Tutorial Tuesday

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

This week I have a tutorial for you that can be used for almost any time of year. It is a fabric postcard with an embroidery collage. I decided to make one for my friend, Nick, because he is a wonderful person. I found that it did not take me long to finish this fabric postcard, and I was able to use up some of my fabric stash.

Note: This cannot be sent in the mail as is. It has to be placed in an envelope or hand delivered.

To make this postcard you will need:

-Fabric scraps or two pieces of fabric at 8 inches wide by 6.5 inches high

-1 piece of lightweight interfacing cut to 8 inches by 6.5 inches

-Embroidery floss in various colors

-Embroidery hoop

-Embroidery needles

-Sewing machine

-Rotary cutter or scissors

-Iron

Step 1: I decided to sift through my scraps in order to piece together the front panel of the postcard. I used a piece of paper cut to 8 inches wide by 6.5 inches tall and placed the fabric scraps on it until I found a placement I liked. If you prefer, you can use one piece of fabric instead of scraps or multiple pieces.

The image above is supposed to be the paper I used to keep track of my dimensions. I apologize for the blur. 

Step 2: I stitched together my scraps in order to make a rectangle that fit the 8x6.5 dimensions. I used smaller pieces of fabric as patches, I pressed under the raw egdes and stitched them directly onto the fabric I had pieced together. The cherry embroidery was a test stitch I did using a pattern from a Sublime Stitching starter kit. The kit I used is no longer in print, but you can find some new wonderful ones here: Sublime Stitching kits.

Step 3: This is the fun part! Once the piece of fabric is ready, it can be embellished with as many stitches as you like in order to create the embroidery collage. You can add patterns or allow the stitches to come to you organically. 

Step 4: Once this front panel is finished. It needs a little stability. I used one piece of very lightweight interfacing and basted it to the back of the panel using my sewing machine.

Step 5: Now it is time to work on the back panel. I decided to make this look as much like a postcard as I could. I used a pencil and lightly wrote what I wanted the back to say and stitched it up.

Step 6: Now it is time to attach the front and back panel in order to complete the postcard. Place the front and back panels right sides together. Stitch around the edge using a 1/4 inch seam. Leave a small space unstitched so you can flip the postcard. 

Step 7: Before flipping the postcard, clip the corners as close to the stitch without snipping it. Flip the postcard so the right sides face out and press. 

Step 8: In order to close up the small space I left open, I used a running stitch around the entire piece. I made sure to hide my knotted ends in between the front and back panels where I flipped the postcard.

Step 9: Gift to recipient! 

As I was finishing this up, I was thinking about all the ways this could be used for birthdays, holidays, Valentine's Day, or to ask someone to be a maid of honor or bridesmaid.

Hope you enjoy and give it a try!