Enter Foolish Mortals

 Hello Friends,

Great to be here today to talk about the Eclectic Elements fabric line, Laboratory! The YouTube live had so many samples for all levels of sewers. It was so inspiring to see all the makes up close and have Tim talk about each of them. I'm starting off sharing how I created the small banner. This one just came to me and I knew I had to make it. Follow along and I'll show you how I created it.

I cut two 10 x 12" pieces of Anatomy, then cut a point using the bottom 3 inches. 

I cut a matching piece of Pellon Fusible Fleece 987F that I ironed on to one side of the fabric. 

To quilt the front of the banner, I use a cheap Pilot "FriXion" erasable pen (you can buy it at any Walmart or Target office supply section) to mark my stitching lines. I love this pen for marking fabric because it just works so easily. Absolutely worth the $2 it cost.

Once marked. I just sewed right over the lines until I finish the pattern.

Then just iron over the pattern and the pen marking disappears like magic.

And just like that the pattern is done.

I added the fabric back on the banner, then worked on binding the fabric piece together with the purple Tapestry fabric. I'm not going to explain how to do binding here, as there are so many YouTube videos that show and explain how to do it. I will link to the video I always go to when I need a refresh on binding. I will say, once you try this method, you'll never do it another way. Here is the link... Brilliant Machine Binding Method

The Letters

To make the letters, you need two things along with the Sizzix Alphanumeric Bulletin die. Heat n' Bond + a Stiffened Felt Sheet. I found the 12 x 18" Stiffened Felt at Hobby Lobby for .99 cents a sheet. You only have to touch it to know why it's called a Stiffened Felt Sheet and not just felt. If you are at Hobby Lobby it is in racks next to the regular craft felt.

Cut 2 1/2" strips of Stiffened Felt, fabric and Heat n' Bond.

Iron the Heat n' Bond onto the Stiffened Felt, then pull away the release paper once cooled.

Next, iron the Fabric onto the Heat n' Bond/Felt. Basically you are making a sandwich of Heat n' Bond with felt on one side, fabric on the other.

And yes, that is a craft sheet protecting my ironing board cover from the Heat n' Bond. One of those "just in case" scenarios. 

I used the Alphanumeric Bulletin die for this project since the letters are the perfect size. This die also comes with that all important border piece that really completes each letter. 

I found that I could get a cleaner cut when I cut small groups of letters at time, rather than 10 or 12 letters on a large sheet (and it was much easier to handle). So I cut my 2 1/2" strip into 4" pieces - I could run 4 letters at a time. Every single letter came out of the die with a perfect cut.

I discarded the thin outside border (that is also cut by the die), but you could save them for use on another project if you wish. for this project I am just using the letters seen at the bottom.

After I cut out all the purple letters that I needed. I went back and cut the same exact letters in black felt, but this time I only used the outside edge (the letters were saved for another project). That black edge was added to each purple letter.

I laid out all the letters on the banner (no glue) just to get the basic spacing. Right now the black outline is still a bit wobbly but once glued down, you will never detect that the purple letter and the black border are two separate pieces.

I added Fabric Glue with a small brush, then added each letter to the banner. I like using the fabric glue because I could easily control where I placed each letter and adjust as necessary.

As I added each letter, I used an old brush to wipe away any glue that oozed out.  Fabric glue dries clear so there was never a hint of any mess in the end.

I added 8mm grommets that I bought at Hobby Lobby. They come in a package with the tool, which makes them very east to use. All you need is a hammer.

You can see here the two sides of the grommet and the tool. 

1. Mark where you want the grommet to go.

2. punch a hole in the fabric to create a hole for the grommet.

3. Add the large side of the grommet to the hole in the fabric.

4. Add the small side of the grommet on the back.

5. Place on the black portion of the tool (it fits snugly).

6. Place the silver part of the tool on top and hit it with the hammer to close up the grommet.

It's just that easy. You can always practice on a scrap before setting the real thing.

I added chain, held on with idea-ology Swivel Clasps so my banner can hang on my door. And that's it!

