Embellishing in the Barn

Posted on November 8, 2010 by Linda Matthews

It always seems to take me a few days to wind down from my live teaching workshops because the students generate so much creative energy, and last Saturday’s workshop was no exception!

My group was an “art doll” group looking for some inspiration for embellishing and embellishments. And they didn’t have to look too far when I offered up my Titivations Workshop – a perfect choice!

There was lots of space for working in a lovely barn-like building.

Embellishing with Titivations

The students began by getting really creative with water soluble stabilizer, making needlelace …

Embellishing with Titivations

… and fiber doodles …

Embellishing with Titivations

… and creative cutwork designs …

Embellishing with Titivations

… and then scrounging through my supplies looking for fun bits of stuff to work with for the various other techniques they learned.

Embellishing with Titivations

Then finishing the day with a little surface design and learning a new technique for making “fabric skins” – very cool!

Embellishing with Titivations

So thank you ladies for having me; it’s always a pleasure when students are so brave, eager and willing to learn new techniques. It was a fun, busy day and I hope you’ve all recuperated!

I’m still working on my art doll which was my attempt at making a class sample for this group, and I hope to have her finished within the next week or so. She seems to be developing quite an attitude and personality each time I work with her.

Art Doll

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Making Fabric Postcards – Finishing the Edges

Posted on July 30, 2010 by Linda Matthews

As you know, machine wrapped cording is one of my favorite embellishments and I use it on many of my projects, particularly as a finishing edging.

I’ve used it on art quilts …

Circles Quilt

fabric journals …

Fabric Journal

and I particularly love using it to finish my Art Bags.

Fabric Journal

I get asked quite often how I get the ends of the cording to meet up so nicely. It’s a little difficult to explain without pictures, so while I was busy making fabric postcards for the upcoming Arts on Stage event – and don’t they look just delicious -

Fabric Postcards

I took a few photos for you to show you the technique.

First, begin by making a length of cording. If you haven’t made machine wrapped cording before, you’ll find instructions here on the tutorials page.

Then add a dab of fabric glue or fray check to the beginning end of the cording, allow it to dry, then snip the end cleanly with a small pair of sharp scissors. The glue seals the threads together so they don’t fray.

Fabric Postcards

Leave a tail of about an inch before you begin stitching. Butt the cording up right alongside the edge of your postcard and using a zigzag stitch, attach it to the postcard. When the zigzag stitch swings to the left, it stitches into the postcard; when it swings to the right it stitches into the cording. This takes a little practice. Attach the cording all the way round until about an inch or two from the end, then add another dab of fabric glue or fray check to the end of the cording where it will match up with the beginning.

Fabric Postcards

Nudge the beginning end, and the end tail of the cording up against each other, determine where the end cut should be, and snip the end cleanly.

Fabric Postcards

Butt the ends up against each other so they lie snugly together, and finish attaching the cording.

Fabric Postcards

Once finished stitching, add another drop of glue in between the butted ends and allow the dry.

Fabric Postcards

And that’s it! A perfect finish…

Fabric Postcards

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Things To Do With Injured Prints

Posted on May 28, 2010 by Linda Matthews

Before I upgraded to my new wide format Epson printer, I was using an old HP wide format to print my large images. It did a fair enough job but it was rather finicky about what what I fed through it and this resulted in a number of very large prints with some sort of misprint.

You can see on this photo that there is a stripe running through the print. This happened when the paper carrier got caught and wouldn’t feed although the printer kept printing. So it printed over the same section a few times before I managed to free it. As you can also see, it was only a few inches from the end of the print which was about 11″ x 15″ in size so it was a little annoying when it happened.

Image Transfer Wallet

I didn’t throw the print out knowing that one day I would find a use for it. And that day finally arrived when earlier this week I decided I needed a new wallet and this print was the perfect size once I trimmed away the misprinted piece. The finished size of the wallet is about 7.1/2″ x 4.1/2″ folded …

Image Transfer Wallet

… and about 11.1/2″ open. I used digital grounds to print the image so the color is very vibrant, and then I sealed it with a paint-on sealer so now the fabric is protected from dirt and grime and needs only a wipe to clean it, and it can also withstand the rough use that a wallet usually gets.

Image Transfer Wallet

The great thing about designing your own purses and wallets, is that you can make them to your own specifications and include extra pockets and holders as needed, so I added an open pocket for notes and a zipped pocket for change.

Image Transfer Wallet

I made the center section flip, so on the other side I have a pocket with a tab so I can store other bits and pieces securely, and also another open pocket for receipts and my check book.

Image Transfer Wallet

I edged it with some machine wrapped cording and a zig-zag stitch, and added a small unobtrusive snap for closure. I like the way the wallet turned out and I like it even more because I finally found a use for the print. Now, I just need to find uses for the other dozens of *injured* prints that I have lying around!

Image Transfer Wallet

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Linda Hearts Poppy

Posted on March 28, 2010 by Linda Matthews

I shared the other day about my new art bag “Poppy”. I *love* the design so much I just had to do another art bag, but this time I decided to do a different shape.

