How To Make DIY Stitched Fabric Notecard. I was rummaging through my
fabric stash for guest room pillow possibilities, and I found a little piece of
this vintage print. Tiny uniformed guards so cute! I stiffened the fabric,
printed a quote onto plain cotton with my inkjet printer, and stitched the whole
works together with a paper insert for writing a message.
The best way to make stiff fabric that I've found is to use Stiffen Stuff (I
bought this bottle at Michael's). Mist both sides of the fabric until it's damp.
A plastic garbage bag makes a good work surface for this.
Then let the fabric air dry, or for immediate results, microwave it on a paper
towel for about 30 seconds or until dry. Don't worry if the fabric gets crumpled
up as your turntable spins it around. Press it with an iron until it's nice and
flat.
See? The fabric should stand up by itself. If yours feels too floppy, mist on
another layer and microwave again.
To print text onto fabric, I set up my document and inkjet printed it on a test
piece of letter-sized paper. Then I positioned the plain fabric over it and
taped down the leading edge that feeds through the printer first (you MUST tape
this edge or you'll end up with a snarl!) I taped the bottom edge down, too, for
extra security. Then I reprinted my document onto the fabric. I used unstiffened
fabric for this, since it doesn't need the extra structure.
I cut the quote down to size and picked at the edges to fray them a bit for
extra character.
Then I trimmed the stiffened fabric into a rectangle and folded it in half. The
notecard needed a paper insert for writing a message, so I cut a piece of
coordinating paper to the same size.
Then I zigzag-stitched the quote to the front of the notecard and tied
the loose ends of the threads together on the reverse side. I used a straight
stitch across the fold to attach the insert to the card and tied off the loose
threads on each side.
A stationery set with different messages and fabrics would be a really fun gift
for someone, right? Add coordinating envelopes and tie the bundle with a ribbon.
Cuteness.
