Gothic Print Small Project Bag
In anticipation of warmer weather that still hasn’t arrived, I’ve been streamlining my usual messenger bag and craft tote down into a single Kilim bag that can also be used as a rucksack. The majority of my craft tools are in my military surplus kit bag, but I wanted something to separate and secure my balls of yarn and small fiber crafts in-progress.
8.5″ x 10.5″ Organic Cotton Milk Strainer Bag
Rit black dye
White pigment ink pad
Grey embossing powder
Rubber stamps
Small heat source
Parchment paper
I originally bought these bags to strain cheese and cold brew coffee. They come in packages of three and I ended up with a few extras sitting in the cabinet. The cotton was dyed on the stove and dried in the tumble dryer off my kitchen.
The stamps I used were from a set of Halloween stamps — I went with two of the larger ones (which also happened to be my favorites): a skeleton cameo frame and a coffin with a skull and crossbones detail. I did a test run of the white ink on some black construction paper. I used white pigment ink for stamping on the back fabric, then covered the image with gray embossing powder while the ink was still wet. After the image had dried, I poured the excess powder back into the jar with a folded piece of paper.
Not having a steam iron and unsure if our hair dryer on high would be enough to secure the embossing, I took a different direction: I sandwiched the bag between four sheets of parchment paper and heated each side with a small cast iron pan (a “cookie kit” gift from my young niece) for a few seconds.
Not bad at all. And I still have extra bags left in the cabinet — I’m thinking gift bags for holidays as well as small project bags. What do you think?
