Thursday, September 3, 2009

gettin' crafty: big boy pac-pac tutorial

as the start of school was approaching i was ready to toss the much used diaper bag to send boy off to the sitters everyday. so i decided it was time for a "back-to-school-big-boy-pac-pac", but i couldn't find a cute one big enough to pack everything it seems we need to pack every day... i found a good plain back pack, removed the label, got some inspiration from the new lunch kit (that is way cool, enviro-friendly, and will hold breakfast and lunch for a wee one!) and decided to get crafty! here is how...i started with a name. you can use a cool font
(i like to use http://www.dafont.com/)
good fonts for appliques are simple and made up of thick lines.

Print out name as a "mirror image".
Make sure it's the right size for the bag and you check the "mirror image"
setting on your printer preferences.
(if you don't have a printer like me, or can't figure out how to print a "mirror image" you can write it out in sharpie, put it backwards against a window, then trace it again)


iron on "Wonder Under" fusible web (found at any fabric store – in a package or also by the yard) to wrong side of chosen applique fabric.



i drew out my rocket design (not worrying about it being backwards or not)


cut out all the pieces after tracing them onto the wonder under.
be sure to leave an edge around your design.

iron each piece onto the fabric for that part of the design...
cut out each part of the design and name that you just
ironed onto Wonder Under...
then remove the paper backing ONLY ON THE PIECES THAT WILL BE LAYERED OVER THE BACK PIECE OF YOUR APPLIQUE!
layer them up and iron them on following Wonder Under instructions. (sorry i forgot to take a picture of this step!)
remove paper from the rest of the appliques.


Place appliques on bag and seal with a hot iron.

*make sure for a project like this (using heavy fabric) that you use heavy duty Wonder Under or sew around appliques.


here is boy's finished pac-pac



and here is boy ready to go... he doesn't seem to mind that its 8 o'clock at night.



1 comment:

Deb said...

I love that he's dragging his Magna-doodle behind him. So cute!