30 Minutes or Less / DIY

Just Pay Me in Craft Supplies – DIY Iron-on Tote

10.13.15

I’d like to get paid in craft supplies.

Well, and some money. But I spend most of that on craft supplies anyways so if we can just skip straight to the good stuff, that’d be great.

DIY Iron-on Tote Bag with printable by Idle Hands Awake

 

Believe it or not, I somehow survived the ’90s without sporting a homemade neon sweatshirt with ironed-on cartoon ghosts.

I know, it’s like I wasn’t a real crafter until now. I feel like I need to get some sort of initiation pin. Adding that to my project to-do list.

The point is, if this is your first iron-on transfer too, it’s stupidly easy. And actually kinda fun. And I now want to make iron-on everything.

DIY Iron-on Tote Bag with printable by Idle Hands Awake

DIY Iron-on Tote with Printable

Skill level: Easy-peasy.

Time: 20-30 minutes.

What you need:

DIY Iron-on Tote Bag with printable by Idle Hands Awake

+ plain cotton tote

+ iron-on transfer paper

+ inkjet printer (here’s how to tell if yours is inkjet or laser)

+ Just Pay Me in Craft Supplies printable – download at the bottom of the post

+ iron and ironing board

+ scissors

+ optional: scrap fabric/old t-shirt to practice on. If this is your first iron-on transfer it’s not a bad idea to do a dry run!

*A note about totes: I ordered a heavy cotton canvas tote because I wanted it to be durable, but because the fabric had a thick textured weave it was tricky to get the iron-on to stick. Learn from my mistakes and order a tote with a flatter weave, like the one I linked to!

What you do:

Step One – Do a little prep work: Iron your tote so it’s nice and flat. Print and cut out the design on regular paper first so you can see where you want it to go. Also, read through all the instructions on your iron-on transfer paper!

DIY Iron-on Tote Bag with printable by Idle Hands Awake

Step Two – Go ahead and print the design onto the transfer paper (make sure to read in the instructions which is the printing side). Yes, the design needs to print backwards just like in the download. Cut the design out close around the text.

Step Three – Lay the design onto the tote so the printed side is facing down. Iron away! Be really sure to follow the instructions for your transfer paper—the version I linked to was very specific about how much heat, time, and pressure to use.

DIY Iron-on Tote Bag with printable by Idle Hands Awake

I found it helpful to do one block of text at a time so I could give each enough heat and pressure.

DIY Iron-on Tote Bag with printable by Idle Hands Awake

Step Four – Again following the transfer paper instructions because they’re all a little different (repeating for emphasis, sorry), slowly peel off the paper backing starting in one corner of the image.

DIY Iron-on Tote Bag with printable by Idle Hands Awake

And you’re done!

DIY Iron-on Tote Bag with printable by Idle Hands Awake

DIY Iron-on Tote Bag with printable by Idle Hands Awake

DIY Iron-on Tote Bag with printable by Idle Hands Awake

Fun fact: Grabbed the first book at hand to fill out the bag for the photos—it was a library copy of β€œIs Your Cat Crazy?” Because I’m crazy enough to try to understand cat behavior.

DIY Iron-on Tote Bag with printable by Idle Hands Awake

Remember when I said cropping is a blogger’s best friend? Here is yet more proof:

DIY Iron-on Tote Bag with printable by Idle Hands Awake

You’re welcome for that. Oh and how do you like my summer tan?

Now for the download! Enjoy!

+ + + Just Pay Me in Craft Supplies Iron-on PDF + + +

Ok, dish: what tacky iron-ons did you do as a child?

Author: Marlene @ Idle Hands Awake

Maker, baker, cat momma, total nerd, perpetually covered in glitter/sawdust/paint. Blogging DIY and design for modern creatives.

24 comments on “Just Pay Me in Craft Supplies – DIY Iron-on Tote”

  1. “cropping is a blogger’s best friend!” I’m gonna use that. I love a good tote – and this tote it GOOD!

      1. Haha!! Thank you for that. What I mean to say is: I think I have only successfully ironed something without burning myself only twice… so I bought a steamer. I don’t seem to burn myself on it quite as often. #ClearlyUnco

  2. Thank you so much for this post! I’m fixing to make pajamas for Christmas that have our last name on them with EST. dates (for the in-laws, etc) and was debating how to get it done. I will be using what I learned here!

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