Make a Tote Bag with a Free Teacher Appreciation SVG Download

Grab this free Teacher Appreciation SVG and whip up a tote bag that’s way better than another mug—handmade, useful, and straight from the heart.

Canvas tote bag with red school supply illustrations, filled with glitter notebooks and surrounded by pencils and markers on a white background.

If you're looking for diy projects to gift your favorite teacher, this one's a winner.

A handmade tote bag is something they’ll actually use, and with this free Teacher Appreciation SVG, you can add a personal touch that’s equal parts fun and heartfelt.

This simple project makes it easy to say thank you in style—for Teacher Appreciation Week, an end-of-year gift, or just because.

Plus, there are 16 more Free Teacher Appreciation SVG designs at the bottom of the tutorial!

Jump to:

Craft Video Tutorial
Supply List
Measure
Cricut Design Space
Weed Iron-On
Apply Iron-on
Final Thoughts
More Free Teacher SVG Files

Skill Level: Beginner

Total Time: 30 minutes

Craft Video Tutorial

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Supply List

Craft supplies for a tote bag project including red iron-on vinyl, Cricut weeding tool, blank canvas tote bag, and green Cricut StandardGrip cutting mat.

School-themed heart-shaped SVG design featuring pencils, scissors, ruler, glue, backpack, and other supplies in a hand-drawn red outline style.

Measure

First, measure the front of your tote bag to decide how big the design should be.

Hands measuring the center of a blank canvas tote bag using a wooden ruler, preparing for crafting or design placement.

My bag front is about 11.5 inches tall, so I will cut the design 8 inches tall.

Cricut Design Space

For the following steps, I'll be using Cricut Design Space.

If you use Silhouette Studio or a different design software, your steps may be different than mine.

To start, upload the SVG into Cricut Design Space and add it to your Canvas.

Design of school supplies arranged in a heart shape displayed in Cricut Design Space, ready for cutting or crafting projects like tote bags or t-shirts.

The only change I need to make to this file is the size.

Above, I measured my tote and decided on 8 inches tall.

On a device, the path is Edit, Height. Type the new height (8), keeping the ratio locked.

On a computer, change the height at the top of the screen to 8.

The design is now ready to be cut. Click Make.

The next screen is the Mat Preview.

I made sure to mirror the design since I am using Iron-on.

Cricut Design Space showing a mirrored school supply heart SVG layout on a 12x12 cutting mat, ready for heat transfer vinyl application.

Then, I can select my material, which is Foil Iron-on.

Place the material on the mat with the shiny side down. The color goes down for the foil, and the white is on top.

Hands placing red foil iron-on vinyl shiny side down onto a green Cricut StandardGrip cutting mat, preparing it for cutting with a Cricut machine.

Load the mat into the Cricut and begin the cut.

Cricut Maker 3 cutting red foil iron-on vinyl on a green StandardGrip mat, preparing a design for heat transfer onto fabric or other surfaces.

Weed Iron-On

I love to weed iron-on because it is so easy.

I leave the vinyl on the mat to weed, then start in the corner and remove the material from the transfer liner.

Don't forget the inside of the letters.

Hands using a Cricut weeding tool to remove excess vinyl from a cut school supply heart design on a green StandardGrip mat.

When the design is weeded, I remove it from the mat and turn it over. Then, I can double-check to ensure I weeded all the pieces correctly.

Hands holding a completed red foil iron-on vinyl school supply heart design on transfer sheet, ready to be applied to fabric using heat press or iron.

Can you spot the tiny bit I missed? It is part of a pushin near the scissors. I fixed it!

Apply Iron-on

I am using my Cricut Autopress to apply the design.

To check the temperature settings, I go to the Cricut Heat Guide.

I enter the heat press I am using, the heat transfer material, and the base material.

It then gives me the temperature and time for the press application.

Cricut Heat Guide webpage showing settings for foil iron-on to cotton canvas: 290°F for 20 seconds, with a 5-second preheat and cool peel instructions.

I preheat the heat press, then place the tote for a quick press to remove the wrinkles.

Hands placing a blank cotton canvas tote bag onto a Cricut heat press, preheated to 290°F for a 20-second transfer application.

Center the design on the front of the tote and press according to the heat guide.

Hands centering a red foil school supply heart design on a blank tote bag, preparing for heat press transfer set at 290°F for 20 seconds.

With these materials, I am instructed to do a cool peel. So I wait until the plastic backing sheet is cool to the touch and then carefully peel it back.

Hands peeling off the clear liner sheet from a red foil school supply heart design on a tote bag after heat pressing, revealing the finished transfer.

If any part of the design pulls up with the transfer liner, lay it back down and press for one more cycle.

The handles of my tote were a bit wrinkled since I had been storing the bag for the perfect project. So I quickly grabbed my Mini Press to make them look fresh and wrinkle-free.