In the beginning of my holiday I told you that I was working on some fabric print designs that I’m going to get printed at Spoonflower and I also started carving my own stamps to do some block printing on the fabrics I already have.
So far I hadn’t really printed anything on fabric yet. I tried my stamps on paper, but yesterday I finally got to print on fabric as well. And I’m very happy with the result. The design is ok, but could be better I think, but the quality of the print is great! I was a bit scared that it would look too rough or unprofessional, but I think it’s perfect. I used acrylic paint, to which I added a textile medium. In the future I might buy some real fabric paint, but I already had the acrylic paint and textile medium. I can’t wait to make some more block prints…

I also received a package from Spoonflower with a color chart and some samples of the fabrics they print on. So I can convert some of my designs to the right colors and order them. How exciting! I really feel like I’m starting to get somewhere with this whole fabric design thing

And I got myself the Print & Pattern Book. I love the Print & Pattern blog, and the book is great as well, very inspirational.

In another attempt to use some of my big pile of fabrics, I tried out a free reversible bag pattern that I found at Very Purple Person. I used some bright colored and patterned fabric (again fabric recycled from curtains sold at the thrift store). It was very easy to make and it looks pretty nice. It’s perfect for shopping, but to use as a real handbag I would probably add a little side pocket to put my phone or keys, but that’s for next time

I also made this lovely little pouch in the same fabrics of the bag from the previous post. This time I used this tutorial, but changed the look of the pouch a bit by rounding off the corners.

Isn’t this the cutest bag ever? And I made it myself. I’m so happy with it. It took a bit longer to make than I thought it would, because my sewing skills are a bit rusty, but the result is great. I used an old table cloth with bold patterns (and stains that I cut around) that my mom found in a thrift store.
I made the pattern from a bag that I already have, but I changed the height of the bag considerably, so it looks quite different. I also made the bias tape myself, inspired by this post at Prudent Baby. I actually wanted to buy it ready-made but they didn’t have any colors that I liked, so I bought a little bias tape tool like this, and it was actually pretty easy. I’ll definitely do it again, I would love to do it with some patterned fabric.
I even made a little ‘zesti label for the bag with a handcarved stamp.