Morning Dew Drops

A Mother's Work is Never Done

Bunny Mummies -- A Treasure Hunt of scraps, beads, jewelry, fabric, ribbons -- even coffee and paint.  Little silk ribbon bunnies around the lettering  rubbed with coffee and lace painted with acrylic paint in pastels.

ArtQuilt, Painting Canvas, Thread Stitching, Free-Motion

This started out on a piece of canvas torn from a  $9 painter's drop cloth.  I had no design in mind except I was going to have big blooms and somehow the face came into play, but more of an "on the side" item vs the flowers.

I had fun drawing & painting this art quilt.  It is not that big.  I would say 2.5 feet by 3.5 feet, but that is just an estimate.  I gave it to my sister-in-law as a present and I didn't record the final measurements.  She'll hang it as with a tapestry rod.

I'm not a traditional thread sketcher.  In fact, I have not done much of it as you can probably tell, but I'm enjoying the journey. I like thread sketching to get out of the lines rather than to stay in them.

I like the thread sketching to took look like it came out of my sketchbook (where I make quick sketches, not finished pieces) and it adds an additional texture & dimension.  I hope you enjoy!

Memory Flag for Memorial Day

Celebrating with the Fleur de lis

 A special mention in honor of those who have died fighting for our freedom here in the United States of America as we celebrate this Memorial Day Weekend.   

  Broken jewels, tattered lace, music notes and letters written over time with three fleur de lis as in the flags of Acadiana and New Orleans.  

Faded and translated held together with running stitches and a bracelet mailed to a sweetheart.

  

  No matter where they were stationed many traveled the globe,

  

fought and died from WWI to Vietnam, the Middle East and maybe even all the way back to the American Revolution as mine.  

 Layered antique pieces, remnants of our loved ones

remembered for our freedom.

 

 A fleur de lis memory flag 

 In Honor ofMemorial Day!

(tutorial tips below) 

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An Interview Last May

Morning Dewdrops Interview at Artists in Blogland

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  Please leave a comment and let us know what you think of our interview, celebrations or Memorial Day

What have you been celebrating lately?

Blessings Terri

Tutorial Tips

I've previously talked about Lutradur, a spunbounded synthetic fabric.  I stamped the fleur de lis with acrylic paint, then I ironed on magenta foil.  I had fun burning/distressing  the Lutradur with my heat gun.  The acrylic paint acts as a mask, so the fabric will not burn in that area.

 I created a second layer when I printed music and lettering directly onto the Lutradur without a carrier sheet. 

The layers are white craft felt, the letter writing layer, the fleur de lis layer, some tattered lace and torn scrim.  Then the entire flag was covered with metallic pink organza.  Make sure enough of all the layers show through.

Then I took embroidery thread and hand-stitched the layers together.  I used basic running stitches.  I wanted it to look pieced, not well put together, tattered and old.  I took jewels from bracelets, earrings and a necklace and sewed those on.  I did a little decorative embroidery stitches in a chain stitch. I hung the flag from a broken necklace.

I kept my pallete for the flag muted with antique/old fabric scraps and used only two other colors, pale pink and purple.

I enjoyed the process and journey this little flag took me on.  I hope some of these ideas inspire you and take you on a journey too.

 

Mardi Gras Ball Corset with Ribbon Embroidery

French Lace Hand Painted Corset in Pastel Colors

with Peeping Bustier

 

 

 

Side View 

 

 

 

 Lace up back with ribbon embroidery 

 

 

 

 Close up of embroidery 

 

 

 

 Ribbon embroidery on peeping bustier (middle)

  

  

 

 Ribbon embroidery on peeping bustier (left side)

 

 

 

 Ribbon embroidery on peeping bustier (right side)

 

 

Peeping Bustier from front of Corset

 

 

 

 

Hand beaded, hand painted, hand embroidered Mardi Gras Ball Corset with Peeping Bustier

 

 

Marblizing Fabric with Shaving Cream Part 2 of 2

We're posting Part 2 on Marblizing Fabric with Shaving Cream.  Please read

Part 1 of 2 

of the tutorial to learn about the supplies we used, tips and technique tricks and additional resources used. You're sure to love all the little extras we learned along the way to make this fun project even easier!

 

Part 2 is more about the sewing and completing the outfits.

 

 

Natalie loved mixing the paint into the shaving cream.  She soon was doing it all by herself  -- laying down the fabric and scraping off the shaving cream/paint mixture. 

