The Crafter's Workshop BlogHoliday Gift Bag/Nicole Martel

Good morning friends! The holidays are around the corner and I’m trying to get a heads start with handmade gifts. Today, I’m going to share how I created this gift bag using sublimation ink and the TCW 997 Holly Cardinal Stencil.

Disclaimer: “The Crafter’s Workshop provided me with product to create this project. The opinions I share are solely my own.”

First, I traced the bag onto regular copy paper using a pencil so that I knew how much space I had to work with.

Next, I used a light tack tape to tape down the stencil to prevent the stencil from moving.

Then, I used a blending brush to blend the sublimation ink though the stencil. I used a different brush for each color to prevent the colors from getting muddy.

I must admit, seeing this image take form during the ink blending process made me happy! It’s so beautiful.

I mean…look at that image. Just wait until you see how I managed to transfer this image to fabric… Before I prepared this for the heat press, I covered any little mistakes using heat tape. By doing this, the ink will not transfer to the sublimation bag.

After that, I taped the sublimation bag over the image using heat tape.

Next, I placed protective paper at the top and bottom of the project. Then, I set the heat press for 45 seconds at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

I gave the heat press enough time to get hot and then I placed the project in the heat press with the image faced up.

I used heat gloves to remove the project from the heat press and let it cool down for a few minutes. I used fabric-tac glue to glue a few pearls in the center of the snowflakes. What do you think? Isn’t this beautiful?!