Making custom stamped fabric is a fun way to personalize a gift for your favorite guy this Father’s Day. My husband is a beekeeper so I decided that a honeycomb design would be fitting, but the possibilities are endless. I also considered other motifs like anchors or mountains or even a monogram–all of them would be really nice for this project as well. Fill the dopp kit with a few of his favorites, like aftershave, and you have a unique and thoughtful gift this Father’s Day. This tutorial walks you through sewing your own bag, but you could always purchase a cotton bag that is already made and try the stamps on it too.

Supplies needed:

  • 9 in. zipper
  • Thick fusible fabric interfacing (thick enough to give the fabric structure)
  • 12 in. x 12 in. fabric (I used a quilting weight cotton)
  • Faux leather paper
  • Silhouette CAMEO®
  • 12 in. x 12 in. CAMEO Cutting Mat
  • Silhouette Fabric Blade
  • Thread
  • Sewing machine
  • Iron
  • Silhouette Mint™ Custom Stamp Maker
  • Silhouette Mint™ Ink
  • 45 mm x 45 mm Silhouette Mint™ Stamp Kit

Cut out the fabric to print on

  1. Fuse interfacing to the back of the fabric with an iron. Place fabric on cutting mat.
  2. Use the Draw a Line tool in Silhouette Studio® to draw out the shape of the bag. Then, use the Fabric Blade on the CAMEO to cut out the dopp kit (or other project! Stamp your own custom fabric and use it to make anything!) Find out how to use the CAMEO for cutting fabric by reading this project tutorial here.
  3.  Cut out 2 in. x 0.5 in. tabs from the Faux Leather Paper on the CAMEO as well

Make a stamp & print the fabric

  1. Use the Mint to make a stamp of your design and apply ink as you would for paper. See more details here.
  2. Stamp on the fabric by pressing down firmly for a full thirty seconds before lifting. Expect to get about four nice impressions before re-inking. Choose a design that is graphic and crisp for the best results on the fabric.

Assemble the dopp kit

  1. Using a sewing machine, sew the zipper along the two straight sides of the bag, press the fabric away from the zipper, and sew close to the edge of the pressed fabric to topstitch.
  2. With right sides together line up the top and bottom of the bag. Tuck the faux leather tabs folded in half at the ends of the zipper. Sew across the ends.
  3. Now line up the two sides of the bag with right sides together and sew from top to bottom along all four corners. Make sure to open a zipper a bit before sewing the last corner so that it is easy to flip right side out.

That’s it! Congrats you made a bag that’s totally custom! Now just pick out a few little things to fill it and you’re ready to gift it to your man.

What are you going to stamp onto fabric to make a special and unique Father’s Day gift?