How to Decorate a Tote Bag With Flowers & Buttons
A plain tote bag can be a gift to someone with a creative mind, as it is in essence a plain canvas that can be dressed up and decorated. Combine your crafting skills to make embellishments of your own. For those who love flowers, there are many options for adding various types of flowers to your tote bag. Whether it be made from ribbon, paint or buttons, a flower on a tote bag is a dainty touch.
Instructions
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Lay your tote bag flat on a work table.
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Decide where you would like to put the design on the tote. Use a pencil to mark the placing of the flowers and the buttons.
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Design your own flowers. Consider using paint for the flower. Draw the outline of a flower using a pencil. You can do this freehand, or with a stencil. Choose a fabric paint that comes in a bottle with a nozzle to allow easy application. Alternatively, it is possible to paint the flower with a paintbrush. Allow the tote bag to dry for 24 to 48 hours before using.
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Illuminate your flower with a button center. Green buttons can serve as leaves along the painted stem of the flower. A vertical line of green buttons can be a creative and three-dimensional stem option. To attach the button, thread the needle by pulling thread through the eye of the needle until there is an even amount of thread on either side. Knot the end of the thread. Position the buttons on the desired space. Push the needle through the fabric and through the hole in the button. Be sure to pull the thread all the way through. Push the needle through the hole on the other side and pull through. Repeat this process until the button is firmly attached to the tote bag. Tie the thread in a double knot and cut off the excess thread.
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Make your flowers from ribbon instead. Cut eight pieces of ribbon to be 6 inches long. Arrange the ribbons in a star shape with the middles of all the ribbons overlapping. Make a small stitch where all the ribbons cross in the center. Loop the ends of the ribbon back toward the center and secure them with a stitch or two. Place the flower on the tote bag with the side with the ribbon ends facing down. Sew a button in the middle of the flower to both give the flower a center and to attach the flower to the bag.
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Create a stem from ribbon as well. Place the ribbon on the bag beneath the flowers. Attach the ribbon to the bag using a zigzag stitch.
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References
- Photo Credit Hemera Technologies/AbleStock.com/Getty Images
