The making of an art bag.

Last year for some classes I was teaching I made fabric bags to put the hand outs and supplies in, they were well received so I decided to make more for this year. I would like to share how I do this and show you how easy it is to make a unique little bag.

I start with 6 yards of very inexpensive muslin, I tear it down to a manageable size in my case no larger than a 6 foot table. I gather old text from books, a 2" paint brush and plastic sheeting to work on.

I then mix 1 part white glue to 1 part water. I brush the muslin first with the glue mixture then place the text on it and brush the text layer with the glue mixture. I prefer to work in smalls sections, when the entire piece of muslin is covered I let it dry over night. After it is dry you can paint and sew on as any other fabric.

The other half of the bag is made from the same muslin, I dyed it with beet juice then splattered paint on it and hung it out side to dry.

In the mean time I made a few stencils.

I tore the fabric to the desired size and stenciled with acrylics and spray paint.

I was not in love with the dyed fabric to say the least but after I put the bird stencil down and added the black spray paint it dulled it up to my liking.

Before you sew it together you can add a pocket, I used a small piece of vinyl. I also put all my seems on the outside I just think it looks better for this project.

I then cut the text paper to the correct size and ripped a piece of nice cotton fabric to about 3" wide, this is sewn between the two hand made fabrics to make the depth of the bag. I then sewed on two torn pieces of cotton so the bag could be closed.

There you have it a fun little art bag.