Textile Art on Small Tote Bags

Textile Art Tote Bag (sold)
by Eileen Gidman

Some new textile art coming out of my studio. They are currently available at Cresteramics Gift Store in Creston, BC and by emailing me at egidman@kootenay.com or private message through Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/Eileen-Gidman-Watercolour-and-Textile-Artist-310557619037972

A small tote bag is very versatile! Here are some things people have told me they are using their bags for:

• snacks
• mask and hand sanitizer
• a book
• knitting
• sketchbook
• water bottle
• Ipad
• sudoko puzzle book
• snacks for birds
• gift giving

These small and light tote bags are decorated with hand painted (with dyes) textile art making them all original. Yes and they are also washable.

There are many, many patterns for tote bags and I have previously made ones using larger pieces of textile art but I think what makes this tote bag unique, other than the artwork, is the fact that it is so light. It is not made for heavy items being one layer of material but when one only needs to carry a few little things and lately that seems like it is always the case, it feels great to be toting only a small bag.

Chickadee Small Tote
Sold

Small tote sewn from batik fabric and decorated with a hand painted landscape.

A friendly bear walking in a flower filled meadow.

Fireweed decorated small tote.

New Year, New Techniques: Mark Making in Ink and Heavy Thread



Mark Making in Watercolour:

 

A new year inspires one to try new things. So at drawing session, I've been using a dip pen with acrylic ink. It dries fast and if I am quick I can add some values in watercolour. The poses last from a minute, at warm up, to about 20 minutes for the longer seated poses so there is no time to get too fussy. It forces you to make decisions about what you will include in your drawing and what you don't have time for.





 

 With having to dip the pen to replenish the ink, it causes a sketchy look. I find because I work with textiles, when I am painting I am often focused on depicting the fabrics. This chiffon skirt below, draped marvelously and the dots were spell binding. The colour in the background was from a commissioned watercolour I started but abandoned as the composition wasn't to my liking. It could be an interesting start for some added watercolour paint. 



 Look at those side buttons on that jumper. Who could resist focusing on those? Notice I was using fuchsia ink. Feeling colourful that day I guess.

 







In summary, I like the combination of the ink and watercolour. The acrylic ink which dries quickly seems more suited to this technique than India Ink which I have found has a tendency to bleed. 

 Mark Making with Thread:

When free motion stitching on my hand (dye) painted fabrics I generally use a regular weight polyester thread. Out of the blue I decided to try a heavier weight in the upper thread. The bobbin thread remained the same regular weight thread. I did need to adjust the thread tension slightly. The thread line is NOT smooth (likely due to the differences in thread weights between the bobbin and upper thread) but I like the textural nature of the line.



Cherry tree in Bloom using a heavier weight thread.



Who is peaking out the screen door?

More wrought iron and a hanging basket.

For my friends in Yuma, "Is this the gate to your yard?"

This heavier thread weight worked really well for these flowers.

Something for the recycle bin. Too much of a contrast between the heavy black line of the thread and the light value of the hand dyed fabric for my liking.   

In summary, I think the heavier weight thread suits the more organic images but when thread painting buildings, for instance, I prefer the standard weight sewing thread. Also consider using a lighter thread when the dyed fabric is of a light value.

Sewing Just Before Christmas

"Merry Christmas Everyone!"

Are you busy in your studio before Christmas? I hope you have been, as I have been having so much fun there. The days have quieted down with the arrival of snow and I find myself, wanting to sew and sew some more. Below is one of my hand 'dye' painted textile cards with 'free motion' thread sketching. For my own Christmas cards I simply had photos made of the textile art and attached the photo to folded card stock.

 

I think the trick in thread sketching is to simplify. "What lines really tell the story?" In this case, I felt, that the shape of an old fashioned wooden shoeshoe was important, as well as the webbing. Notice I didn't put the webbing in the top area, or the boot harnesses, or ski poles. Did you make your own Christmas cards?

 





Sewing Gifts

Picking fun fabric and fussy cutting makes for some great potholders for gifts.

Potholders:

Okay measure twice and cut once. Obviously I didn't do that here!

 

Coordinating fabric makes two matching potholders but not they are not the same.

Lay the two layers of fabric right sides together. Mine were 8" square. Lay two layers of cotton batting on top. I stitched with a 3/8" seam to be sure to catch all layers. It probably would have been better to change to a walking foot but with attention, a regular foot works.

Preparing a Loop

 Some I added a loop to. Out of the scraps, I cut 1 1/2" strips, folded in the edges and stitched down the open side. The sewn strips were cut to 4" and inserted between the two fabric layers when sewing the perimeter.

 





A matched set because of the identical paisley background.

Leaving an opening when sewing the perimeter allows the potholder to be turned right side out. The opening was hand stitched closed and then the square was machine quilted.

 

This lovely fabric was purchased at http://crestoncard.com/

All packaged and ready for giving

From the left over scraps I cut 3/8" strips, sewed them together to form strips long enough to tie the two potholders together.

Board Game Bag:

My Scrabble Tiles Bag

 Although this top sample was sewn years ago, I wanted to show it, as the bag has been great. Three features I really like are:

1. the satiny lining as the tiles slip out easily
2. the double draw string as it is easy to close
3. the front pieces is velvet so it absorbs some of the sound as you lay down the bag.

