Condo Blues: How to Make a Halloween Mini Tote Bag

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

How to Make a Halloween Mini Tote Bag

I bought a Halloween themed color your own mini tote bag kit (similar to the color your own tote bag kits here) thinking it might be a cute to hold allergy free Teal Pumpkin project treats during Trick or Treat. (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links in this post for you convenience.) 

I wasn’t too jazzed with the colors or quality of the three markers that came in the kit which is what I expected since it came from a dollar store. No big deal. I planned on coloring it with craft paint and adding a few easy embroidered accents and outlines for fun.

 

how to embroider a Halloween candy bag
Save this idea to your Pinterest boards for later! Share it with your friends!

I tuned the tote bag inside out and used a seam ripper like this one to remove the side seams so the bag will lie flat while I embellish it. To keep the gauzy material from fraying as I handled it, I sewed a quick zigzag stitch along the raw edges because using painter’s tape on the edges didn’t work. The tape wouldn't stay stuck to the fabric.

I put a scrap piece of cardboard under the bag, used several paintbrushes from my favorite craft paintbrush set here to paint the outlines with this Folk Art Multisurface craft paint. Folkart Multisurface is my favorite craft paint because it is water based and non toxic (super important!) and will adhere beautifully to just about any surface.

 

teal pumpkin trick or treat bag

Stitch! Stitch!

My original plan was to paint the design and outline the design using an outline stitch and black embroidery floss. After the paint dried I didn’t think an embroidery outline would be as noticeable as an embellishment. I decided it was a good project to work on my satin stitch and went to town on a lazy Saturday afternoon while Lacey supervised by my side.


Lisa would be lost without my art direction and supervisory skills!


After Lacey approved my embroidery for Quality Assurance,  I pinned side seam of  the tote bag right sides together, and sewed the bag back together on my sewing machine.


how to sew a tote bag

I took the opportunity to get some practice sewing an overcast (serger) stitch using the overcast sewing machine foot that came with my sewing machine.

 

Looking for more creative embroidery ideas? Check out the following options – and more! – below!

Did you enjoy this post? Get more like it by subscribing to the Condo Blues RSS Feed or to Condo Blues by Email.

1 comment :

Jhuls said...

This looks so adorable! What a fun and creative idea! Thanks for sharing and Happy Fiesta Friday!

Post a Comment

I love comments and read them all! If you’re shy and don’t want your opinions made public, you can always email me at condoblues [at] gmail [dot] com.