Did you know that you can dye fabric by pounding flowers? This unique flower tote bag makes a perfect Mother’s Day gift – and the kids will love creating it!
Skills Required: None. Children can make the project, however it will require preparation and finishing by an adult. It’s simple and will keep kids busy for a while.
I saw a tutorial for flower hammering/pounding a while back, and I knew that I just had to try it with my kids. With Mother’s Day right around the corner, I thought we’d make some prints on a tote bag for a fun Mother’s Day gift.
A tote bag is perfect since you don’t really have to wash it, and the natural flower dyes are less likely to fade away. These were so fun and easy for the kids to make, and they turned out really beautiful!
Flower Tote Bag
Supplies needed:
- Cotton tote – Note that this is a thinner cotton tote, not canvas. I think canvas would be too rough, so I found this thinner one at Hobby Lobby
- Alum powder – I bought this online
- Rubber gloves
- Parchment paper
- Masking tape
- Flowers
- Board
- Hammer
To help the natural dyes take to the fabric, you need to prepare the bag first. Wash the bag to get rid of any residue. Next, dissolve 1/4 cup of alum in 2 cups of hot water. Soak the bag in the mixture, wring it out, and let it air dry.
Do not wash or rinse the bag again before dyeing. Iron it to get out all of the wrinkles. When using the alum, make sure to wear your gloves and don’t use any utensils or containers that are going to come in contact with food later.
Once your bag is ready, slip a piece of wax or parchment paper inside to keep the flower dye from leaking through.
Gather your flowers and leaves. The smaller ones that we used are marigolds and petunias, but I’m not sure what the other ones are. The marigolds definitely worked the best. I love the bright orange!
If the flower is really full, with lots of layers of petals, you’ll want to pluck a bunch off first, so the prints come out nicer. I left the green stems on the flowers, but told the kids not to hammer them.
You can try to take them off, but I didn’t want the flowers to fall apart. Lay your flowers out on the bag, and secure them with lots of masking tape.
Put the bag on top of your board and hammer away! Be careful with any extra “juicy” plants. The leaves we used splattered if you hit them too hard, and I even got squirted with one! The kids thought that was hilarious.
Also make sure you hit every part of the flowers. At first we had some flower prints that turned out just looking like a bunch of dots/hammer marks. It’s a good idea to try it out on some scrap fabric or paper first.
Peel the flowers and tape off to reveal your print! So exciting!
We added some more flowers and even a few random petals here and there.
When you are done, let everything dry, then put another piece of parchment paper on top of the bag and iron over your design with a hot, dry iron on the highest setting. This will help the colors set in and keep them from fading.
You should be able to wash your tote just fine; obviously don’t use any bleach, and cold water is preferred.
This flower tote bag was seriously such a great craft for the kids (and me). You have to try it out and make a Mother’s Day gift of your own! I want to plant more flowers just so we can make more pretty designs!
Flower Tote Bag
Learn how to make a DIY flower tote with real flowers! This is a fun craft for kids, and makes a great gift.
Materials
- Cotton tote
- Alum powder
- Parchment paper
- Masking tape
- Flowers
Tools
- Rubber gloves
- Board
- Hammer
Instructions
- To help the natural dyes take to the fabric, you need to prepare the bag first. Wash the bag to get rid of any residue.
- Dissolve 1/4 cup of alum in two cups of hot water. Soak the bag in the mixture, wring it out, and let it air dry. Iron to get out the wrinkles.
- Slip a piece of parchment paper inside to keep the dye from leaking through.
- Gather flowers and leaves. Pluck some of the petals off to make the flowers more flat.
- Lay your flowers out on the bag, and secure them with lots of masking tape.
- Put the bag on top of your board and hammer away. Make sure you hit every part of the flowers.
- Peel the flowers and tape off to reveal your print. Add some additional flowers in random areas and hammer as needed.
- Let everything dry, then put another piece of parchment paper on top of the bag and iron over your design with a dry iron on the hottest setting. This will help the colors set in and keep them from fading.
For more crafts like this, check out the following ideas – these are some of my favorite for Mother’s Day:
Amy
Friday 10th of May 2024
How long do you let the fabric sit in the alum water?
Amy
Friday 17th of May 2024
Leave the fabric to soak for 40-60 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes for even absorption.
Laurie Sullivan
Tuesday 27th of June 2023
Wonderful art! I’m currently working on flour sack towels! Setting the color has had me worried. Thanks for the Ironing suggestion! I will wash one and see how it works. Any other suggestions/ideas please let use know.
Shannon
Wednesday 5th of May 2021
Does it still work if the bag is not prepared with alum? I hope to do this tomorrow at school, but I haven't washed them first. And... they are at school and not my house!
Amy
Thursday 6th of May 2021
Hi Shannon! The alum acts as a mordant, or fixative - so you need that for sure! At least if you don't want it to be washed out :)
Leah Farabelli
Friday 23rd of April 2021
Hi!! Do you think you could do this on a tee shirt for Mom?? Or...constant washing would fade the print?? Have you tried and what’s your thoughts?? Thank you!! Wonder if there’s something you could iron over the design to protect it??🤔🤔
Amy
Sunday 25th of April 2021
Hi there! I'm thinking you could do this on a t-shirt but that it would fade . . . hmmm I'm not sure what else you could use!
Leslie
Friday 10th of May 2019
I loved this idea and followed directions exactly. Very disappointed. Only the yellow flowers came through. We tried several different types of floeers but the pink ones all came out brown. I was doing this with my grandchildren for their mothers and they didn't like how it came out either. They ended up painting their bags
Amy
Friday 10th of May 2019
Thanks for the feedback Leslie! Sorry it didn't work out for you. It probably depends on the flowers. We had success, but sometimes projects just don't work out!