A tote bag story

There is this tote bag I bought from the craft store, Michaels. The size is perfect to carry on a commute. 

It was bought when Masha Amini was all over the media. I was so heartbroken about her death and the events leading to it. 

My former colleague, who was born in Iran, and now lives in Canada, shared some photos on social media. I made a pattern to embroider on the tote bag.

I stitched it on the tote bag. It was backstitched in black thread. 

This is my way of showing solidarity with women in Iran.  Remember the floral elephant?

It is added to the other side of the bag. 

Now, it feels complete.

It is stitched to the bag. Not glued or ironed on. 

Do you feel it is complete now?

Bindu

A floral Elephant

Line drawings are interesting. If you want to upgrade your artistic skill, you will find a ton of free lessons online to learn line drawing.

But, have you ever thought about taking a step further by tracing those drawings onto fabric?

I found it very fascinating. 

But, I am not stopping by just tracing the drawing. I did an outline embroidery on the traced image. 

Who is saying I have to stop right there? 

Adding colour is a great way to bring more interest, right? Imagine, having flowers and leaves added to the line drawing? With a bit of embroidery knowledge, you can bring colours and textures. 

Here, I used hand embroidery techniques. 

The embroidery floss I used is from Amazon. 

Have a look at my elephant line drawing and added embroidery!

Now the problem is figuring out what to do with this pretty creation. Attach it to a T-shirt? Make a greeting card?

So, what would you do if you had a unique creation like this in your hands?

 

Bindu