Excess baggage

I still have some of these cotton shopping bags left to stitch / embroider/ bleach / applique / decorate in new ways, but I'm pretty happy with the results so far. Looking forward to flying home tomorrow and getting some feedback when I give them out as gifts :)

Floral applique

For my final birthday present I went back to applique, and stitched this flower design onto the bag. I really love the colours in these fabrics.

 

Dandelion design

Birthday present bag no.2 - today I tried a slightly more simple stitch design! I really like the bead detail.

Stitching gifts

Having tried my hand at applique and bleaching cotton shopping bags, I wanted to have a go at stitching my own designs to make bags for a couple of birthday presents.

This is my first go, and as usual I threw myself in with a bit of an ambitious design. I think I've done it justice, but it took me AGES. And the cat chasing the cotton didn't help. Anyway I'm pretty pleased with the end result, and keen to try another one tomorrow.

 

Bleach Bags

I have a selection of plain cotton shopping bags that I bought to decorate, but I've had trouble using the black ones. Applique and stitching has been effective for the cream and white bags, but the black ones haven't worked so well, so I decided to try bleaching them.

I used cream cleaner which contained bleach. I didn't know if this would work as well as the toilet bleach I've seen in other tutorials, as I assume the bleach content is weaker and it's a less absorbant substance because of the chalky texture. In fact, this worked perfectly and had extra benefits over straight bleach - the smell is milder and the fabric doesn't have any odour when finished, and the bleach is absorbed, leaving the chalky substance on the surface of the fabric, meaning I can see very clearly where I have already marked it. The fabric only needs a quick rinse under the tap afterwards and it's ready to use.

To start, I collected:
- my fabric: pure cotton shopping bag - this canvas-like fabric worked perfectly
- my bleach: I used Cif 'White Ultra' cream cleaner with bleach
- a small container for the bleach: I used a burned-out tea light foil, as I only wanted a tiny container to keep my spillage risk to a minimum
- a small wooden board: or equivalent, to place between the front and back of the bag to stop the bleach going through to the back
- my painting tools: cotton buds (q-tips) for big dots, and a propelling pencil for tiny dots.
- optional protective glove or something to put between your decorating hand and the bag, in case of leaning on the bleach pattern: I didn't have any problems, but if you have sensitive skin you might consider this.

Step 1 - paint your design onto the bag.

Step 2 - leave to dry for 5 mins or so, until the white surface substance is flakey. In this picture you can see my test area, where I painted a smaller area and rinsed it to check the bleach was working.

Step 3 - rince thoroughly by hand (with gloves).The pattern will become clearer as it dries.
Recommend not putting on the floor to photograph, as any nearby cat will immediately sit on it.

Have fun!