Summer of Colour - Week 2

This weeks Summer of Colour challenge was orange and hot pink. R requested that we do some "sewing machine art", so we made these fabric postcards.

We raided the fabric scraps stash for the correct colours.

To make them yourself you will need a sewing machine, fabric scraps, plain backing fabric, fusible webbing (Bondaweb or similar), craft weight/pelmet/heavy Vilene interlining, sewing thread, baking paper and an iron. I get my supplies shipped from the UK from Cotton Patch, which is way cheaper than anywhere in Australia even with the postage.

Firstly cut 1 piece of Vilene, 2 pieces of Bondaweb and 1 piece of backing fabric to slightly larger than your finished card size (4 1/8 inch by 6 1/8 inch for a 4 by 6 postcard). You will also need some smaller pieces of Bondaweb ready to attach your motif.

Iron one of the the Bondaweb sheets to the Vilene (use baking paper to protect your iron and ironing board) and then remove the backing.

Cut you background fabric pieces into rough rectangles.

Place the rectangles onto the glue web side of the Vilene. Overlap them a little so the whole thing is covered.

Place the whole thing between the baking paper and iron again so the patches are attached. Don't worry if some of the edges are a little loose.

Next sew over the whole thing in any way you like to add pattern and to secure the pieces. R loved doing this and soon got the hang of how to use the machine.

Choose fabric scraps for your motif. Iron some Bondaweb onto the back of your scraps BEFORE you cut out the motif. You can draw the motif on the paper backing and then cut out the motif.

Once the motif is cut out take the backing paper off and place glue side down onto your background.

Iron the motif onto the background. You can finish your motif here like L did.

Fabric postcard by L

If you want to add detail and also make your card stronger then sew over or around you motif. If you have a random design, like R, just go over all the pieces randomly.

Fabric postcard by R

If you have a pictorial motif you might want to go around it in satin stitch.

Fabric postcard by Mum

You may want to add some hand stitches or other embellishments to the card.

Once the design is finished use the last piece of Bondaweb to iron on the plain backing fabric, I just use white cotton. Use rotary cutter and ruler (or scissors) to trim and square up the edges.

To finish the edges sew a zig-zag or satin stitch all around the outside. Place the card under the machines foot so the zig-zag sews off the edge and wraps it as it goes.

You can write directly on these cards, stick a stamp on and actually send them through the post "naked". If you have added lots of embellishments then just send them in an envelope as the post sorting machines can tear off 3D parts.

The thing I love about making these is that they are small enough to experiment with techniques without wasting to much material. For R especially it was all about the process and using the machine. We found putting the machines control pedal on a step stool made it high enough for him to reach. L was still too small so she sat on my lap to manipulate the fabric while I did the pedal for her.

Use a step stool to raise up the control pedal.