Art Bag

This one is a quite large, about 14″ wide x 10″ high and 3″ wide with an open top so this has now become my new shopping bag. And yes, I do get quite a few stares (I’m sure of envy) when I’m out shopping with it.

Art Bag

This time I edged the bag with a machine blanket stitch instead of a satin stitch, and of course some machine wrapped cording to finish it off. I *really* like the way it turned out.

Art Bag

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“Poppy” Art Bag

Posted on March 5, 2010 by Linda Matthews

I posted the other day about a journal cover I made using a digital art piece called “Poppy”. I really like this particular design so I used the design again to make this art bag. These art bags are made using digital art printed onto fabric treated with digital grounds and they are approximately 9″ high x 12″ long x 3″ wide.

I love this bag! The art bags, as well as being *art*, are also functional and this one hasn’t left my side since I finished it. It’s just big enough to hold my important stuff and I’ve taken it everywhere with me. It’s one of those accessories that just make you feel good, like a favorite piece of jewelry or a favorite dress. You can almost feel spring just around the corner.

Poppy Art Bag

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Art Bags

Posted on February 17, 2010 by Linda Matthews

Ever since I began using digital grounds for my inkjet prints, I’ve also began taking an interest in digital art. It’s taken more than a little re-education to understand fully how Photoshop can be used to create interesting art because the most I ever used Photoshop for was to tweak my photos, but it’s really turned out to be quite an interesting process. I plan to incorporate my digital art designs into some of my textile art pieces.

This is one of my first digital art designs; a photo of some magnolias blended on a gradiant background and overstamped with some handwriting.

Art Bag

And this is the same design printed onto fabric using digital grounds. The size is approx 9″ x 12″ and you can notice that the print is almost an exact color reproduction of the original and it has excellent clarity in the details. Next print though I think I’ll try another coat of digital grounds which will hopefully enhance the color even further.

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Attaching Invisible Magnetic Snaps

Posted on January 28, 2010 by Linda Matthews

I’ve been playing around making purses with unusual shapes and I really like this one with it’s wavy asymmetrical top edge. For both the inside and the outside of the purse, I used some fabric that has been airbrushed. I didn’t airbrush the fabric myself, but I picked it up at a quilt show some years ago and finally found the perfect project for it. The fabric on the front of the purse has a lovely ginkgo leaf design.

Fabric Purse

And the fabric on the back of the purse has a beautiful airbrushed “sweep” of color.

Fabric Purse

As this purse doesn’t have a closure flap, I used invisible magnetic snaps in order to keep it closed. Recently I posted a tutorial on how to attach standard magnetic snaps, so let me show you how easy it is to attach invisible magnetic snaps which are great for projects where you don’t want the snap to be visible.

This is what the invisible snaps look like – they are small circular magnets enclosed in a plastic pocket.

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Art Bag

Posted on December 30, 2009 by Linda Matthews

Art Bag
I’ve been working on this “art bag” project for a couple of weeks and just as I was about to finish it off yesterday, I thought it might be useful to someone to demonstrate how to attach a magnetic snap closure.

Magnetic snaps are a simple, quick and elegant way to attach a closure to a purse or bag, but they don’t come with instructions. I guess the manufacturers think that we should be smart enough to figure it out for ourselves, however if you’ve never attached one it can be a little confusing first time round about how they attach.

The magnetic snap comes in four pieces.

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Machine Wrapped Cording

Posted on January 25, 2009 by Linda Matthews

Machine wrapped cording is a simple technique with a variety of applications, and you can apply many additional options to make the cording unique and interesting.

Supply List

Sewing machine
Machine Feet
You can use a standard sewing machine foot, however a foot with a “tunnel” underneath, such as a beading foot or cording foot is ideal.
Base Cording
Anything that is flexible and thin enough to fit under the foot of your sewing machine will work for this type of cording.
- yarn – a great way to use up old, ugly yarn
- strips of fabric – a great way to use up that “what was I thinking” fabric
- string
- embroidery thread
- piping
Thread
You will need a variety of threads in cotton, rayon, polyester and metallic. This is a great technique for using up any old thread that you have lying around.

Instructions

Use the same thread in the bobbin as on the top.

Cut your base cording to the desired length. Three strands of 8ply yarn will produce approx 1/8” diameter cording.

Machine Wrapped Cording

Set your machine for zigzag stitch wide enough for the needle to swing entirely over the yarn on either side. Length should be about 1.5 – 2.0.

Allow about 2-3 inches of cording to extend out the back of your machine, and holding the tail of the cord with your left hand and twisting the front section with your right hand, guide the cording under the foot. You may need to pull slightly in order for it to feed through smoothly. Zigzag along the length of cording.

Machine Wrapped Cording

Shorten the length of your stitch to about .5, or shorter if you are using fine thread, and holding the cording in the same manner as previous, satin stitch the length of the cording.

Machine Wrapped Cording