Teddy Bear Tote Bag

I was asked to make a teddy bear tote bag for a little guy named Daniel. This bag is to hold a teddy bear and bear-themed books which he will receive for Christmas.

The fabric, iron-on teddy bear was made from a cut file called “Teddy Bear” (Design ID #3350) by Rivka Wilkins that I purchased in the Silhouette Store.

This was my first time cutting fabric with my Silhouette, and I was really impressed with how well the machine handled the job! I purchased Fabric Quarters (Light Brown, Brown, and Taupe) from Joann Fabrics. These are small, very light weight, flimsy pieces of cotton. I had watched a few YouTube videos on how to create iron-on, fabric die cuts, and it was recommended that the fabric be treated with a fabric stiffener first. I did not do this, and it did not seem to matter. After cutting scraps of each color to size and ironing out the creases (as best I could!), I ironed (on high heat) pieces of Pellon Wonder-Under Interfacing (#805) onto the backs of each piece. (I intended to buy Heat’n Bond since that is what was recommended on the videos, but they did not seem to have it; the Pellon Interfacing worked great!) Then, with a fabric blade in my Silhouette and the fabric setting chosen in the cut settings, I cut the fabric pretty much the same way you’d cut card stock. Once the pieces were cut, I removed the paper backing from the back of the interfacing and ironed them in layers and in place onto the bag.

I used my Bigkick and my Sizzix Fun Serif alphabet dies (upper and lower case) to cut the letters after backing the fabric with the interfacing. The dies cut the fabric beautifully as well!