Heart screen printed tote bag - step by step pictures too!

Despite being just over a week of the month of love left I thought I'd share this post from the past about this hand screen printed bag I made last year. It has a 3 colour heart design and you can see how I got there with these step by step pictures. 

First of all I cut out the stencils - 3 for each colour.  

Getting all three stencils to line up was the tricky bit so I used this special fabric pen to draw round where I wanted each set of hearts to be. 

Then I ended up with purple hearts on my design. The ink fades when exposed to sunlight so I needn't worry about marker being all over my fabric! This picture shows the last stage of stencil so it was crucial for this one to line up so that the hearts didn't touch each other. 

I then looked through the screen to see where the hearts were. Using the squeegee the paint was forced through the screen - only to the areas exposed by the stencil. 

This is the completed print. I takes about 24 hours to dry then needs a good hot iron to seal the paint onto the fabric. 

I had pre cut my fabric to the size and shape to make a tote bag. 

The handles were reinforced with this 'cross in a box' stitching to make it extra strong for carrying heavy shopping. 

I also used this patterned bias binging to hide my raw seam edges inside to give it a neater finish. 

Its really handy for all sort of things and folds away easily in my hand bag too. I made 6 prints in total so have extra ones spare. I'm thinking of joining the 'giveaway gang' so if you would like to win this hand screen printed bag full of goodies then leave me a comment and keep an eye on the blog for further details!

Getting projects finished - eventually!

I've been a bit of a stranger to my blog recently and have been finding it hard to get time to keep things up to date. Having said that I have been busy, as always stitching, sewing, knitting and the like. I went to the Knitting and Stitching Show in London a few weekends ago for the first time. I had a great time and even managed to get someone to teach me how to crochet!


On the business side of things (please see this post for summary) I went to a free workshop run by the Business Link people last week about finding and keeping customers. I wasn't sure about it before hand but actually ended up having a really good time and got a chance to talk a lot about my new business and how to give my customers a 5 star experience! All very exciting...so please keep an eye on how I'm getting on so you can be involved once I'm up and running (fingers crossed opening spring 2012!).


I've written a few posts recently about trying to complete all the various craft type projects I have on the go around the house. And continuing on my mission I've managed to get a few more things finished off over the last few weeks.


This is an Amy Butler  design for an afghan bolster cushion cover that I adapted a bit and decided to do a stripy design for the back. When we had the heat wave at the beginning of the month I had a lovely relaxing time sitting out in the sun finishing it off. 

 This is a Cath Kidson design from her new "Sew" book that my friend Amy gave for my birthday. It turned out really well, and I love that it is lined as well, makes it feel much more sturdy. Using it a a knitting bag at the moment but its solid enough to carry heavy things too so very versatile!

 A while back now I posted about the screen printed roman blind that I got finished and hung up in my studio/spare room. I had quite a few scraps and practice prints left over and it seemed a shame not to do anything with them so I made some cushions to match. I just appliquéd them onto a neutral background colour and made an envelope type fastening on the back and secured with self cover buttons. I also made a few of the practice prints into tote bags as well (not that I actually needed any more of them!)

 Some of you may recognise the design below from the Cross Stitcher July issue. I spotted it in Mollie Makes Magazine and thought they looked lovely. Its taken a while but managed to get to finished over the weekend. I used Japanese fabric that I bought from The Eternal Maker at the Knitting and Stitching Show to make the back and sides of the cushion. Its got parrots and peacocks on it - still loving' all the bird related stuff that out there at the moment!

I also eventually finished the dining chair that I've been hammering away at for what seams like ages! I'm really pleased with how it has turned out, even if I don't really have anywhere to put it at the moment. My little house is just about bursting at the seams with various bits of furniture that I've re-vamped or given a make over too. I've also seem to have made up so many different cushion covers over the last few months theres hardly any room for me left on the sofa!

So whats next?!?!? I've started making up the vintage knitting pattern that I found in the deepest darkest depths of my mum and dads garage......

Its meant to be made up in 3ply (which I've discovered doesn't really exist anymore unfortunately) so I'm using 4 ply instead and altered the needle size. I did a tension square to check so just going for it and I'll see what happens. If it ends up not fitting I'll use it as part of a display in my new shop! Just got the back panel rib done so far so watch this space for how I get on with it!

Heart screen printed tote bag - step by step pictures too!

Despite being just over a week of the month of love left I thought I'd share this post from the past about this hand screen printed bag I made last year. It has a 3 colour heart design and you can see how I got there with these step by step pictures. 

First of all I cut out the stencils - 3 for each colour.  

Getting all three stencils to line up was the tricky bit so I used this special fabric pen to draw round where I wanted each set of hearts to be. 

Then I ended up with purple hearts on my design. The ink fades when exposed to sunlight so I needn't worry about marker being all over my fabric! This picture shows the last stage of stencil so it was crucial for this one to line up so that the hearts didn't touch each other. 

I then looked through the screen to see where the hearts were. Using the squeegee the paint was forced through the screen - only to the areas exposed by the stencil. 

This is the completed print. I takes about 24 hours to dry then needs a good hot iron to seal the paint onto the fabric. 

I had pre cut my fabric to the size and shape to make a tote bag. 

The handles were reinforced with this 'cross in a box' stitching to make it extra strong for carrying heavy shopping. 

I also used this patterned bias binging to hide my raw seam edges inside to give it a neater finish. 

Its really handy for all sort of things and folds away easily in my hand bag too. I made 6 prints in total so have extra ones spare. I'm thinking of joining the 'giveaway gang' so if you would like to win this hand screen printed bag full of goodies then leave me a comment and keep an eye on the blog for further details!