A new fall tea tote

A tote bag is a very important accessory to me, since I am often transporting various papers, notepads and magazines back and forth to the office. Yesterday, I made a new one by transferring images of some vintage tea-themed graphics onto the three pockets of a simple canvas tote from Hobby Lobby. (And I apologize for the crummy photo quality! It was nighttime when I finished up, so the lighting was not what I would normally hope for!)

This idea came to me after a recent antiquing excursion with my mom where I came across "A Source Book of Antiques and Jewelry Designs" by Clarence P. Hornung (1989). It is simply packed with vintage graphics, including quite a few old tea sets, teapots, tea strainers, tea balls and more, all, according to the blurb on the jacket, "carefully arranged for easy reference and use." I had to experiment with the sizes a bit after scanning the images I selected into the computer, but eventually I got them the size I wanted.

After selecting images of sugar tongs, a teapot and a tea strainer, I printed the three on a sheet of transfer paper. I was just about to put the paper in the printer when I realized I'd forgotten to reverse the images! Yikes!

Here you can see the sugar tongs image as I'm about to iron it on the fabric.

I knew the images on thick cotton canvas wouldn't be as crisp as on a thinner fabric, but I was going for "effect" with this tote bag, and I think it came out pretty well. Here's a close-up of the ironed-on teapot transfer.

And the fun thing is, I now have lots of "experimental" paper printouts I can use for other crafts, such as cardmaking or decoupage.