Sew What's New

It's time for the April MFT Guest Designer  challenge.  The theme is "Do the Bunny Hop".  Well that worked out perfectly for me.  I've been itching to use the "Funny Bunny" stamp so now is the perfect time.

I wanted to do something different and this challenge coincided with a class that was running at the sewing machine store.  That class was about appliqueing on towels.  We transferred some seasonal Easter images onto "Color Plus Fabrics".  While I was doing this the light bulb switched on - I realized how I could do this with a stamped image.  And Voila!  doesn't my bathroom look so sweet.  Of course you can sew the image onto other things besides towels and the cutest thing I could think of was  little girl's clothes.

Doesn't this outfit make you wish had a little girl to dress?   With the right image and colors you can do this on just about any kind of clothes for anyone.  If you picked up a pack of onesies you could turn them into something really special with a little work. 

If you're interested in how to do this, I'm going to give some basic directions to you but I have to tell you that if you've never sewn more than a straight stitch on your cards this may seem a bit daunting but it's really not.  

First of all you need an image.

I stamped the "Funny Bunny" on card stock and did it up as if I was going to make a card.

Sorry for the poor quality photo here.  I just wanted you to see that I started with an image the same way I would have started any project.  I paper pieced the bunny suit with a scrap of pink gingham and colored his face, ear insides and carrot with copics. 

Next I took this photo, uploaded it and cropped it.  I imported it to Word where I could fool around with sizing it and positioning it on the paper.  You can probably do this in other programs but this is the one I know.


I made a couple sheets of the bunny in different sizes then printed them on an ink jet printer.  The paper is "Color Plus Fabrics".  I picked it up in the sewing machine store but I think you can pick this up in craft stores, quilt stores or fabric stores.  If you don't see it ask a clerk.  If you can't find it there here's a website from the instruction sheet www.Colortextiles.com maybe they can direct you to a local store.  I'm pretty sure there are other brands of this type of paper because I've seen it around for years.  At one time it was popular to print photos of your kids and/or pets onto fabric and include them in a family quilts and pillows.

here's a close up of one of the bunnies on the towel

After printing, the images were cut out and the paper backing is removed.  I ironed the pieces to set the ink.  Next "Steam and Seam" was applied to the back.  This product  is an adhesive that attaches to your fabric by ironing (first you iron it to your image, peel off the paper backing and then you iron your image onto your towel (or whatever fabric you're using). This is usually available in fabric stores.  I'm not sure if you can get it in craft stores but it might be available in Wal-Mart. 

Before appliqueing the pieces I put a water soluble stabilizer on the back of the towel.  For the towels I used a clear mono filament thread.  The stitch is a blanket stitch but with a clear thread you could use any applique stitch.  On the shorts a satin stitch in pink thread was used.

One of the things that makes this "easy" is that you only need to stamp and color the image once and then you can use it over and over.  Of course you do have to cut and sew each one.   Even though the "Steam and Seam" acts as an adhesive, unless the item you are making is purely for show, you need to stitch the image down.  Personally I think even the "for show" items would be better off being sewn, otherwise it'll probably start to peel off.

you know I've gotta add a charm

Then when you've finished all that sewing you've still got the original stamped bunny for card making. 

It's time to cross my fingers.  This is the toughest challenge, and probably the most coveted prize, at least for the MFT junkies it is.  The price is always a big one but the "cache" of being the month's guest designer is even better.  And as the song says "Maybe this time I'll be lucky".

Here's the deets:
stamp - My Favorite Things "Funny Bunny"
ink - memento "Tuxedo Black"
paper - white card stock; My Mind's Eye "Lost and Found blush"; Bazzill "Blossom" card stock
miscellaneous - copics; towels; tee shirt and shorts; Steam and Seam; Color Plus Fabrics; linen thread, bunny charm; paper flowers; flower brads; sewing machine


Here's the challenges:
My Favorite Things MFTGUESTDT0412 - April Guest Designer
Just Us Girls JUGS#130 - Wildcard
Daring Cardmakers - Material Girl
Simply Create Too #10 - Eggs/Bunnies
Card Makin' Mamas - Easter
Craft Your Days Away #42 - Easter
One Stop Craft #176 - Easter
Just Add Ink JAI #111 - Just Add Easter
Totally Papercrafts #110 - Easter
Charisma #12 - Easter
DYSU #65 - Easter
Moving Along With the Times #142 -Cute and Cuddly 
Paper Play week 13 - Easter
Sisterhood of Crafters- Easter
Just Keep On Creating #1 - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you'll come back again.  Your comments make my days light and breezy.