Personalizing a tote bag with Mont Marte Fabric Paint

I hope you enjoyed these blog posts all week as I’ve been showing you how to personalize your tote bags with Mont Marte fabric paints. For the last post of the week, I want to show you a unique way to dress up a tote bag: by drawing on a solid colored fabric and adding it as a pocket to your Fabric Creations muslin tote bag.

I picked a yellow-orange solid fabric and cut a rectangle 10” x 20” as I’ll be folding the fabric to make the side pocket of a tote bag. I ironed the fabric to be able to see the middle crease and know where to stop painting. Once done, I was able to secure the fabric onto my table to ensure that it wouldn’t move when painting. And, of course, I used a light white pencil to sketch the design I wanted.

Before the world came to a complete stop, I went to Mexico for a week and fell in love with Mexican style folk art. Now that I am safely back home I wanted to recreate the style to bring some warmth and joy in this ever-changing world.

I started by painting the background of my design in solid red, followed by the blue and then the black. Once the paint was all dry, I used the various Mont Marte brushes to create movement with the various shades of blue and pink I was able to make by adding some white and black in the mix on the Mont Marte round plastic palette.

It was very relaxing to mix the colors and play with them on the fabric. The brushes were very comfortable to use and the Mont Marte detailer brushes were very useful for the black outlining. And there was no stress about making a mess since it’s really easy to clean your hands and surface with soap and water. Once the painting was finished, I heat set with my Oliso Pro TG1600 Smart Iron and also the dryer as mentioned in Monday’s post.

Folding the pocket with my drawing facing the inside, I stitched the sides of the pocket at ¼” seam. Then I turned the pocket right side out and iron pressed the sides for a nice finish. On the backside of the pocket I drew a vertical line, with my water soluble pencil, showing the middle.

For this project, I decided that I would cut 3 rectangles 4” x 42” to make the straps. But I would set them up differently. I stitched the three rectangles together end to end just like when I prepare my binding. Then I ironed and folded as explained in yesterday’s post but I stitched the ends together so I would have a loop before stitching the straps. And I used a yellow-orange thread to match the background color of the pocket.

After stitching the edges of the tote bag as I showed in yesterday’s post. I drew a line 13½” below the edge of the tote bag and drew a line showing the center of the bag. I then aligned the pocket under the 13½” line and aligning the center lines on the bag and the pocket to ensure that the pocket would be well centered on the tote bag. After pinning pocket into place, I stitched the bottom of the pocket and used a zigzag stitch for added security. Once done, I folded the pocket upward.

Now for the fun part! Fold the strap in half and then fold it once more in half-pressing the second fold with an iron. These two folds should then be placed in the middle fold of your tote bag. Pin them in place. This will ensure you have an equal amount of straps on either side. Pin the straps onto the tote bag ensuring that it aligns on top of your pocket. Stitch in place. Once your straps are positioned, you can finish the tote bag just like I showed you in yesterday’s post.

I hope you like how you can personalize your tote bag and wish that you enjoy making your very own using Mont Marte Fabric Paint. Do show me what you’ve made in the comments below! Creating through painting and sewing is a great way to relieve stress and have fun with your kids. Hoping you get to enjoy this time and find some peace of mind.