Love Heart Tote Bag

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• Step 1

  Prepare the bags

  First wash the tote bags to wash out any size in the fabric. Allow to dry and iron with a hot steam iron

• Step 2

  Prepare the heart template
  Enlarge the Love heart template on the inside front
  cover, making sure that it is just the right size to fit
  within your gelatine printing surface, then trace and
  transfer the outline centrally onto the cartridge paper. Cut out the heart using a scalpel or craft
  knife on a cutting mat. Discard the heart shape and retain
  the surrounding paper.

• Step 3

  Mix the paint colours
  Mix blue and crimson paint with a little white to make a
  lavender blue, then add a similar volume of acrylic textile medium to the paint, and a little water if needed. Mix
  thoroughly. Don’t work under a direct warm spotlight,
  as this will hasten the drying process and hence affect
  the workability of the paint. Place a sheet of newsprint
  into each bag to prevent any paint seeping through the
  fabric when you print.

• 

  Step 4

  Prepare the printing surface
  Place the gelatine printing surface in a portrait position
  and paint the surface evenly with vertical strokes using
  the decorator’s brush or hog-hair paintbrush (this leaves
  a little residue on the ghost print, creating a stronger
  image). Arrange a selection of flower heads into a rough
  heart shape. Hold the heart stencil upside down above the
  flowers to make sure that it will be filled with flower heads. The heart is upside down so that the handles of the
  bag will hang clear off the table and won’t get in the way
  during printing.

• 

  Step 5

  Get ready to print

  Lay a piece of newsprint over the flower heads to take
  your first silhouette print. Gently smooth over the newsprint
  with the palm of your hand. Take the paper off and gently
  remove the flower heads using tweezers – you should be
  able to see a good flower impression on the gelatine. If it
  isn’t clear enough paint the surface again with a little more
  paint and repeat the process. It is advisable to take a paper
  print to check to see if everything is working in the right
  way. When it looks as if you have a good flower impression
  on the gelatine, place the heart template upside down
  onto the surface so that the negative heart shape is filled
  with flower impressions. It is important to cover any
  remaining painted surfaces with strips of paper to prevent
  any unwanted paint getting onto the bag.

• 

  Step 6

  Print the bag
  Hold the first tote bag upside down over the heart
  template, positioning it so that the heart image will be
  centrally positioned on the bag once it is printed (I allowed
  about 7.5cm (3in) from the bottom of the bag). Place the
  bag down onto the printing surface and smooth the fabric
  with the palm of a clean hand. You should be able to
  feel the outline of the template and apply pressure where
  the printed image will be. Gently lift the opening of the
  bag without moving the fabric and smooth over the inner
  paper. Carefully lift one corner of the bag and gently
  remove from the gelatine surface. Hang to dry and, once
  it is dry, brush off any seeds or stamens and heat-set the
  printed fabric with a medium iron.

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