Bag of the Week 31

Hand-dyed Tote

A number of years ago our ASG Chapter held a challenge.  Everyone who wished to participate was asked to create a tote bag from one of Nancy Zieman’s (then free) patterns.  At our annual meeting everyone brought their bag to show off.  It was amazing to see how everyone interpreted this simple tote bag.  Lots and lots of creativity.

At that time I was very interested in hand dying fabrics.  I had dyed a number of fabrics in a graduated colorway between pink (red) and blue and had just completed a vest using some of these fabrics.  I had lots of scraps left over so I decided to use them in this project.

The bag features a flying geese pieced panel around the top and folded prairie points below.  I embroidered my initial using variegated thread in the same colors (but I must admit I didn’t care for the striped effect I ended up with).  There is an external pocket with a zipper closure between the handles. 

I’m planning a detailed series of posts on the hand dying procedure and showcasing some of the other projects I made with this same fabric.  Check back.

Love Letters

Last year I was inspired to enter a contest sponsored by Interweave Press and FiberArts magazine in which I created a fabric Valentine postcard, addressed it to my husband, stamped it and mailed it in an envelope to the sponsor.  After the judging was complete, Interweave Press mailed the cards back to the addressee with a hand-canceled postmark of Loveland, CO (where the company is located).  I didn’t win one of the top prizes but my card was one of the ones featured in the magazine article about the contest.

I started with a piece of Timtex as the base for my postcard.  I created fabric confetti from some of my hand dyed cotton by cutting the fabric into very thin strips, about 1/16” – 1/8” wide with my rotary cutter.  I then stacked these strips and cut crossways into tiny pieces.  I applied fusible webbing to one side of the Timtex, scattered the confetti over it and fused into place.  Next I machine embroidered an all-over stipple design which helped hold the confetti in place.  With this as my background I fused the bleeding heart design and leaves on top and stitched them into place.  I used muslin as a backing on which I could write my message and address and finished the entire piece with a bias binding.  All of the materials used (with the exception of the muslin) were from my hand dyed cotton collection.

Watch for a post in the future about creating other fabric postcards.