DIY Teacher Tote Bag with

EasyWeed®, Stretch, and Electric HTV

School’s almost out, but summer break doesn’t have to mean the end of learning! There’s lots to discover in the heat transfer vinyl world! From cutter softwares to heat application tools and everything in between, there are constantly new updates, upgrades, and improved products being released. For example, Cricut Design Space‘s recent update included a new text curving function. Keep reading to learn how it works! If you’re not a Cricut user, feel free to skip down to DIY Teacher Tote Bag for the layering tutorial.

How to Curve Text in Cricut Design Space

Before the curve tool, you had to place each individual letter to make a curved appearance. Now, all you have to do is type out your word, select the text, and use the curve tool to add as little or big of a bend as you want. Pulling the slider to the right results in a downward curve.

Pulling the slider to the left gives you an upward slope. If you prefer not to use the slider, you can also type a number inside the box so you know both pieces of text are curved at the same rate. Just note that the downward curve is a positive number, and to achieve an upward curve you have to use a negative number.

This tool is a huge time saver! If you have any questions about Cricut Design Space please leave them in the comments down below. Pin the following image for safe-keeping!

DIY Teacher Tote Bag

When you’re finished creating your design, it’s time to cut! Make sure your image and all text are mirrored in the design before cutting. Cricut Design Space automatically reminds you of this when you use the “Iron On” setting on the Smart Set Dial. “Iron On” is our recommended setting for EasyWeed, EasyWeed Stretch, and EasyWeed Electric– which are all the HTV’s I’m using for this teacher tote bag.

Place the material with the shiny side down on the mat and load it into the Cricut. Press the flashing “go” button when you’re ready and unload the mat when it’s finished cutting. Repeat this process for each color in your design.

Did you know the Cricut and Silhouette mats fit in both machines and can be used interchangeably? It’s true!

Did you notice that EasyWeed Stretch Sea Glass has a white back? This ensures the color stays the same even after it’s been applied to colored fabric. Some colors are opaque enough that they don’t need the white backing, but light colors will often have the white side. Besides the cosmetic difference, the cutting process is the same as always!

When all the colors are cut, trim around each piece with scissors to separate them from the rest of the sheet that can be used for future crafts. Now you can use your Siser® Weeder to hook the extra HTV and peel it away from the clear carrier.

With the carrier face down, weed out the extra material.

After weeding, flip the pieces over to the shiny side to make sure everything that needed to be weeded was removed.

When everything is weeded, position the black EasyWeed on the tote bag. Be sure to cut the carriers closely so no HTV overlaps the plastic and adheres to it instead of the cotton tote bag. A heat transfer cover sheet goes on top before pressing firmly with the iron. The “Cotton” setting is recommended for most Siser HTV, but may need to be adjusted if you’re pressing a heat sensitive fabric.

I pressed the text portions for 15-20 seconds because this is the only press they’ll get. The mason jar was pressed for only 5 seconds since it will receive additional heat as I layer more HTV colors on top. Check out this video for more tips on layering with a home iron.

Layer #1 is black EasyWeed

Parchment paper or a cotton cloth works as a heat transfer cover sheet as well.

After pressing, peel the carriers immediately. Be careful, the plastic is hot!

Now this is where the layering begins!  Position the second color, replace the cover sheet, and press for 10 seconds. EasyWeed and EasyWeed Stretch can be layered directly on top of each other, so I didn’t have to use the knock out method in my artwork. However, I prefer to knock out as many layers as possible when I design cut files because the designs always end up less bulky and more lightweight.

EasyWeed Stretch is also a hot peel.

Layer #2 is Bright Red EasyWeed Stretch

After peeling the carrier from the second layer, place the third color, and repeat the pressing steps.

Layer #3 is Sea Glass EasyWeed Stretch

Depending on the teacher(s) you have in mind, this one size fits all gift could be considered finished at this point!

However, if you want to add a personal touch to this teacher tote bag, we need to keep layering! EasyWeed Electric teal adds the perfect pop of metallic and makes this gift extra special. Plus it’s easy to add the mason jar label since EasyWeed Electric is applied just like regular EasyWeed and EasyWeed Stretch!

I love layering EasyWeed products! Not only for the simplicity, but because the different finishes add more visual interest. EasyWeed is semi-gloss, EasyWeed Stretch is matte, and EasyWeed Electric is pearlescent!

Teachers can never have too many tote bags! Whether you choose to personalize the tote with a grade or not, making one (or two, or three, or four….) as an end of the school year gift is easy when you can use the hand drawn cut file from this post! Click here to download the mason jar cut files. Even if teaching isn’t your jam, this cut file can be used for whatever your passion may be!

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