As this bag is a gift for another Scrabble Player, I wanted to incorporate those special features. I didn't take photos as I went along, but this is what I did. I put two layers of cotton together and free motion stitched them together. I used one of my hand dyed fabrics for the outside. To see what was my inspiration for this fabric, click here.

 

 I cut a rectangle from the two sewn layers of fabric, folded it in half lengthwise and sewed up the two sides. Then I sewed a 2" seam across the bottom side seam to create shape to the bottom of the bag. The bag was then turned right side out. Next a lining was sewn using a shiny fabric but I made it a bit longer. The lining was inserted into the outer bag and turned over the top edge of the outer bag to create a casing for the drawstring.

 

After sewing the edge down all around the top, I stitched around the side seam several times in a square shape. After that the stitches of the side seam were undone to create an opening for the string to go into the casing. Strings were threaded through the casing all the way around the bag and back to the original opening. This was then done on the other side with another string. Beads were added.

To keep the lining and outer bag from separating, a few hand stitches were sewn to catch them together at the bottom near the side seam.

There it is. Of course this would make a unique bag for other board game pieces.

January is around the corner and I am looking forward to more time in the studio. What are you planning?

Projects in an Artist's Studio

Mixed media artist and Blogger Win Dinn asked readers to post a link to show what was going on in their studios. Photographing for this blog post made me realize how many projects an artist may have going on at once. For this post, I didn't include what was happening in the office regarding the selling of art. I know I spent sometime in the office yesterday printing off labels for cards and fabric packaging, as well as researching 'Made in Canada' labels, and ordering a maple leaf stamp through Creston Card and Stationery.

Check out what's happening in my studio below.

Developing a new card design. Hand painted textile bookmarks. I am trying out a removable glue for attaching them to a card. So far so good. (this is the only thing I moved in my studio for this photo shoot as I had just placed these on a shelf the day before)

Bookmark backing pieces left over from the 50 bookmarks already made.

Ironing interfacing onto my hand (dye) painted fabric for textile cards.

Sewing details on the card tops.

Threads from fraying the edges of the cards and bookmarks. What a tedious job!

Folding card stock for the textile cards.

  

Gluing the textile card fronts to the folded cardstock.

Weighting the cards down for the glue to dry

I couldn't resist showing you my favorite card from this group. As a matter of fact my husband liked it so much he removed it from the stack headed for sale at Creston Card and Stationery.

And my favorite 'Art' dog. If you look closely at the photo, with the sewing machine in it, you will see her treat jar in the background. I think the cool floor as much as the treat jar is what is keeping her happy in the studio.

 

A sewing project from a family member to make two scarves out of this one large one, one for her and one for me.

I dug this book out when I grabbed books for weighting the cards. I need to review bird anatomy for a community project I am involved in, teaching a group to paint birds in watercolour.

Fabric from my recent Indigo dyeing that is waiting for to me to price.

Hand painted sky and designed material waiting to be trimmed, pressed and priced. I am working towards two Quilt shows where I will be a vendor. One in Nelson, BC and one in Canmore, AB in Oct. I have to be organized ahead because the highlight of my year, art wise is coming up in Sept, well actually all of Sept and I am going to be busy painting in watercolour. I look forward to telling you all about it. It's going to be fabulous.

 

Well there you have an example of one person's studio. Feel free to send me a photo or an email about what you have going on. egidman@kootenay.com

Canadianana Series: Wildlife

Hand dye painted fabric with free motion stitching: Canadianana Series

Canadianna Series? Here is a start with some images of our wonderful Canadian wildlife.

Bears, there are three different types in Canada. The black bear, grizzly bear and polar bear. This guy is a black bear which can be brown too. Kermode bears also known as 'spirit' or 'ghost' bears are also a type of black bear and they are white. The Kermode bears live in the rainforest along the coast of BC.

As with the above bear, when I have already painted the image, it is easy to go ahead adding the details. I try and tell a story with each one and with this textile card the imagined the bear is walking through spring grass with the lovely Rocky Mtns in the background.
 

 

It is a little harder to know what to do when I have free form painted the cloth piece and then I have to decide what it reminds me of before I can begin the stitching. Here I am auditioning some of my sketches and photos. What would you have added to this background? My idea is shown further on.
Distractions in the Studio: My dog is looking at me as I sew, waiting to play a game or get a treat for being a patient 'art dog'.

 

"Okay Casey, go hide your eyes." We will have a game of 'Hide and Seek'....

 ....with 'Winnie the Pooh' her favorite stuffed toy.  One time he hides under the table.

 One time he hides in a project box.

 One time in an empty Singer sewing machine drawer.

"I found him but can you help me get him out!"

 

Okay back to work in the studio. In keeping with the 'Canadianana' Series, I decided to try a 'Western Red Turtle' swimming in water. We have lots of them in our Creston wetlands but I had to 'google' them up to find out where to add a touch of red.

 

  

 Two more black bears, both slightly different.

A red fox. If only I could combine the two textile card pieces to produce what I would consider the perfect piece. On this first one, I like the composition of the stitching with the fence continuing on the other side of the fox and an opening heading to the barn. There is good variation in the grass from dark green to a spring chartreuse green. His body shows form with the red of his body going from dark to light. 

 

What I really love about this one is the white continues from his chest to the lower part of his nose. He looks like he is wearing a mask. I don't remember painting a sky so light on the bottom before. I really like how it turned out.
If you were making a Canadianna series what images would you choose?