Love This Bag

1. Affix the fusible interfacing to the fabrics. Place a piece of interfacing onto the back of each A4 sheet of felt with the glue side facing the fabric and iron over it until it is fixed to the felt.

2. Die-cut the motif. Cut a square of interfaced purple felt and place it over the largest shape on the heart Die. Place a cutting plate either side of the die and pass it through the die-cutting machine. Peel the interfacing off the felt to leave one side with a glue coating.

3. Create your sentiment. Use the alphabet die to cut the words, ‘I’, ‘This’ and ‘Bag’ from green, purple and blue felt. Peel the interfacing away from the felt so that each letter has a coating of glue on one side.

4. Affix the lettering. Place the words in a desired position on the front of the bag, leaving space for a heart motif. Once the letters are in place, cover with a pressing cloth and iron to secure.

5. Stitch on padded heart. Pin the pre-cut heart motif in the desired position, and hand stitch neatly to the bag, then leave a small gap to stuff the shape. Fill it with wadding and stitch the opening closed.

6. Add buttons for decoration. Stitch two small wooden buttons to the lower section of the bag handles for decoration and attach a fabric key chain to the handles to finish.

Make a fabric keychain

1. Take two purple hearts and place them on top of one another. Use a hole punch to make a hole through both shapes. Sew the hearts together using purple cotton leaving a small gap for stuffing.

2. Evenly fill the shapes with stuffing and stitch the opening closed. Insert a purple eyelet to the upper section and thread through the keychain to finish.

Adding shrink plastic charms

1. Using the largest shape on the Heart die, cut three motifs from shrink plastic. Punch a hole into the top of each one and colour them in using green and purple marker pens.

2. Shrink the motifs to 3cm wide following the manufacturer’s instructions. Tie them onto a piece of dark green string and attach to the keychain.

Create a dotty bag?

1. Affix interfacing to the back of a selection of spotty fabrics. Remove the backing to leave one side coated in glue.

2. Cut twelve of the largest circles on the die from the selection of different coloured fabrics.

3. Position the motifs. Place the circles into a rectangle formation down the centre of the bag with the glue side touching the canvas. Cover with a cloth and iron until the circles adhere to the bag.

4. Create 3-D shapes. Cut four more circles from fabric. Position as desired over random circles. Stitch into place, leaving a small gap for stuffing. Pad with wadding and stitch the opening closed.

5. Add final embellishments. Hand stitch buttons to the base of the handles and add a keychain to finish.

Three ideas for getting star style…

1. Use a range of fabrics. Try overlaying die-cuts of netting or sheer fabrics over felt shapes for a dramatic effect.

2. Add sparkle. Stitch sequins or beads to the points of each star for a glitzy finish.

3. Stitch with metallic embroidery thread. Affix the shapes to the bag using two or three strands of sparkling embroidery cottons.

Shopping Inspirations

1. Get creative with fabrics die-cut with a fantastically versatile Big Shot priced £75. There is an incredible range of dies and accessories available. For Sizzix® stockist and to view the entire range visit http://www.sizzix.co.uk or call 0871 222 2277.

2. Dunelm Mill has a fabulous haberdashery section ideal for sourcing your fabrics, felt, webbing and buttons. For more information log on to http://www.dunelmmill. com or call 0845 165 6565.