Category Archives: Bags

Making Tote Bags with Cricut Easy Press 2

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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.

With the Holiday season coming up, I wanted to showcase an easy project that might be fun for little ones to receive this year that uses the Cricut Easy Press 2. I wanted to make my boys some tote bags that they could use for whatever their hearts desired. I don’t know about the little ones in your life, but mine LOVE bags. They love having a way to carry around their treasures, stuffed animals, things they want to hide from their brother, you name it!

I started by searching the internet for SVG files. This is a specific file type that you can use to cut out designs on your Cricut Explore Air 2 or other Cricut cutter. It stands for scalable vector graphics, which is essentially design talk for simplified shapes that can be resized easily. I found a few that I thought my boys might like and from those they chose a Death Star and Pikachu.

We used my Cricut Explore Air 2 to cut out these files on Everyday Iron-on Vinyl by Cricut in their desired colors. Don’t forget to mirror your image when doing iron on!!! Then the magic happened. Guys, the Easy Press 2 is AMAZING! It is easy to use, has a clear display, and I could even do it one handed while holding my baby! 🙂 Cricut has a heat guide available on their website when using the Easy Press 2. You chose the base cloth and then it tells you exactly how to set up your Easy Press 2 for success.

We used these tote bags for trick or treating and I know they will be the best library bags ever. What would you use a tote bag for??

Range Backpack

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The Range Backpack. It was love at first sight and I knew I had to make one. I had been carrying around a backpack style diaper bag for awhile and it was just something I saw everywhere and I wanted something with more personality. Fast forward a year and I was still scared to make it. This week I finally decided it was taking up enough of my brain energy (intermittently at least) and it was time. My main hold up for waiting was that I wanted to resize it a bit so it wasn’t a huge backpack, but something I could use as an every day purse/diaper bag.

For my supplies:

Outer canvas is Wildwood by Rifle Paper Co. in Garden Party (you can easily find it on Etsy from different suppliers)

The cork is from Stitch Supply Co. I bought it a year and a half ago for a different project and I am not sure if they carry it any more, but once again if you search “cork fabric” in Etsy, you’ll find a whole bunch of options and colors and metallic and non-metallic, etc.

Lining fabric is Add it Up in lipstick by Alexia for old Cotton + Steel. You can also still find this around.

The straps are 1 1/2″ cotton webbing that I ordered in Fuschia from AGraffSupplies on Etsy. I ordered a 2.5 yard increment and it was plenty.

The lobster clasp came from CraftOnTheCouch on etsy. I chose the antique brass finish. It did come from China and it took awhile, so keep that in mind if you’re wanting to be quick about things.

All of the rest of the hardware came straight from Anna Graham’s shop. She has a set for the Range Backpack. The finish I chose was “antique brass”.

The zipper came from ZipIt on Etsy. They are my go-to for ALL zippers. She ships quickly and her zippers are just the best YKK quality. Never, ever buy one from JoAnn’s again. These are far superior.

I could not have done this without my Violet Craft Seam Roller, my Clover seam ruler that you can iron on top of, my seam ripper (HA!), and honestly my lint roller. I used it to pick up the small threads left over from seam ripping.

Modifications made: 

I decided since this was going to be a diaper bag that I wanted it to be a little more water proof than just normal quilting cotton. One stray squirt from an applesauce squeeze and I would probably cry. I bought heat ‘n bond vinyl in matte. Honestly, this made it really hard to sew the interior and every time I had to flip it right side out, it left crazy crinkles in the vinyl. I don’t know that it will be very durable to be honest. I like it from the functionality stand point, but it is not as beautiful as I had hoped it would be.

I also changed the dimensions quite a bit on the pattern. I won’t share any of the publicly, but suffice it to say, if you decide to change the dimensions, it IS possible! I did not mess with the width and I would not recommend messing with the width. Much smaller and it wouldn’t really be useable.

I did add a second slip pocket in the interior and I would definitely recommend that. It was really easy to do and having more pockets is never, ever a bad idea.

I think those are the highlights. I do think I will make another one without a vinyl interior and see how I like it. I also would think about adding a layer of Annie’s soft & stable (or the Pellon equivalent) to the canvas instead of the 44″ thicker interfacing. I wouldn’t quilt it, but I think it would add a nice finishing touch.

Please let me know here or on instagram if you have any questions. I had some major help in suggestions from Erika @hello.erikabea and even though she says she didn’t do a lot, honestly her tips were so so so so so helpful in giving me confidence to go forward.

Fat Quarter Shop Quiltalong: Mini Scrap Patch Bag

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The Fat Quarter Shop is doing such a fun series called their Blog Remix series. They are rebooting, essentially, older, more forgotten tutorials and bringing them to light again. This Mini Scrap Patch Bag is one of them. Aren’t those tiny rounded corners sooooo cute???

Kimberly has a great video tutorial that shows a step-by-step process, which even as a veteran pouch maker, helped give me the confidence to know I was doing it correctly. I could stop, rewind, watch things again, etc. and in the end I have such a cute little pouch to show for it. I used all pink scraps from my stash and a bright pink zipper. There will be no question in anyone’s mind that this pouch is mine! 🙂 If you’re looking for teacher gifts, in-law gifts, neighbor gifts, etc etc for the holidays, this is a fun way to use up some scraps and make a fun pouch anyone will love!