Shrinking Star Bag

Materials:

felt
seed beads and accent beads
thread
100- or 120-grit sandpaper
translucent shrink plastic
sewing needle
beading needles
beading thread
DMC variegated craft thread
Prismacolor colored pencils
white marker
permanent black marker
scissors

1. Cut out felt pieces (figure A).

2. Sew felt pieces together using a slip stitch. Use a blanket stitch to sew the contrasting thread around all edges of the bag including top openings, sides and bottom (figure B).

3. Sew a beige pocket to front of the bag (figure C).

4. Sand shrink plastic in four directions to create a good tooth to color.

5. Use a marker to trace the star pattern onto the shrink plastic. Make extra so you can keep going if one of your charms doesn't shrink properly.

6. Add detail with colored pencils and the white marker. Draw in flowers or doodle other designs (figure D). Use sharp colored pencils to allow wax lead to melt into the scratches and make a smooth surface when shrinking. Dull pencils take on the same roughness of the plastic and will stop laying down color.

7. Trace charms onto the plastic. Draw many different size triangles. Make more than you need so you have color options and charms to use in other projects.

8. Outline the charms with the permanent marker and embellish front and back with doodles, using the white opaque marker (figure E).

9. Cut out the star and the charms and punch holes.

10. Shrink all of the pieces. When shrinking with a heat tool, use one hand to hold the heat tool and the other to hold a bamboo skewer or embossing stylus with a wood handle (figure F). Allow the shrink plastic to move freely, being careful not to direct the heat towards your fingers. Allow shrink plastic to cool completely against a flat smooth surface before moving to avoid warping.

11. Stitch the star to the front of the bag (figure G).

12. Bead a string of beads at a comfortable length to wear around your neck.

13. Run a needle inside the bottom of the bag, back stitch, add about 10 beads, a larger bead, then a small bead, and loop around the shrink plastic. Take the thread back up through the same beads and tack three stitches (figure H). Follow the buttonhole stitches and use them for a guide as to how many fringes and where to place them.

14. Add two dangles as tassels on the sides of the bag.

15. Cover any stitches showing on the back with the buttonhole stitch.