  

 

 Natalie chose the blue and silver colors mentioned in Part 1 of 2

 

 

 

Natalie laid her tshirt in the paint/cream and scraped it off after the freezer paper heart stencil was ironed onto the front of the tshirt.  The freezer paper acts as a temporary adhesive.  See the heart is covered and that area is the tshirt, but the blue area around the heart is the freezer paper.  Only the blue heart will show up on the tshirt.  

Don't forget the masking secrets revealed in   Part 1 of 2

  

 

 Sew, Sew Natalie

 

 

Natalie said, "Finally we get to sew."  Natalie learned how to measure her hem with a sewing gauge and then pin in place.  She's making sure she takes out those pins before they hit the "feed dogs."

  

 

Natalie helped measure the area for the waistband and then she sewed it down.  She had to be careful to keep her stitching straight so the elastic could easily be inserted.

Natalie is measuring the elastic needed for her waistband. Her mother helped her run the elastic through and secure at the end.  

 

 

 

 A Surprise for Sister Sophia

 

 

 We chose the purple paints for Sophia's outfit.  

 

 

 

And Natalie models her outfit while showing off the birthday present she helped make for her sister, Sophia.  Natalie sewed the hem and the waistband on Sophia's skirt too. She also learned the importance of measurements!

 

 

 

 Happy Birthday, Sophia!  What a big girl you are at 4!

 

 

 Drum Roll Please -- And the Grand Finale 

 

Natalie and all that sas!!  This picture was taken after she completed her outfit - which was the day after her 8th Birthday.  They are a couple of October birthday sisters.  

Natalie's the youngest fashion designer I know.  She looks quite "fashion forward and very hip" modeling her unique fabric creation in blue marbling. Her sophisticated full skirt with matching heart-t and headband is completed with jeggings and cool boots.  

Not only does  Natalie create one-of-a-kind fabric, she sews her own outfits and pairs them with store-bought fashions that definitely take her ensembles to the next level in girl's fashion.

 

Have any sewing questions for Natalie -- Ask, Sew, Sew Natalie

Blessings Terri - 

 

Don't forget to review Part 1 of 2 for all the tutorial tips and techniques and other helpful resources used.

 

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Marblizing Fabric with Shaving Creme Part 1 of 2

This technique is so fun and easy!  It's definitely not new, but I've been wanting to do it again and post tips and technique tricks about marblizing fabric with shaving cream.  

The post is a 2-part post, so please be sure and read both posts to see more gorgeous results as well as seeing how Natalie, who is now 8 years old, learned this technique and see her modeling her outfit.  

 

This post will mainly consist of what you will need and how this works. THESE TIPS AND TECHNIQUE TRICKS WILL SAVE YOU QUITE A BIT OF TIME  - definitely worth reading both blog posts.  

 

The supplies you will need are:

100% cotton white fabric/muslin --

(about 1/2 a yard 45" wide for small girl's skirt)

Purchased 100% white cotten t-shirts (optional)

Basic Shaving Cream (not gel), I used Barbasal

Tulip Soft Matte Fabric Paint - I used Royal Blue & Turquoise for an outfit and Grape & Petal Pink for another outfit. 

Tulip Glitter Dimensional Fabic Paint - Silver (Optional if you want a little sparkle)

Foil Pan for Oven Bottom (that catches drippings) (Optional, but I found it so easy to use and it only cost a $1. I used it to spray the shaving cream into and to mix it.  It is even big enough to handle large areas of fabric.

 You can also cut up a trashbag to use for large pieces of fabric, then you would have a place big enough to also flip the fabric onto for scraping.

Paper napkins and Scraper - I used a pink plastic cake icing spreader that I use for crafts to scrap the shaving cream off the fabric, but you can use any flat tool or cardboard edge.

Newspaper / Garbage Bags for clean up

toothpick or skewer to mix the paints

Old cardboard pieces to wipe excess shaving cream mixture when scraping off of fabric.

Disposable Gloves (optional)

 

 

 How to Mix The Paint

 

 

Here's a picture of the Royal Blue and Turquoise and Silver fabric paint in the shaving cream.  I've already placed the fabric in the shaving cream mixture a couple of times. You can see the excess that I scraped from the fabric on a piece of cardboard on the righthand side.  You can continue to add paint to the cream and mix it as long as your shaving cream is still thick enough.  

 

Spray the shaving cream about a half inch thick.  Drizzle on the fabric paint.  I recommend only using two colors with some sparkle.  It is best to use one dark and one light color.  The colors may muddy if you use two dark colors.  Also be careful in selecting the two colors.  It probably works best with a light and a dark of the same color.  All you need to do to mix the colors is to take something like a toothpick or skewer and swirl with just the tip to mix the paint after you have drizzled the colors you want onto the shaving cream.  

