Showing posts with label tote bag. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tote bag. Show all posts

Monday, 29 October 2012

DIY = 'quote' tote

this is fabulous and easy
it's also infinitely customisable with your favourite saying or quote

you will need:
a plain tote
2 contrasting colours of fabric paint
pencil or dissolvable fabric marker
paintbrush (s)
newspaper
masking tape

layer the masking tape horizontally across the bag
you could measure and use less masking tape, but i'm lazy
remove alternate strips of tape to create a row that you can colour

with your pencil or dissolvable fabric marker, draw a speech bubble 
make the bubble large enough to contain your words

blend your fabric paint to the shade you like
place a sheet of paper or some newspaper inside in case your paint leaks through
paint the strips up to your  pencil lines and masking tape 
make sure you don't paint into your speech bubble
when you've done the lot, hold it up to the light to show weak spots that need a touch more paint
allow to dry

paint the outline of your speech bubble in black
go over any bits that don't 'take'
i stripped off the masking tape as i went
wait 'till that is dry before lettering otherwise you'll track the black paint EVERYWHERE
it should end up like this, waiting for your message
now it's time to letter
i did this free-hand but you could use a stencil
as you can see it may need a couple of coats to create bold lettering
once your words are painted
allow to dry fully (according to your paint recommendations)
use a hot iron to press/seal the paint after drying
don't rush the lettering if you are doing it free-hand or you could make a mistake
(i made a spelling mistake with this one - weep!)
so i'll show the final picture of one i made earlier
what will yours say?

Thursday, 20 September 2012

made = birthday bag


my mother loves the place were we live
she loves most things about it but she loves swimming in the Bay the best
so brain + fabric pens + tote = original gift
i did an illustration of Freshwater Bay in a sort of panorama style (very simplified)
i sketched a very light basic outline first in pencil directly onto the tote
then went over this and added detail with the fabric pens themselves (Fabrico)
the ones i bought had a different style nib at both ends and, actually, it came in really handy as they it gave different intensity of colour and I had a limited palette (5 colours)
i wanted the focus to be on the water and sky


i didn't want to waste the space on the reverse so i thought up some words
i tried to describe the Bay in all its seasonal moods
 
i hope i caught the wild essence of the sea
my mum loved it and i don't think it was ONLY because she's biased
by the way, that is AFTER ironing (i just ain't that good)