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You are here: Home / Craft Basics / Custom Reusable DIY Tote Bag

May 16, 2013 · 3 Comments

Custom Reusable DIY Tote Bag

Craft Basics· Fabric Crafts

I love reusable grocery bags. They’re not only green because you aren’t using a plastic bag, but they are also great alternatives for wrapping paper and gift bags.  I wanted to make my dad a reusable grocery bag for Father’s Day.  It will also be used to hold his other present – an extra large remote control.

Custom Reusable DIY Tote BagThere are may ways to paint onto fabric or canvas.  I’ve seen the freezer paper method and the iron on transfer method, but I didn’t have those things on hand.  My Cricut Cut doesn’t allow me to do custom images so the freezer paper method wasn’t an option.  I didn’t have any iron on paper so that was also out of the question.  I decided to just do it the old fashion way.  Paint the image onto the canvas tote.  This task may seem daunting to some, but with my simple instructions it’s actually not that difficult.

Supplies needed to make your own DIY tote bag:

  • Large Tote Bag
  • Fabric Markers
  • Pencil
  • Acrylic Craft Paint
  • Iron

First print out the wording you want to put onto your tote bag.  I just Googled “Mathlete” in Google images and found this image.

mathlete-tote0I didn’t have carbon paper on hand so I “made my own” by coloring the back of the printed paper with a pencil.  You want to do it pretty dark to get the pencil to transfer over.

mathlete-tote3Trace over the image with a pencil and the “pencil colored” part down.  It may come out a bit light so I went over it with pencil a second time.

mathlete-tote-4Take your fabric marker and trace over the pencil.  I like using fabric markers because it provides so much more control than a paint brush.  You can really get your edges clean.

mathlete-tote5Color in the entire word with your fabric marker.

mathlete-tote6The fabric marker provides decent coverage, but it doesn’t cover all the parts of the fabric.  It also has no depth.  I used acrylic paint in the same color to paint over the words.  The great part about this is that you don’t have to paint the thin lines, only the thicker lines.  And because you already have marker as a base, you don’t need full coverage.  You just want to go over the small spots that need filling in.

mathlete-tote7After the paint has dried, go over it with a warm iron.  This will set the marker and paint.

mathlete-tote18Now you have a custom reusable bag!  What would you write on it?

mathlete-tote1

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Rena

Rena Tang (aka the cheese thief) is a wife, mother, programmer and lover of all things creative. She especially loves to make unique, cute, simple and inexpensive things from everyday items. You can check out her ideas and tutorials at thecheesethief.com or her youtube channel.

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Comments

  1. Sarah says

    June 9, 2016 at 1:14 pm

    I’m trying to make personalized names goodie bags for a birthday party. I really want to do this but wonder if 1) of the canvas bags can be washed and hold up well after washing a with the names printed on it and 2) if it is something I can do easily at home never having any DIY experience.
    Thank you

    Reply
  2. AM says

    May 21, 2013 at 7:12 pm

    very cool! I would have never thought of using marker AND paint together. I like that idea 🙂

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Harvest Sign Tutorial: Step by Step - Consumer Crafts says:
    October 10, 2016 at 12:36 pm

    […] That’s it! Now you have a super fun rustic harvest sign. If you don’t have a cutting machine, you can use hand tracing methods like this one shown here in this custom DIY tote bag tutorial. […]

    Reply

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