 

It is your choice as far as how much paint you want to drizzle onto the shaving cream. What you want to remember is this is marblizing not dying, you want some white areas to show and you don't want to mix your colors so much that you end up with one color.  Simply swirl the tip of the toothpick in and around the paint drizzles until it looks like ribbon candy.  You want to be able to distinquish the colors. 

 

Of course, using more of the dark will create a more saturated finish on the fabric and a little of this paint goes a long way.  Try experimenting on small scraps of fabric first. 

 

 

HOW TO USE THE SHAVING CREAM/PAINT MIXTURE WITH THE FABRIC

 

 

Here is the grape, petal pink and silver I used for a little girl's skirt and headband.  See to the right where I covered the oven foilpan (used to go in the bottom of the oven) with shaving cream.  It is very shallow and perfect for this project. You can also tell about how thick I got the shaving cream I used and you can see the swirls I made in the paint with a skewer as a mixer.  It reminds me of ribbon candy.

 

To the left you can see two pieces of fabric I used to make a headband. These are pieces of white 100% cotton muslin.  I don't know how this would work on synthetics.  I laid the fabric in the cream and lightly used my fingers to gently press the fabric into the paint/cream mixture.  The results are almost instant.  You can usually see the back of the fabric absorbing the paint.  Then I laid the fabric on a poster board. You can use newspaper or trashbags; I happened to have this poster board already. Then I scraped off the cream and Voila -- pretty, pretty.  I still don't know how this works; must be something in the shaving cream.

 

I really liked using that pink plastic/rubber icing spreader to scrap off the excess cream. The shaving cream actually has the consistency of cake icing. NOTE -- IT IS VERY IMPORTANT to scrap off the excess shaving cream after each scrap of the fabric and then wipe the scrapper clean with a paper towel or damp old cloth before using it again.  Paint will build up and appear on the next section of fabric you scrap if you don't clean after each scrapping.

 

 NOTE - It is important to marblize all of your fabric at one time.  The colors are going to vary of course that is part of its uniqueness, but do not marblize half of your fabric and put your things away and marblize the other half with a totally new batch of shaving cream mixture.  The fabric pieces would probably be too different.

You can also cut a trashbag length wise if you want to cover a big area with the shaving cream.  You'd have an area to flip your fabric onto as well for scraping.

 

 

Making designs and masking with freezer paper

 

 

If you want to make a design on a tshirt, for example, make a stencil out of a large sheet of freezer paper.  Here I used a foam stamp and traced out a design of three flowers.

 

 The freezer paper needs to be large enough to fold over the area you are going to marblize. See below.  This is important because you are going to take this whole piece and put it down into the foam and the open area of the stencil is going to be covered in the cream misture as well as the areas around it.  

Scrap at usual when you remove the piece from the cream, but DO NOT TAKE THE FREEZER PAPER OFF UNTIL THE PAINT IS COMPLETELY DRY - AT LEAST 24 HOURS

 

 

 

Here's the heart I cut out of a piece of freezer paper and used as a stencil.  You can find freezer paper in your grocery store.  The secrets to masking your design are  -- 1 - keep the design simple, very simple -- 2  measure and place where you want the stencil to appear on the shirt -- 3 iron the freezer paper shiny side down -- 4 iron with a dry iron and iron it several times especially around the open stencil areas.  You can use an ironing cloth if you need, but iron it really good.  You should be able to see the freezer paper discoloring a little.

The shiny side of the freezer paper acts as a temporary adhesive.

 

 

 Results of the fabric -- skirt and tshirt

 

 

Here's the fabric using the grape, petal pink and silver.  See the hint of sparkle from the silver.  I waited 72 hours for the paint to cure as specified by the directions from the manufacturer.  Then I ironed the fabric to heat set the paint; however, the fabric was good to go - even for a washing -- as long as you waited the 72 hours.

 

Pick a simple garment to sew like this skirt when using this technique.  

 

 

 

This fabric was 15 inches in length and I used from selvage to selvage.  The length of the skirt from waist to hem is 12 inches.  The excess inches were used for the hem and waistband casing.  

  

 

 This is a size 8 little girl's tshirt.  These are the three flowers I used with the masking of the freezer paper as a stencil. I added the leaves, sparkle and background colors with various fabric paints I had on hand.

 

I hope you've enjoyed this post.  Be sure to see the Grand Finale in Post 2.

 

Blessings Terri

Leave a comment or two.

 

Additional Resources  - click - How to Marble Fabric with Shaving Cream    

 

 

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