The letters are not hard, but they take a bit of time. I think it was worth it to get the final result!
Now carry on,
paula

Eclectic Elements COLORBLOCK fabric

Hello friends,

Colorblock fabric has been out since last fall, but we still wanted to celebrate the release of such cool fabric in the Eclectic Elements line from Freespirit. 

Today I am sharing a few images of the projects my sister, Patty and I made for the Live. Also included is some basic information about each project and if a pattern was used. I will be showcasing each project in the coming days, so you can see it up close and have more information on how it was made. Of course the best way to "see" each project is to watch the LIVE on YouTube with Tim. Once the LIVE is over, Tim will post the link on his blog so you can watch any time that works for you!

Projects by Patty

1. Stacking Buckets - "Tub Family" by Rosie Taylor Crafts

2. Slide-down Pencil Case - Tamara's Joy Sewing Channel on YouTube 

3. Faux-patchwork Pillow - 16 x 16" pillow form

Projects by Paula

1. idea-ology vignette panel (9 x 9")

2. Cards w/ fabric

3. Apron - I used an old apron I had on hand as my pattern.

4. Etcetera Tag w/ Etcetera Facades.

Colorblock comes in 4 scales

Canvas - largest scale 

Quilting Cotton - in three scales called Patchwork, Tiled, and Mosaic.

*Just for reference, the apron was made with Tiled w/ a front pocket made of Mosaic

I know Simon Says Stamp has a limited supply of Colorblock cut pieces. You can currently buy it in two cut forms:

1. Four Fat quarters (one of each print). Each Fat Quarter is18 x 21" 

2. Bundle of eight 10 x 10" squares (2 squares of each print)

If you are looking for cut yardage - just do a google search and multiple Etsy sellers will pop up, as well as Fat Quarter Shop (online retailer).

So there you have it. 

Like I said, I will be back shortly to share all the project shown here today.

now carry on,

paula

Fabric Flowers

Hello friends,

I have been sharing many of the Eclectic Elements fabric makes on Instagram, but today I have a step-out tutorial for the fabric flowers here on the blog.  I did not create this pattern/idea.  I found it on Pinterest back in 2013 (I'll link it at the bottom).  The flowers are easy to make but you do need a sewing machine for the gathering stitch. When you make them assembly line style (cut all fabric, iron all fabric, stitch all fabric, gather all fabric, etc...) a bunch of flowers can come together in an afternoon.  

What you will need:

sewing machine

5 x 44" fabric strips (one for each flower)

sticks for stems (about 12" long)

hot glue gun (with lots of glue sticks at the ready)

fabric marking pen

thread

scissors

pinking sheers (optional)

iron

So lets get started with the fabrics I used:

Spellbound - orange damask

Crossbones - skeletons

Manor - rosette 

Foreboding - Plaid

Spells - text (flower is in the back and not shown above)

I cut the five different Eclectic Elements fabrics into 5" strips (5 x 44").  

(My fabric came from a bolt so it is 44" wide)

Fold the strip in half and iron so you have a strip that is 2 1/2 x 44".

Move to the sewing machine and run basting/gathering stitch, using the pressed seam as your guide (you will gather this later so leave your threads long).

Use a marking pen to mark the fabric about every 2 1/2 to 3".  

NOTE: You can mark the fabric on either the raw edge side or the folded side.  If you mark on the raw side, the marks will be cut away, so you can use whatever pen you want (like a Sharpie in a pinch).

On one end of the strip, you need to cut a 4-5" tail. Mine is kind of a hack job so I am sure yours will look better.

Use the marks as an indicator to sew the scallop shapes. I like to sew at least half way down the width of the 2 1/2" strip so I get a floppy petal.  You can see my sewn scallops are not even and kind of wonky.  You could use the Mark-Be-Gone pen to draw the scallops before you start but I just went for it.

NOTE: There is also the option to cut the scallops and then sew, but I thought this way was easier and came out fine in the end.  

Next is to cut around the scallops with pinking sheers.  If you don't have pinking sheers, just use regular fabric scissors.

Now that you have cut around the scallops, it's time to gather the basting thread to begin shaping the flower.

Take the tail of the fabric and make a knot around your stick (your stem). Think of the shape of the center of a rose, it kinda looks like that!  Your goal here is to cover the end of the stick.

