Christmas Fabric Postcards

It has been a while since I posted anything on my blog. Let's just say life has been busy. I made these fabric postcards which were a lot of fun and quick to do. Well, quicker than most things I do. Since my husband is a yoga instructor I thought I would make some Christmas fabric postcards with a yoga theme. I first made the templates and used those to cut out the shapes. I used fast2fuse to adhere the fronts and back then sewed around the edges with a zigzag stitch. The cards are 4x6 inches. You can write on the back with any pen and they can be mailed. They can also be given as a small gift. Again I say I am not a photographer so please keep that in mind when you view the cards. I believe you can click on the pictures to enlarge and they may come out brighter.

What's On My Mind

I have been wanting to do something like this for a while. When I was in nursing school studying functions of the brain I was fascinated by how intricate and complex the system is with it's communication to the rest of the body. Weird, I know! The background fabric reminds me of brain synapse. I cut the silhouette of the head from felt and hand embroidered it. The small brain scans I found on the Internet and photo transferred them to hand dyed fabric. The piece is machine quilted, hand felted and hand embroidered. It is mounted on a commercial canvas. UPDATE: This piece was just accepted into the Fiber Artists of San Antonio 2009 annual exhibition.

Using Rub-On Transfers on Fabric

Perhaps everyone knew this could be done except me but I learned this by just experimenting. I bought some Tulip rub-on transfers, the kind you use on paper, wood, metal, etc. I wanted to know how it would look on fabric so I cut one out and rubbed it on a piece of fabric with the stick included with the transfers. I was surprised to find it adhered perfectly to the fabric. The colors came out bright and distinct. I thought it could be used as a easy, inexpensive embellishment. Sorry, I didn't take a picture of it.

Put On Your Red Dress, Mama

This was a fun piece to do. I used a computer image of a model to make the black silhouette. I first made a template then used that to cut out the silhouette from black cotton fabric. It was then fused to the silk. The red dress is cotton fabric and netting I just manipulated until it looked right then hand sewed it to the silk. The dress stands out from the background. I like the contrast of fabrics and colors. It is machine and hand stitch, hand beaded.

Stargazer

Stargazer was appliqued with commercial and hand dyed fabrics. It is hand embroidered. I see her as lying in the grass "star dreaming", floating in the universe with the stars, the roots keeping her grounded with the earth.

Create Your Own Digital Stamps

I am just learning to use photoshop and must say it has intimidated me for a long time. Many probably already know how to do this but it is my first effort. I found the tutorial from Gillian Allen on the art-e-zine website. It is too lengthy to post here but if you go to her website or the art-e-zine website you can pull up the instructions. This is a way to make any image into a stamp you save on your computer. Then they can be printed out on fabric or paper.

The one I posted here was made from a photo I took of dried poppy heads in my garden. Im still refining the technique.

Oil Pastel on Fabric

This was really fun and my first attempt at water soluble oil pastels on fabric. I found some shiny, silky fabric in my stash I wanted to use. I put the fabric over a antique wooden cookie press and did the rubbing with the water soluble oil pastels. Next I put the fabric between a piece of cloth and parchment paper and heat set it with a hot, dry iron. It is interesting to see how the colors begin to blend as it is heat set. Now I am thinking of all sorts of things to use for fabric rubbings. Man hole covers you see in the street come to mind. Some have beautiful scroll work---just watch for cars! I think anything with a raised, firm design would work. The true, intense colors don't show well on this photo but the idea is there.