As part of Charlie’s birthday gift, I gave him a tote bag that I am embellished with his name and dinosaurs. I was giving him some books and art stuff and thought putting it in a tote bag might be good to help him keep it together and knew that he is very fond of dinosaurs, so I chose to embellish with dinosaur appliqués. I always try to give Charlie’s sister, N, a little something too, so I made her a fun smaller bag that could be used as a purse if she wanted to.

These may look hard to make but they really aren’t once you get started! Birthmoms could make one for their child; it would make a nice Christmas gift! Adoptive mothers could make one for their child’s birthmother. I think the bag would also be a nice way to store keepsakes.
You can personalize these bags by using things the recipient likes. Be creative!

Items Needed:

• Tote bag (You can get these at Wal-Mart or craft stores.)



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• Pattern of whatever you would like to use on the bag (You can find these online by typing in “appliqué patterns” or check out this website which has a lot of different patterns. You can also just use any simple image.)



• Fabric in your color choice(s)



• Fusible web (such as Heat N Bond or Wonder Under - also called iron-on adhesive)

Directions:
1. Cut a piece of fabric larger than the pattern (or appliqué) that you have chosen and iron on the fusible web to the wrong side of the fabric following the manufacture’s instructions.
2. Cut your pattern out to use as a stencil and trace it on the fusible web paper that is now ironed on to your bag. Be sure to reverse the pattern when you trace it if it is a letter.
3. Now cut your pattern out of the fabric.
4. Peel the paper off of the fusible web that is on the back of the fabric.
5. Position it where you want it on the bag and iron it on. Repeat that for any other patterns/letters that you may have and want to add to the bag.
6. Then you can enhance it by going over the edge of the fabric cutouts with fabric paint or markers. On the butterfly bag, I used pink ribbon at the top just to give it extra pizzazz. I just applied that using the fusible webbing too.


If you need clarification or more information on how to do this project, this website has a lot of information on how to appliqué as well as some other ideas on ways to use appliqués.

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Other Crafts Posts:
Memory Boards
Embellishing Picture Frames
Photo Puzzle
Decoupage Picture Frames
No Sew Blankets