INFO FOR ALL

It seems some folk are having problems finding these tutorials so I am putting the links here in the hope it makes it easier for you to find the way I make my Postcards.

I hope they work.

POSTCARD TUTORIAL PART TWO

POSTCARD TUTORIAL PART ONE

THE FINISHED CORDED POSTCARDS

Here are all the cards made using the samples done in the previous post.
I hope you feel they look good now they are completely finished.
I am rather pleased with the way they turned out.



If you remember, the one on the left was 'short'
I just added a nice wide ribbon for a bit of glitz and of course
to finish the card off,
The 'gold' one on the right, I also added some ribbon, just for fun,
then I did some quilting in between the channels, again,
just for fun.

I do hope you will have a go at this technique
Just a thought......
Why not use something other than 100% Cotton,
Silk or a shiny satin would give lovely raised channels
Ohh
I may just have to have a go at this myself

CORDED QUILTING

This Technique is generally known as ITALIAN CORDED QUILTING, as a very soft thick cream wool is used for filling the channels made, the wool is, I believe, Italian. It is fairly expensive, so I would suggest you don't use it for a Postcard, unless of course you wish to. I use all sort of things, but not that as you will see.

Fabrics for the Postcard -
Background Cotton fabrics and muslin, --also known as cheesecloth
NO WADDING NEEDED FOR THIS METHOD,



the muslin [cheesecloth] goes behind the top fabric, two rows of stitching are done,
you can use a twin needle if you are happy with those, I just used the edge
of the foot to judge the distance, to show you it is not necessary to have
anything extra to what you already have for your machine...

see - here I am pointing that fact out...



just merrily stitch some pairs of lines, as many as you wish,
in whatever design you wish,
these were very random...
I also used different threads in the machine, because;
I felt like it...

Here are the things I am going to use to stuff the channels,
as you can see I have lots of different wools, scraps of voile even...

ribbons, plain wools, fancy wools...

you need a wool needle or a bodkin it used to be called, it has to
be able to be threaded and passed through the narrow channels you have just sewn...

you thread from the BACK, through the muslin, just poke the needle
in the muslin to create a hole, and thread away,
BUT
NOT SO THIS HAPPENS...

just go the length of the needle then poke through the muslin again,
bring the needle back up, leave a little loop - only a little one, then go back in
the muslin and continue on your merry way,
until you get to the end of the line...
I think that is a song by the Wilberry's

see, like this...

length of the needle then up...

will look like this when you have done a row,
OK this is exaggerated just so you get the idea...

give your fabric a little 'yank' [sorry USA folk]
some of the dots will settle into the fabric, this should happen;
Continue threading the needle with various threads,
or all same one, it is your decision to make,
your card will look something like this on the front...

and something like this on the back;
what a mess, I hear you saying,
do not worry, give that little yank, a lot disappears...

here is a different card I have been threading some voile through
the channels, see the difference, YOU MUST use very bright
colours for the threads to show on the front by the way...

here is the back of the 'voiled' card...
I know there is no such word, I just created it...

Yet another showing some cords running through,
real cord this time and I used it triple in the needle to get
the channel filled up...



here is the back of that card,
it looks as though I used fabric on the back of this one,
you can, its just the muslin is a lot easier to poke holes in...

I had made a large piece of fabric for this method, I am now
placing two postcard blanks onto it to see if I can get two from it...

flip over to the front, just to check...

Yep, I managed to get two cards from that one piece of fabric I corded,
Card 1 -
oh look, it is a bit short on the sides, not to worry see later what I do for that...

Card 2 -

They now need backing with the address fabric then the edges need
finishing off, then they can be posted to whoever.

I do hope this has helped you with the method for this Technique, it is not every bodies
favourite I know, but for a Postcard or two it can be just enough fun.
Enjoy
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THE COMPLETED CARD

Here is the completed SHADOW QUILTED card ready for posting if I wish.

