Making a Bag from my Hand Painted Fabric

I am so excited to share this post with you!  For the past week or so I have been playing around with painting my own fabric with different techniques.  If you would like to read a how to on a an easy Glue-Resist Technique  or a Wet-on-Wet painting technique, just click on the links.

Today, I will be showing you what I made with those fabrics.  So, here it is!!

 

I had so much fun making this bag.  It's final dimensions are ~ 9"x7.5".  I used the book Sew Wild by Alisa Burke.  I have been using this book to teach me how to do the painting techniques and to sew this bag.  I can't wait to find more books from her at the library!

Here is a quick run-through of the steps to make this bag.

Cut out your selected fabric into different shapes and sizes.  Place on an 8x10 piece of thin batting or fleece.

 When you finish it should look something like this.

Next, you need to pin down your fabric.

After your fabric is pinned, begin to use free-motion stitching to bind the batting to the fabric.  This is when you can be really creative and 'MESSY' as it's called.  This is the fun part, and great for those of you who like to color outside of the lines or have trouble sewing a straight line (like me!).

You don't have to add any lettering, but I decided to, as I was trying to make one just like in Alisa's book.  Just cut out some letters out of a brightly colored fabric that will go with your material.  I used a black sharpie to draw out my word (all in one piece), cut it out and then stitched it down with a zig zag stitch. 

Now for the lining.  I grabbed this fabric that you see on your right.  I made this a few days ago using a layering technique.  You paint with one color first, then blend with a second.  Once the paint dries, you add the 3rd and final color on top.  I think this is actually the backside of my fabric, as after washing, the backside of the painted fabric feels softer to the touch.  I thought it would be nicer for the inside of my bag.

Cut out 2, 8x10 pieces of your lining fabric.  Place the wrong sides of your patchwork piece and your lining together, pin and then sew together.  I used a zig-zag stitch around the edge, but next time I will free-motion stitch this as well.

At this point I decided that I DID want to put some messy stitching on the 'LOVE'.  I should have done this as I was stitching the word on the fabric, but I could not decide if I wanted it or not.  In the end, I think it looks better with the messy stitching.  What do you think??

For the zipper I first added small pieces of fabric to the ends of my zippers.  You don't have to do this, but I saw this technique in a book somewhere and it really does make your bag looked more finished when you are through.  I then placed the tops of my cover and back to the zipper using a zig zag stitch.  This was actually the hardest part of the entire bag.  I kept getting too close to the zipper with my zig zag.

Once your zipper is on, all you have to do is sew along both SIDES.  Then, unzip your zipper (if you do not do this you will not be able to turn your bag inside out).  Sew up the bottom and you are almost finished!

Lastly, sew a zig zag stitch around the sides and bottom to sew the seam allowances together.

Turn your bag inside out and you are finished!!

This is what the back looks like.

I'd love to hear what you think about this!  Are there any of you out there who love free motion stitching as much as I do??  I am just loving it, myself.  I can't wait to make more of these.  I think I have found my 'thing'!  That is why I started this blog a month ago!  The possibilities are endless with this idea.  I'm so glad it turned out, b/c now I have a good excuse to keep painting! :)

If this is your first time visiting Gina's Craft Corner, I'd love for you to follow me so you can keep up on all my new projects.  If you would like to follow me, you can via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Google Friends Connect on the sidebar.

Have a great day!


Blessings,
~Gina
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