Fabric Artist Trading Cards

Design fun and funky fabric artist trading cards (ATCs).

Simply Quilts : Episode QLT-1120 -- More Projects »
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Instructions provided courtesy of fiber artist Patricia Bolton.

Experiment with new surface design techniques or practice free-motion embroidery without the commitment or hassle of making a large quilt with these 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" fabric artist cards. The following directions are simply guidelines for making fun and funky fabric artist trading cards (commonly referred to as ATCs). Feel free to explore other techniques!

Materials:

9" x 12" piece of black felt
9" x 12" square of hand-dyed fabric
2 to 3 simple designed rubber stamps (avoid intricate designs)
2, 1-inch foam brushes
fabric metallic paint
stamp pad
fabric glue
foiling glue
9" x 12" piece of fusible web
sheets of foil
scissors
iron and ironing board
14" x 14" parchment paper
chiffon scarf
funky yarns, threads, cheesecloth, bits of metal - optional
Angelina fibers
scissors
Bo-Nash bonding agent or tiny snippets of fusible web
sewing machine with free-motion capabilities
variegated threads
heat gun
rotary cutter, ruler, mat board
sheet of card stock paper

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Figure A
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Figure B
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Figure C
Steps:

1. Dip a foam brush into a small amount of metallic paint and dab onto a rubber stamp (figure A). Press stamp evenly onto a 9" x 12" hand-dyed fabric piece (figure B). Repeat with additional rubber stamps and paints. Have fun experimenting with stamping and playing with different colors of paint on your hand-dyed fabric. When done, rinse the metallic paint off of your rubber stamp.

2. Add an even amount of fabric glue* to another rubber stamp and press the stamp onto the hand-dyed fabric (figure C). Do several impressions with glue on various parts of the fabric. Allow the glue to dry fully (about 20-30 minutes). Wash the glue off your rubber stamp. *Foiling glue was featured in this step on the show.

3. When the glue is completely dry on the fabric, place a sheet of metallic foil, shiny side up, on top of the glued design. See the two options below, the first option was featured on the show using foiling glue; the second option includes instructions for a fabric glue and ironing technique.

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Figure D
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Figure E
  • Foiling glue technique: Position the metallic foil, shiny side up, on top of the glued design and burnish with a bone folder (figure D) or rub the area with your finger nail to produce the design impression (figure E).

  • Fabric glue and iron technique: Set iron to the highest setting but take off the steam option. Using the edge of the iron, press iron hard onto the foil. Rub back and forth to really get the foil to stick to the glue. If you pull up the foil and it isn't adhering completely to glued image, repeat process.

    4. Fuse the back of the hand-dyed fabric to fusible web. Tip: This step may be done prior to stamping the hand-dyed fabric.

    5. Cut fabric into simple or geometric shapes. (Guest chose hearts in various sizes).

    • Also in this Episode
    Simply Quilts : Episode QLT-1120
    •Fabric Artist Trading Cards