SHADOW APPLIQUE

TUTORIAL FOR SHADOW APPLIQUE

In my role as Moderator for FABRICARDS, see link to join this group on the right...
I have been given one of the swaps to organise in the Database.
My first swap I chose to be a Technique
- Shadow Applique/Quilting -
Here then, is a tutorial of how I do this,
there will be other places to see this done by experts of course,
but this is to give you the quick lowdown on it.
I have made deliberate mistakes on this to show you the common pitfalls when doing this technique, off we go then..

This is my base fabric,
I do actually place a piece of wadding behind,
I just forgot it on this photo...


The next two pictures are showing you how the fabric dulls down
when you place the voile on the top...

These are the three fabrics I shall be using,
these three pictures show you different coloured voile's over the top
and the re-action to the fabrics again...
PINK VOILE.............................BLUE VOILE.........................WHITE VOILE....................

I have cut rectangles from the three fabrics I am going to use
and placed them on the white background, with the wadding/batting underneath that,
I have placed a piece of voile over them,
then, just so you can see the re-action to the colours,
I have put a piece of each of them on the top of the voile,
they will be removed when I sew of course...

Here I have sewn round all three of the shapes,
I have used a block thread so you can see it has to be right up close,
normally I would have used the background fabric colour thread of course,
here is the first error,
a stray thread, can you see it...

another fault- the fabric was frayed at the edge, look close...

another stray thread, albeit a small one,
you still don't want it there...

This sticks out like a sore thumb;
the stitching is too far away from the edge of the fabric under the voile,
if its not right at the edge, the piece underneath can move about,
NOT a good idea...

Here is a stray blob of cotton, you have to check and check again for things like this...

Oh dear, the stitching has gone away from the edge again,
and curved, messy looking isn't it...

Good grief, this time the stitching has
actually gone right onto the little piece of fabric,
this is NOT what you are aiming for,
IF
you are extremely careful you could sew right along the edge,
but that is very difficult to achieve,
so I would suggest you stitch along the outside edge of your shapes.

So there you have it. My tutorial for Shadow Applique. As I said I have done all the errors deliberately for you. You obviously will do them perfectly. It is an amazingly quick technique to do, not sure I would use it in a Quilt, although it would be very pretty.
You can put anything under the voile, a motif you like could be really pretty.
Buttons or beads, just make sure you stitch round them so they don't move.
Also there are so many different shades of voile's these days,
you don't have to stick to white anymore, just be aware of the colour change.
Have fun experimenting with this and look out for stray threads.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

POSTCARD FLOWER POT

HOW DID I MAKE IT?

Here is some information for those of you who would like to make a similar card as this one. Noel I know you would like to do one so here you go.....

The background is a basic Attic Window patchwork block, I just stitched thick lines for the diamond window effect, in a BROWN thread, not black, too harsh. I then satin stitched the other edges.

The flowers were white, I just 'painted' these with felt tips to make them pink, [you can do whatever colour you like of course. I will let you hahahaha Make sure they are well and truly dry before attaching to your card though, particularly if it is white or cream.] They are wired flowers so you can bend them to how you want them to be placed. I used mono filament thread and zigzagged over the stems for a short length.

The flower pot I made with a piece of washing up cloth I bought from the pound shop, it is like thin felt. I first coloured it purple but didn't like it so went over it with brown, dabbing the felt tip on so I got the 'mottled' effect. You could just use a piece of brown felt I guess, but I think this looks nicer. I straight stitched round the pot - not the top though, at least I don't think I did the top!!

The little card - I cut a piece of thin pelmet vilene 1/2" x 1", folded it in half, stuck a piece of fabric on it, then wrote MUM on the front and inside...'with love'.................[you of course can put what you like!! I will let you. hahahaha] I attached this little card to the main part by stitching inside just down the fold, so it stands free as it were.

Then I just finished the card as I do all my others, see tutorial elsewhere on Blog for that info.

TA DA. Finito.

