that process. So far, we've been looking at the basic color wheel with 12 hues to keep things simple. Now, it's time to bring out the big guns: the Rainbow Pick, Point & Match Color Selector. I have had this color wheel for many years, and I use it all the time.
There are many different color wheels out there. Yours may work a little differently, but the basic principles will be the same. If you don't have a color wheel yet, I recommend purchasing one that's specifically designed for quilters and sewists. You can get a mini version of this color wheel on Amazon with my affiliate link if you'd like to support Simply Classic at no extra cost to you. If you don't have a physical color wheel, you can use an online tool like Adobe Color instead.
The Rainbow Pick, Point & Match color wheel has 7 shades and tints of each color, giving us 84 colors in total. They are labeled from 1 to 7, with 1 being the lightest tint and 7 being the darkest shade. The swatches labeled with the number 4 are the pure forms of each color. Each "slice" or segment of the wheel has a window in the middle, so we can place it over our fabric and easily find the closest color match.
What makes this tool so amazing is that we can use it to create color palettes in just a few easy steps. As you can see, there several are different shapes in the center of the wheel. The center can be spun around, allowing us to line those shapes up with different colors.
Here's how it works:
Pick a starting color.
Point to your starting color with a starred geometric shape. The matching shapes will point to the other colors for that combination.
Match the value numbers (1-7) of each color for a harmonious combination. (For example, pair 2s with 2s or 4s with 4s.)
There are many different ways to combine colors for different effects. Each of the shapes on the color wheel corresponds with a different type of color palette. Let's take a look at the most common ways to combine colors, along with some examples.
Arrows: Complementary Color Palette
Use the black arrows on the wheel to find complementary colors. Because complementary colors are opposites on the wheel, they contrast with one another but do not clash.
Equilateral Triangles: Triadic Color Palette
A triadic color palette is made of three colors that are equally spaced on the color wheel. Use the red equilateral triangle to find triadic color combinations.
Isosceles Triangles: Split Complementary Color Palette
We can use the orange isosceles triangle to create a split complementary color palette. This combination uses a base color and the two colors that are on either side of its complementary color.
Rectangles: Tetradic Color Palette
A tetradic color palette is created when we use the green rectangles to find two sets of complementary colors.
Squares: Square Color Palette
By choosing colors that align with the purple squares, we can create a square color palette. A square color palette is made up of four equally spaced colors on the wheel.
Monochromatic Color Palette
We can create a monochromatic color palette by choosing shades from the same segment of the color wheel. For example, we can use different shades of green from the same "slice" of the wheel, even though they differ in value.
A Real-World Example: The Birkin
Now I want to show you what this looks like on a designer bag. We'll use the iconic Hermès Birkin bag as an example.
This Birkin uses a blue, chartreuse, and pink colorway. If we look for the closest matches on our color wheel, we can see that they are close to red 5, blue 5, and yellow 5. (Keep in mind that different devices display colors differently, so your results may vary slightly.) These colors form a triadic color palette. Whether or not you personally like this combination, it is clear that the colors go together nicely and are harmonious to the eye.
Now, let's do an experiment where we change the value and saturation of these colors. What happens when we make the blue shade lighter, the reddish pink shade more vibrant, and the yellow-green shade darker? You probably won't be surprised that the result is not as nice as the original...
This is quite an extreme example. It doesn't take a professional to tell you these colors are not harmonious — but thanks to color theory, we can explain exactly why they don't work.
Of course, the most important thing is that you like the colors you're using. If you like the way an unconventional color palette looks, go for it!
Find Your Perfect Pairing in the Simply Classic Shop
I hope this was a helpful resource for you in your bag making journey. Now it's time to take what we learned and put it to good use!
If you aren't sure where to start, try picking your favorite color and finding its complement on the color wheel. Then, use one of those colors for your bag exterior and the other for the lining fabric. Don't forget to coordinate your thread and hardware, too!
You can create your perfect color palette using bag making essentials from Simply Classic. We carry faux leather, vinyl, Italian leather, and lining in 100s of colors and patterns, so you can create your dream bag. Browse our colorful collections, have fun, and don't be afraid to try something new!
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