Stylish and Environmentally Friendly Harry Potter Tote Bag

There are very few things I truly hate and plastic bags is one of them.Many people don't realize the damage they cause.I think the least we can do to keep our planet from fading away is use environmentally friendly bags.In this Instructable I will be combining two of my favorite things - Harry Potter and cotton tote bags!

Step 1: Gather Your Materials

To make this increadibly magical (and stylish) tote bag you will need:

A cotton tote bag - you can find these plain ones at any craft store or you can sew it yourself

Photo transfer paper

A printer

Iron

Embroidery hoop

Embrodery thread

A needle

Scissors

A pencil

An eraser

Step 2: Transfer Your Image

Start by printing out your desired image - I chose my favorite Harry Potter quote.

Follow the instructions of your transfer paper.

I printed my image out,let the ink dry for a few minutes and cut it out.

I then positioned the quote in the center of my tote bag.I covered it with the sheet of paper my transfer paper came with and ironed for about 3-4 minutes with no steam.

Step 3: Trace Your Light Bulb

You are free to finish your project here,but I love embroidering everything and decided to make it even more magical.

I started from the bottom,though you are free to start from wherever you like.

I traced everything with a pencil and if I made any mistakes I simply used an eraser to fix them.

Once your outline is ready you can start embroidering.

Step 4: Start Embroidering

I used black and yellow embroidery thread.

Since the scale of my embroidery is larger than usual,I needed to embroider everything in sections.

I started from the bottom and used only a bacstitch to do the outline of the lightbulb.

Start by threading your needle and make a knot.

Put the needle from the back of the fabric and bring it up.
Pull the thread through up to the knot at the end.

Make stitch in the fabric inserting the needle a stitch length away.

Pull your thread all the way.

Take your needle and put it right where your first stitch ends.

Repeat the same process until you have stitch the outline of the bulb

Step 5: Continue Embroidering the Sparks

When I came to the base of my quote,I wanted to fill it out completely with black.

I did a simple stitch here.

I put the needle through the base of my quote,came back down and pulled the thread all the way up.

I repeated the same stitch until I filled out the whole thing.

When I was done I did a back stitch at the top to make it look more neat.

I used a yellow thread for the sparks.I did a back stitch here as well.

Since the sparks are basically short lines when I was done with each one I tied a knot at the back.

Step 6: Rock Your Magical Tote Bag!

Once I was done with the embroidery,I ironed the whole bag again.

Your bag is ready to spread a little light and magic!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this instructable an remember to use reusable and environmentally friendly bags!