Hope this helps anyone out who wishes to make one. :-)

POSTCARD TUTORIAL PART TWO

FINISHING THE POSTCARD - MY WAY

Here then is how I finish the EDGES of my Postcards. You will think I am a fussy old bird, but this is how I do every single one, I do like them to look nice and acceptable. Again, if you 'click' on the pictures you will get a better view of what I am talking about. I am sorry there are so many, I tried to get every step pictured as I went along. It made for a LOT of pictures.
ABOVE

Picture 1 - I am auditioning fabric for the back, plus there is a piece of Bondaweb and pelmet Vilene. Don't forget the wrong side of your fabrics, that could be just what you are looking for. I opted to use the lilac mix fabric for the back.

Picture 2 - Pressing the Bondaweb to the back of the picture.

Picture 3 - I have already pressed the pelmet Vilene, to the fabric I shall use for the address side, and am now trimming the edges.

BELOW...
Picture 4 - peeling off the Bondaweb's backing
Picture 5 - placing the pelmet covered Vilene onto the Bondawebbed front
Picture 6 - pressing well to stick it down.




Picture 7 - trimming off the excess Vilene, there is always a bit over the edges
Picture 8 - Ready to stitch edges
Picture 9 - auditioning thread for edge, I like this one it kind of matches the Dragonfly




Picture 10 - machine showing how it is set for first round of stitching,
Picture 11 - I use an open zigzag to go round first to set the edges
Picture 12 - All edges zigzagged but look, some stray ends always appear

Picture 13 - So I take my trusty curved scissors and snip them all away, it is now ready to have the closed zigzag stitching done, or satin stitch if you prefer

Picture 14 - Machine showing the settings I have altered for the satin stitching
Picture 15 - and off we go




Picture 16 - About an inch from the corner I start to 'turn' the card
Picture 17 - see what I mean, just swing it round so when you hit the corner
Picture 18 - You are at a 90degree angle, like a mitre if you see what I mean




Picture 19 - Now swing it round straight and continue stitching down the long edge
Picture 20 - Another corner coming up, start swinging that card

Picture 21 - To get the mitre edge again, it doesn't look as though your stitches have altered on the card, so don't go looking for a mitre, go all the way round but swinging it at all four corners.

Picture 22 - Hmm this hasn't come out very well, I wanted you to see that occasionally you get a little white showing through at the corners, or indeed sometimes along the long edges...what to do?

Picture 23 - Get your kids or in my case, my GD's felt tips and use a colour that matches your thread, colour over the white and no-one will ever know your stitching didn't cover the corners perfectly!! Neat trick huh! You will never have whitey corners again folks.

Picture 24 - OK its all nice and zigzagged round the edges, but this is where sometimes I feel it needs, just a little more. So I get my sparkly threads, and wind some onto a bobbin. Yep, a bobbin.

Picture 25 - I alter my TOP TENSION to a higher number, because I want the bobbin thread to run smooth, if I leave it at a normal tension it will pull tight. No good.

Picture 26 - I alter the width and length, I open them up, I do not want a satin stitch for this, it is just a decorative sparkle I am after.

Picture 27 - Again not a good picture, sorry, it is just showing you the OPEN zigzag I use to go round, ON THE BACKSIDE of the card, remember the BOBBIN has the thread you want to see on the front of the card so you have to work UP SIDE DOWN. You get used to it.

Picture 28 - You may be able to see this a bit better if you click on it, its showing the open stitch on back of card, sparkle thread is underneath don't forget.

Picture 29 - TADA..all finished ready to post.
Picture 30 - says it all.

I have really enjoyed doing this 'class' it did 'stretch' my imagination as to how to do the pictures for it. I have to tell you that I was taking the very LAST ONE, and hubby casually said,

"Why didn't you do a video on your camera and download that?"

You can fill in the blanks!!

Actually I didn't know my camera did that. You live and learn, well I will when I find out how to do it.
Any queries? Please do feel free ask me, as I tell my ladies at my group, that is what I am here for.