I can make that...

I'm still selling my diaper clutches.  I really need to get into the sewing room and make some more.  But mom and dad were here and I haven't been very motivated. 

I make most of my clutches from laminated cotton.  I got to wondering if I could make it myself.  So I did what any other person would do.  I googled it.  Sure enough, there it was.  How to laminate your own fabric.  I did some research, looked around and ordered this.

It's an iron on vinyl in gloss.  It came in the mail last week and I got right to it.  I decided to try and laminate some new chevron fabric. Isn't it pretty? 

First things first.  When you take your roll of vinyl out of the package, here is what you get.  It looks a lot like contact paper with a grid on the back.

I cut out my fabric and the laid it on the grid to get the same size vinyl.  Make sure you trim any excess off the edges, other wise it will stick to your iron and make a mess. (Trust me, I know...)

Next, you peel the backing away from your vinyl and place it on the right side of your fabric.  It has a sticky backing so the vinyl will stay in place on your fabric.  You can also reposition it pretty easy, so don't worry if get a bubble.  Pull it back and re-stick it.  

The paper backing you just removed is going to be what you use to iron over.  Place it, shiny side down, over your vinyl and iron.  Now, the directions say to leave your iron in place for 8 seconds before you move it around.  Maybe my iron was too hot, I don't know.  But after I did that I got pucker-y looking laminated fabric.

  You can see it on the fabric and the paper.  So I just re-ironed it.  That seemed to help.  

  

DIY laminated cotton is tricky.  I liked the end result, but it's not so easy to work with.  If you don't ever have to turn or manipulate the fabric it will look great.  But as with most bags, there comes a step in the process where you must turn the bag right side out.  After doing this, there were creases that weren't going to smooth out.  I was pretty disappointed with that.  I'm going to try a matte finish one of these days and see if that makes a difference.

Happy laminating!