Tutorial: Bias Tape Frames for Fabric Art

Yesterday I shard the my tutorial for some Hand-Painted Fabric Nativity Art.  Today I wanted to share an alternative for framing fabric art.  Ultimately, I think I  prefer real frames...but frames can be difficult to mail...especially frames as large as the ones that would fit these Nativities, so these fabric frames are a great alternative.

Painted Fabric Nativity Scene Tutorial

I've got a whole tutorial for this project in this post...but first you've got to hear the background (or you can skip down to where it says "Materials" in large print.)

Our family enjoys lots of different kinds of Christmas decorations (Santa, snowmen, gingerbread men, etc), but for the decorations I spend time making, I prefer decorations that focus on the Nativity.  Last year at Christmas, I fell in love with this Nativity Painting that Dana from MADE showed as part of her holiday decor.

Experimenting...Painting on Fabric

Firecracker and I have been up to a little experimenting...

This is a project I've been wanting to try all year...painting on fabric.

Worn Out!! (...and a Give-Away)

No, it's not me that's worn out (although I could use a nap right now)...It's my pen!  After working on so many faux embroidery projects, I realized I was having to go over the same spot several times and it wasn't looking so good.

Then I totaled it up and realized I'd made somewhere around 8+ faux embroideries, plus 20+ fabric postcards (that tutorial is coming...promise!).  It was just too much for one pen to handle.  So I got online and ordered a replacement...or two actually...

...plus one for you!

Fabric Post Cards

You've got mail!

Family Portrait - Doodle Style {Great Father's Day Gift}

I hope you're not tired of seeing Doodle People Faux Embroidery...because I'm not tired of making it yet.  I am notoriously late (or absent entirely) with gifts.

Because this Could Be Your Son...

We all hate it when our kids have the sniffles, but we know they're going to get better and be as good as new in a few days.  I can't imagine what it's like for you moms who have a child with a serious illness or a disease that might never go away and/or will have a lasting effect on your child.

One of my friends has a son name Jackson.  He looks like a typical highschooler...and he is...he's a good student, involved in sports, great kid. 

He is also living with the effects of Histiocytosis.  He's stable now and doing great, but he is dealing daily with the effects of his disease. The disease affects his fine and gross motor skills, has slowed his speech and has made school and sports much more difficult. 

Signed Mat w/ Faux Embroidery - Teacher Gift from the Whole Class

I've been trying to think of an end of year gift that Firecracker's Teacher would be able to enjoy for a long time without taking up too much room.  I also wanted it to be something that could be from the whole class because I know that a lot of kids in her class don't have the money to buy teacher gifts and at 6 years-old don't always realize they could make one on their own.

Here's what we came up with.

I used the A+ Teacher Pattern from Twin Stitchers, but instead of embroidery, I used a fabric pen and crayons to make a "faux embroidery."  My full tutorial for Faux Embroidery can be found here.  It's really easy (and addictive!).  This one took me about 30 minutes.  Basically you trace your stitchery design onto muslin and color it in with crayons, but I've got more specific tips in my tutorial.

Glimpses

Little Brother is 3 1/2 and all boy.  He LOVES to tease his sisters and call people "tootie bums" or "stinky underwear" which he has never heard anyone in our house say and came up with all on his own.  Some days it makes me crazy.

So it's always nice when I catch glimpses that he is growing up and maturing and that there is a sweet and sensative boy in there underneath it all.  One of those times was watching Little Brother get his Mother's Day present ready for his birthmom.  I got some cute little faux embroidery fabric post cards made up for the kids to color with crayons...which Little Brother did his most thorough and careful coloring job on...ever.

Fabric Mat

If you read my blog regularly, you know I've been kind of obsessed with faux embroidery (You can see my full faux embroidery tutorial here).  I can't help it!  The doodle people from Twin Stitchers are so cute...and it's fast and easy to personalize.  So I'm at it again.  I teach the 6 year-old (turning 7) class at church and wanted to have something for each of their birthdays.  Of course it needed to be cheap and easy and something I could commit to giving to each of the six kids through the year.

So faux embroidery was the answer.  I whipped up this cute little wall hanging using the girl from My Sister...My Friend, and the CTR sheild in the Tidbits All Occasions! pattern, both available from Twin Stitchers.  One of the things I LOVE about Twin Stitchers patterns is that they're so easy to mix and match.

I did the words on my own and did my best to immitate the Twin Stitchers cute doodle writing.

Big Sister Burp Cloths

One of my sisters just had her third baby and is also a special needs foster mom to Andie whose a teenager.  Andie is bonding with the baby more than anyone expected and loves to help hold her. 

My sister's babies have also all been very spitty, so I told her her I'd make her some burp cloths.  As I was looking through the flannel I had, I thought I'd try an experiment. 

Faux Embroidery Tutorial

Prepare to be amazed...(not only by how great this turned out, but by how fast and easy it is!!)

Pen Options for Faux Embroidery

Note:  This post is just about what kind of pens to use.  You can see my full tutorial for doing Faux Embroidery Here.

I've tried out quite a few different pens with Faux Embroidery techniques and will continue to test them.  I thought I'd give them their own post, so I can refer back here as I post more faux embroidery projects in the future.

There are three main pens that I have used.  My favorite all around pen is the Fabric Ball and Brush Pigmented Double Ended Fabric Marker by Marvy Uchida.

A Birthday for Frances {Faux Embroidery Project Preview} - Read Along with Me

If you're like me you LOVE so many of the embroidery patterns out there, but don't feel like you have time to use them.  Well, Twin Stitchers and I are hoping to change that!  I've been experimenting with some new techniques using her embroidery patterns for projects other than embroidery. 

Firecracker saw my first project and wanted to try one too.  Here she is with hers (and our Read-Along book)...