Use a hot glue gun to secure the tail to the stick (this area will get covered up).

Now start wrapping, gluing, wrapping, glueing until the flower is formed.

What I have learned is that at first, the fabric is glued to the stick, but after that, the fabric is glued to itself.

This makes much more sense when you see the finished flower from the bottom.  You can see the flower is flat at the bottom because of gluing the fabric to itself, not to the stick.  This method makes the flower full rather than being stretched-out down the stem.

I bought black leaves at Joann (they were part of the bunch of black roses). Five leaf stems came on the black rose bush which worked perfectly since I was making 5 flowers.  I just hot glued the leaves into place.  

NOTE: You never really see the underside of the flower, but if you were concerned, you always could add some Spanish Moss with more hot glue.

Well, there is the flower tutorial. I hope this was helpful and NOT too confusing! Once you make one, you will know what method works best for you.  

The flowers look great in an old apothecary bottle.  I could swear I just saw bottles like these at Joann!

Props to the original maker of these fabric flowers - see her blog post from 2010 here.  She stopped blogging in 2015 but the blog post is still available.

Now carry on,
paula

Ladies Who Lunch

Hello Friends,

May has been a very busy month - most of which has been behind the scenes work.  Some of you may have "seen" that I was at also Tim's in May for a production meeting that collided with a Saturday Live about the Tonic Media Mat.  I say,"seen" because I actually stepped in front of the camera a couple times to to "Hi and Bye" to the audience.  It was a fun experience to see what happens behind the scenes when Tim is on Live.  He has a true gift for thinking on his feet and being able to intelligently speak at the same time.  That is not something I was blessed with.

Any-who! this post is on the 9 x 9" Display Panel I created for the Embark release.  This is just so simple that you can see exactly how it is done without me telling you, but I will attempt to at least tell you about the basic things I used to create it.

Gather these products or something similar:

idea-ology Display Panel

Backdrops 4 (the neutral pack)

*wood squares (1-1/2" tall x 1-1/2" wide x 3/16" thick)

Embark Fabric

Collage Medium

*Purchased at craftparts.com (pack of 25 is $4.50)

1.  I covered the front of the Display Panel with a couple sheets of Backdrop paper.  I picked two neutral pieces so the fabric squares would stand out.  I left the sides just plain wood but you could paint or cover with paper.

2. I cut random pieces of 4 different Embark Fabric for the squares.  I cut the fabric larger than the wood piece, then once glued, I trimmed away the excess fabric.  

3. Once the squares were ready, I tried different patterns on the panel before deciding on this simple one. 

Once I made the final decision, I used my Design Ruler to give me a straight line to work from.  I added Collage Medium to the back of the 4 squares on the right, lining them up with the Ruler.  NOTE: when the Collage Medium is put on in a small blob, rather than brushed on, it takes longer to dry.  Giving you time to move the squares into the correct position.

Once the right side was in place, I moved the ruler to the top and added the additional 2 squares to make the top row.  The last six squares were then added to complete the pattern.

While the Collage Medium dried, I colored some Paper Dolls ladies (from the Groups pack) with Distress Crayons.  If you are wondering about the stripes I created on her coat, it was done by removing the Crayon...meaning, color the coat with the crayon of choice, then use a damp Detailer Water Brush to remove the color, thereby creating the stripes.

I added the Paper Dolls to the panel with foam squares, so I could slip the ephemera behind the ladies.  NOTE: the mint green ephemera that the lady is resting her arm on was too short, so I cut it in half and added each piece to the sides (you never see the gap in the center). 

I added the Bouquet Flowers along with leaves from the Layers Organic pack and some vintage lace. Once the flowers were in place, I used a very tiny paintbrush to color the center with Fossilized Amber Distress Paint.  Once the paint was dry, I cut a piece of sturdy wire and used the end to add the dot of black paint in the center.

The Thought Token was nailed right into the square with an idea-ology Tack Nail.

And that is it!  So simple to make and fun to add the texture of the Embark fabrics.  Simon Says Stamp sells an Embark pack of 10 x 10" squares, so if you don't already have yardage, you might think of purchasing it in small pieces.

now carry on,

paula