Make It Scrappin : Fun with Silhouette Interfacing, pt. 3: Tote Bags

For parts one and two of this 3-part idea series, see:
Part 1-- Dish Towels, and
Part 2-- Monogrammed Throw Pillows.
You can also check out a post on my floral lamp shade decoration project.
Again, we have two types of Silhouette Interfacing, fabric blades, stencil vinyl, and fabric paint on our website.

So, this is my last post for a little while on ideas for using Silhouette Fabric Interfacing, although, I'd love to hear some of what you've made with it. Also, just to see your versions of any of these projects! Post a comment or send a picture! We'd love to see your stuff.

For this project, my aim was to make a personalized bag for a birthday gift. I made my friend promise not to read this post, or look on our Facebook or Pinterest pages until after her birthday. I'm so cruel.... but not really. :)

My friend has a few kids, and they love to go to the splash-pads and water park near their home. They also like to go camping and swimming at the lake, so I thought that a summer-y tote to carry the girls' towels and goggles and such would be a useful gift.

First things first, find a canvas tote, flexible enough to hand-stitch through. Remember that if you place to wash whatever you iron the interfacing to (in this case, the tote--which might get dirty at the beach) you'll need to sew your applique on after iron-adhering it. This bag was perfect because it was just canvas...and also because it needed some sprucing up to be really cute (which now it is, might I add).

Next, I decided on fabrics and my images. Again, I just used some fabric scraps that my Mom gave me. Because your Silhouette can cut in pieces (i.e.--cut letters seperately, thus from different pieces of fabric) I didn't need one large piece for any of my needs with this project. See those larger pieces of fabric in the back? Those are from some old pajama pants that had a large hole in the knee. My friend will love to find that out. :) Again, repurposing at it's finest.

Follow the interfacing directions (see my first or second post for detailed instructions), and send it on through, being sure to use your fabric blade.

At this point, I debating leaving the bag with just the flip-flops, it already looked so cute:

But, I decided to stick with the game plan. After cutting out my letters, I hand stitched on each piece and letter so that my sister would be at liberty to wash the bag, if needed. The bag opening was wide enough that this was fairly simple, if a little time consuming due to all the pieces. (I accepted that burden going into this. She now must know how much I love her.) I used a different stitch for the flower, just to add variety. The idea is just so that the applique will stay adhered, so stitch as you desire.