Making it Personal(ized)
- fabman556
- May 25, 2018
- 2 min read
It's On The Bag
For an upcoming licensing show, a co-worker asked me to create three tote bags for representatives of the Shopkins license, which Springs Creative has contracted to print on fabric. We added their individual names to the fabric designs and printed the fabric here in South Carolina at our Digital Studio.
Did you know? You can buy digitally-printed personalized licensed character fabric from Springs Creative through the joann.com website. Check it out here:
Pulling It Together
Our designer added the representatives' names to the fabric art and sent the file to our digital studio, which printed the designs on a polyester poplin fabric. To the digital fabric for the outer bag I added a licensed-character flannel-back vinyl fabric for lining, and white belting for the handles.
Making The Bags
The first step was cutting the fabric for the bags and the linings: two 16" squares of each fabric for the outside of the bags, and the same of the vinyl for the linings. I also cut two 36" strips of belting for the straps for each bag.
Using a 3/8" seam, I stitched the bag and lining fabrics on three sides.
The next step was to fold the corners and match up the side and bottom seams to create a gusset at the bottom of the bag to accommodate larger items in the tote. I stitched across the corner 1.5" from the point.
Turning the lining right side out, I inserted it into the outside bag fabric, right sides together, and lined up the remaining upper raw edge.
Measuring in 1.5" from each side seam, I pinned the straps in place with the loops extending into the bag area between the bag and the lining.
I then stitched all around the bag opening, leaving about six inches open for turning the bag right-side-out.
With the bag turned right-side-out, I pushed the lining down inside the bag and adjusted the edge of the opening so that the lining was rolled slightly to the inside. The final step was topstitching the bag opening along the edge to close the remaining opening, and then 1/4" from the edge.
Tote bags are very simple to make, and I spent about two hours making three. If you want to make your own bag, experiment with different types of fabric. (I used the vinyl for the lining so it could be wiped clean.) I'm sure the Shopkins representatives will enjoy their personalized bags!
Until next time, keep those sewing machines humming, and think about making something personalized!
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