Outside-the-box Purse

This fabric-covered box purse is the second example of how going digital can take your crafting to the beyond.

A digital pattern was created simply with a set of digital brushes. Digital brushes are essentially digital stamping tools that allow you to apply pattern and texture onto digital designs.

Once the pattern was created, it was printed onto stabilized cotton fabric and adhered to the purse.

Print Your Own Digital Fabric

Artist Leah Blanco Williams loves using digital brushes in her craft projects because they give her the freedom to create original designs. Below are her instructions for using digital brushes to create patterned fabric as well as a tutorial on using digital brushes. For this project, she used the “023 Flourishes” brush set from Paper Lilies.

Step 1

Create the pattern using image-editing software (Leah used Adobe® Photoshop® Elements™). Use the digital brushes to “stamp” the pattern. Vary the opacity levels of the flourishes between 25 percent and 100 percent to create a little color depth and contrast if desired.

Step 2

Print the design on 100 percent cotton fabric using an inkjet printer. Keep in mind that lighter colors work best to show your printed design.

Tip: Although you can purchase self-adhesive sheets of cotton at craft stores, the patterns are limited. You can simply apply an adhesive sheet to any fabric you choose for the same effect. Before printing, stabilize the fabric (the adhesive and the backing make the self-adhesive fabric stiffer so it’s easier to print on): Iron the wrong side of the fabric to the shiny side of freezer paper. This makes the fabric sturdy enough to feed through your inkjet printer.

Step 3

Remove the purse hardware before you start working. It helps to keep the screws and pieces in a tin so you don’t lose them! Cover the purse with PEELnSTICK double-sided adhesive by Therm O Web, apply the fabric, smooth and fold over the edges and use a few staples for extra hold. The adhesive is quite forgiving for the odd bubble or wrinkle (just pull up the fabric and smooth over), but pull taut for best results.

Step 4

Embellish the purse (Leah used 3/16" Zots adhesive dots by Therm O Web to adhere the butterflies). Tie a ribbon to the handle.

Photoshop® Elements™: Using Brushes

By Leah Blanco-Williams

 

Step 1

Create a new layer by selecting Layer > New > Layer or Shift+Ctrl+N.
Hint: Applying each individual brush in its own layer allows full capability to edit and position it precisely as desired later.

Step 2

Select the Brush Tool from the toolbar.

Step 3

Select a brush from the Brush Preset Picker.

Step 4

Calibrate the size of the brush by entering the number of pixels or adjusting the slider.
Hint: Hover the cursor over the page to preview an outline of the actual brush.

Step 5

Color the brush by selecting a foreground color from the toolbar.
Hint: Leaving the opacity level at 100 percent allows full-range modification once the brush has been placed on the page.

Step 6

Click anywhere within the page so that the entire brush appears in view.
Note: Doing this allows you to fine tune the placement of the entire brush image. Placing the brush partially off the page means that the part not in view will not exist.

Step 7

Select the Move Tool and drag the brush into the desired position.
Hint: Rotate the angle of the brush either by positioning the cursor over the layer to reveal the curved 2-way arrow (i.e. drag-to-rotate option) or selecting Image > Rotate > Free Rotate Layer.
Note: Clicking the cursor once on the page leaves a single impression of the brush image; however, holding it down creates a repeated pattern. If using the brush to create a repeated pattern, select More Options in the toolbar and calibrate the Spacing, Fade, Color Jitter, Hardness and Scatter of the pattern if desired.
• Spacing: Amount of space between each repeated image
• Fade: Level of dissolve
• Color Jitter: Level to which the opacity of each repeated image varies
• Hardness: Intensity of edges
• Scatter: Degree to which the repeated images are dispersed