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Today I have been making hand decorated tote bags. These are a very simple but effective craft to make and fun too! I personally have gone down quite a geeky route but I plan to do some more elegant material and beaded bags in future

How to create hand-decorated tote bags

All you need to design your own bags is

• plain canvas bags ( I bought mine on eBay)
• material scissors
• fabric glue
• fabric pens (I use Sharpie Pens and iron the bags-with paper inside to protect the back from transfer-afterwards to set the designs)
• fabric scraps for applique. 
• Other items for decorating the bags including sequins, crystals, fabric paint, fabric glitters,

I go more into detail on how to create tote bags with Sharpies on this post here.

This pegasus was created with appliqued material and a sewing machine to create bold stitch work.

Other ideas for tote bags

Tote bag cushion covers

Here we made a cushion cover from a tote bag by inserting a zip where the bag opens. 

I decorated it with a hand-drawn Toucan using Sharpie Marker pens and then ironed to seal the design.

Applique flowers and tropical leaves were then hand-stitched on top in a range of fabrics and layers. 

We were inspired by the Toucan to design the llama and pegasus. We created these using appliqued material and a sewing machine to create bold stitches on two tropical-themed cushion covers.

Perfect for summer!