Welcome to Fran’s Friends! It is Fran here, and today I am absolutely delighted to share my latest crafting journey with you all.

In preparation for the upcoming Vancouver Island Exhibition, I decided to work on a plain canvas bag that my son recently brought home for me. The bag had some rather prominent logos printed on it, and I really wanted to cover them up with my own artistic flair. What better way to recycle and elevate a canvas bag?

Here is exactly how I completely transformed it!

The Fabric Heart Centrepiece To cover up that old logo, I created a lovely fabric heart. I actually printed the design straight from my computer onto the fabric using my printer! Once I had my printed heart, I took it to my sewing machine and added some gorgeous quilting stitching. I also had some really old piping lying around in my stash, so I added that around the edges. Then, I simply glued the entire heart directly onto the canvas bag. It completely hid the logo underneath and was a wonderful little recycling project!

Lovely Latkans If you have been following me for the last two months, you know I have been endlessly talking about the magic of latkans! These wonderful little adornments are brilliant for decorating dresses, pieces of furniture, and now, my canvas bag.

I made mine using a silky satin scarf and some old blue fabric I had saved, which perfectly matches the colours in the printed heart. I made about six or seven different types of latkans for this bag, and the best part is that they only take minutes to make. If you want to try making them yourself, simply go onto Facebook and search “Latkan for sewing” to find all kinds of truly wonderful ideas. You can also check back on my updates from the last two months, where I listed several fabulous creators who make them!

Beading and Brilliant Texture I love adding texture, and since I already have tutorials on my channel for blanket stitch beading, I decided to incorporate some here. To really give the bag some extra oomph, I beaded the heart on one of the latkans! I also pulled in some buttons for extra texture, along with some very special little prayer beads that I picked up while on holiday in Turkey. It gives the bag such a unique, personal touch.

Felt Tassels Inspired by Lisa Pay Some time ago, the wonderful Lisa Pay shared some free patterns, including a brilliant one for making tassels. I knew I had to include them! To make these, you just take two pieces of felt and bind them together with HeatnBond. My pieces were five and a half inches long and two inches wide.

You just draw a line about three quarters of an inch down from the top, cut little slits about a quarter of an inch apart along the base of the fabric, roll it all up, and glue it together with a little cord. I made two adorable tassels by simply reversing the felt colours on each one. They are so cute and make the perfect adornments!

A Crafty Fix Crafting is all about problem solving, and I did run into a tiny issue at the bottom of my heart motif. The two ends of my old piping stuck out like a sore thumb! To fix this, I snipped them, glued them flat to the canvas, and cleverly covered the spot by making another latkan. I also crafted a woollen tassel, which I inserted right into the latkan along with some beautiful beads. It hid the piping ends perfectly!

This project was just incredibly fun to put together. As I always say: if you wake up one day and you just do not feel like doing the housework, make latkans instead!

I am so thrilled with my new artistic bag, and I cannot wait to show it off at the Vancouver Island Exhibition. Thank you so much for joining me, and happy crafting!