Hello friends!
Wow!!! Wasn’t today’s LIVE awesome?!!! Tim Holtz and fabric…the beautiful combination!
It is so cool to hear the backstory of how a product came to be, but even more exciting when Tim shares it…he is such a great story teller!
I have always had a thing for cotton fabric. My grandma was a quilter and seamstress, my mother, a crafter and who dabbled in many different crafts that called for stacks and stacks of cotton fabric. So my earliest memories, the ones that are near and dear to my heart, always center around making, creating, sewing and collecting fabrics & sewing notions.
My wonderful memories of sitting next to my grandma and her sewing machine and watching as she stitched on her quilts. Her cut out pieces for her unique outfits all pinned together in a stack waiting for their creative moment. My moms collection of cut fabric pieces awaiting the iron, to be flatted out and used for creating quilted book covers, ornaments or any other project she had a mind to make. Even the scent of the fabric that lingered in the air from the steam of the iron…there is nothing like it. I treasure those memories and am always reminded of them whenever I touch, hold, or even smell cotton fabric. ❤️
Today, Tim shared several collections from his fabric lines throughout the years, some retired and some available now. I just love how his fabrics coordinate with all of his brands and make it so easy to blend them into any and all sorts of mixed media projects.
Here’s a link to his Youtube LIVE.
He shared a couple of my makes, so I thought I’d give you a closer look at one of my newest, and that maybe you would be inspired to try using them in your own creations.
This is my latest creation with the fabric…a #8 Etcetera tag featuring a new idea-ology Salvaged Rabbit. The fabric is called Correspondence Letters, and one that I’ve had in my fabric stash for awhile. I made this by using several little bits of things that I had laying on my table from some recent dabbles & creative play. The tag that the rabbit is tied to, you’ll notice is from a recent blog post I shared. I made several tags and labels ahead and thought it worked perfect as a little shipping tag.
To create the fabric tag background, I dug through my piles of scraps that included vintage lace, denim, cotton batting and tore some pieces of the correspondence fabric, then stitched them very randomly onto a base strip of fabric. This type of project reminds me of a crazy quilt. No rhyme or reason to where a background piece goes, just playing with the bits and pieces and letting the pieces fall where they may, then running them through your sewing machine.
I tore some interesting bits from the fabric which included the piece to the left of the tag. The “Second Class Air Mail” fit with the theme I was thinking, and became an embellishment all it’s own. I stitched it in place along with some discarded scraps of thread, then added a few more bits behind where the rabbit parcel would be. Between tearing the fabric and cutting it with pinking shears, it created a time worn look, which I love!
The ribbon was a piece of seam binding that was inked on the right and left directly with Archival inks (Prize Ribbon and Barn Door) and by leaving the center white. After the ink was applied, I applied a small amount of Hand sanitizer on to my finger, then lightly rubbed it starting from the top of the ribbon, down to the bottom. Then I lightly dried it with my heat tool. Archival Ink is permanent (kind of like a sharpie marker) so the alcohol gel blended the colors together as water would for distress inks, plus, since it’s semi-permanent (not that I’m going to throw it into the washer) but, the color won’t run on my fabric. 😉
I painted up the rabbit using Walnut Stain, Antique Linen Distress Paints. Then with a Walnut Stain Distress Crayon, I scribbled on some directly to the rabbit, then rubbed it in with my fingers to add some grunge.
I tied the bunny to the tag using some of the ribbon, then tied a bow separately and hot glued it in place. I stamped a “handle with care” label from the Eccentric Stamp Set CMS448. Then I trimmed it out and applied it to the tag. I applied the fabric tag to the base of the #8 Etcetera tag.
I stitched on a vintage button on the right overhanging quilt batting piece by using a needle and thread, then added the Etcetera washer to the top of the tag with some jute through the washer.
With that, my tag was complete…
Using fabric in mixed media pieces adds so much texture and depth to a project. It is so much fun to play with, but if you’re a beginner, it might seem intimidating, but it totally is not!
If you have a sewing machine and know how to run it, it is as simple as that. You don’t even have to know how to stitch a straight line. Just tear off some scraps of fabric, grab some bits of lace, paper, embellishments, or repurposed fabrics and give it a try! Another way to dip your toe in and try would be to purchase a small sampler pack of the Tim Holtz fabrics. Simon Says Stamp offers small fabric bundle packs of a few collections from Tim that have been cut into 10″ x10″ squares, making it very affordable and easy to give the fabric a try.
To see what they offer in sampler packs CLICK HERE.
I hope you enjoyed the tutorial, and please feel free to message or comment on my post with any questions, I’d be happy to help!
Creatively yours,
Stacy
Products used are listed below…
To shop at Simon Says Stamp CLICK HERE.
To shop at Scrapbook.com CLICK HERE
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I loved seeing Tim’s story of fabrics. Weirdly enough a couple weeks ago I ordered some for the first time. I love his designs and found a package of Abandoned fat quarters at a reasonable price. They are delightful.
I also remember my Mother sewing when I was a child. She made all our clothing, curtains, and other things for the home. I learned for the first time how to use the sewing machine when I was 9 as part of 4-H. I don’t sew clothing anymore, although I know how. I just sew papers and want to add fabrics to my journals and cards more.
I love your tag. It’s wonderful with the aged look, the fun stitching and the postal details. Doing the ribbon with the archival that way is very clever. I wouldn’t have thought of doing that. Thanks for sharing your story and crafting. Your photos are very well done with great bits to dress them. Lovely eye candy!
Yes indeed, I truly enjoyed watching Tim talk about his Fabrics; I love his fabrics (wish they were sold closer) but if you want it bad enough, you can search and find it SOMEWHERE. Thank the Lord that Independent stores still exist in our world too. And, I really like this tag with the bunny…perfectly done and lovely. Thank you for sharing.
Beautifully done Stacy! I absolutely love the process and fabric pieces you chose for this piece. As a beginner to sewing with fabric and yes it can be intimidating. You’ve made it easier to think of the possibilities. Thnx for sharing my friend xxx
This is absolutely gorgeous Stacy! Thank you for sharing and thank you for the tip with the ribbon and archival ink and hand sanitiser – always learning. xx
I just love your tag, it’s so cute. I live to make these but I’m so unorganized it takes me forever to find all my goodies to create. Simple fix but haven’t got organized. You inspire to get busy. Thank you
This is beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing your techniques, it’s so generous of you! (And it must take you ages!!)
As my kids say, every day’s a school day!
x
So cute, Stacy! Great tip of the hand sanitizer and ribbon too! Always love your designs.