I read quite a number of DIY (do-it-yourself) blogs (my favorites are A Pair & A Spare, I Spy Diy, PS: I Made This, HonestlyWTF, Henry Happened to name a few), and I am always inspired to see what they come up with to DIY! Normally when I want to embark on a DIY project, most of the time I am hampered by items that I am not easy to locate in the Malaysian market. Most of the DIY blogs are American/European based and so are their products. Unfortunately Malaysia does not stock such items. Even if Malaysia does, the items are typically difficult to find and are expensive!
One of the ‘rare‘ items is “Mod Podge”. It acts as a glue, sealer and finisher. The reason why I find it cool is the sealing bit, in that whatever you wish to glue will ultimately look like it was part of the item! So I was pretty pleased when I found some Mod Podge whilst I was in Singapore on a weekend trip. I found it in the Spotlight store (the store is also found in Australia) which stocks a lot of DIY items.
I’ve been wanting to try Mod Podge to revamp a small sling bag made out of Vietnamese Pepsi tin cans which my cousin bought on one of her travels, to experiment fabric on an aluminum base, and I was quite pleased with the result! Read my tutorial on how to use fabric on an aluminum base using Mod Podge:
What you need:
- A bag with a solid base
- 1 meter of print fabric to your liking
- Scissors
- Fabric chalk/pencil/pen
- Ruler
- Sponge applicator
- Mod podge (I used matte)
Step #1:
Line the fabric along the front and back of the bag.
Step #2:
Turn the fabric inside out, and mark (using a ruler) where you would like to cut. Leave extra room, in case of errors.
Step #3:
Cut the fabric! As the bag I used had a magnetic closure, I cut a small hole to accommodate this.
Step #4:
Trim the edges, make sure the fabric fits nicely.
Step #5:
Now with your sponge applicator, dip it into the Mod Podge. Line the Mod Podge along the print bag where you want the fabric to be.
Step #5:
Once you’ve Mod Podged where the surface area, start smoothing the fabric over it slowly. Smooth it another time, to make sure there are no creases.
Step #6:
Let the bag dry! I just slung it over a chair as both the front and back has Mod Podge applied to it. After 30 minutes to an hour, apply a layer of Mod Podge on TOP of the fabric. This is to seal the fabric onto the bag. The color of the fabric may darken slightly with this top coating. However, it helps with making sure the fabric is properly sealed in.
Trim any stray threads!
Voila! A revamped bag – pretty sure noone will have the same Pepsi can bag as mine ;)