Tangled Thread

July 4th, 2007

art postcard contest

Have you tried making an art postcard?  They’re like a large version of an artist trading card, but can be sent through the mail.  I’ve seen some spectacular art cards!

Art Card Ideas is running a contest to find the best 52 art postcards they can.  The postcards will then be published in their  new “Art […]

By Chloe -- 1 comment

June 1st, 2007

Ribbons & Trims

I got this in the mail yesterday… oh my goodness, too much fun!  It’s a new release from Crown Publishing, and written by Annabel Lewis, a designer & ribbon shop owner.
I’ve got an incredibly busy weekend ahead of me, but I’ll be trying a few projects from the book & will share them with all […]

By Chloe -- 0 comments

May 1st, 2007

easy ribbon roses

I learned this method of making roses out of ribbon as a child, and have been making them ever since.  They’re easy, look great and work with different widths of ribbon.
For this demo I used 1 1/2 inch wide grosgrain ribbon.
Cut a length of ribbon approximately 18″ to 24″ long (shorter if you’re using narrower […]

By Chloe -- 7 comments

March 19th, 2007

monogrammed stationary part 2

Sorry about the lack of posts yesterday - I had about half an hour yesterday to deal with email… and that was it!
Here’s photos of the four finished cards - like all my work posted here, these are copyrighted & cannot be copied for sale or donation without my express written permission.

I used watercolor paper […]

By Chloe -- 0 comments

March 17th, 2007

making your own monogrammed stationary

I’ve had a set of silk swatches sitting (boy, say that fast 3 times!) on my studio desk for awhile now:
I decided that they would be perfect to use as my background for the embroidered cards. I ironed on a heavy-weight fusible interfacing (not necessary, but it’s sooo much easier this way!) and trimmed […]

By Chloe -- 2 comments

March 15th, 2007

machine fusion fabric part 7

I’m going to quilt this piece of fabric onto a fabric backing, using quilting stitches to echo the look of the leaves.

I also like to mount these on stretched canvas:

You can also turn the raw edges under if you prefer a cleaner look.  I like the soft, frayed edges that the raw silk & wool […]

By Chloe -- 5 comments

March 15th, 2007

machine fusion fabric part 6

I decided to finish off this piece by hand-stitching around some of the painted areas.  I used a flat satin ribbon and a thicker metallic thread around the leaves, and a satin ribbon to highlight the yellow roses.

I’ve also used metallic sewing machine thread and beads to embellish the surface.

Here’s a shot of the finished […]

By Chloe -- 0 comments

March 14th, 2007

machine fusion fabric part 5

This is a completely optional step… I don’t always use paint on the fusion fabric - but in this case, I like the effect.
I’m using one of my favorite fabric paints (Lumiere by Jacquard) in halo pink-gold, metallic gold & metallic olive green.  I added small lines around some of the stitching & added lines […]

By Chloe -- 1 comment

March 13th, 2007

machine fusion fabric part 4

It’s time to fill in the little gaps on the fabric and add another layer of color:

I’ve used a cherry red & a darker green to fill in the background.  Using different colored sewing machine thread will add depth & richness to the finished piece.
Here’s a close-up of the surface:

You can now dissolve the top […]

By Chloe -- 0 comments

March 12th, 2007

machine fusion fabric part 2

In my last post, we had started to build the background layers of the fabric.  Now it’s time to build some decorative foreground layers:

I’ve cut out several printed flowers (yes, my stash does tend to look like an enthusiastic moth was in it :-) )  And placed them on the wool/silk layers from before.

I’ve gently […]

By Chloe -- 3 comments