Project by Linda Strzelecki.
Materials:
approx. 1 yard of fabric
tailor’s chalk
blank greeting card & envelope
glue gun
spray adhesive
long-nose, footed tweezers
small scissors (5-1/2" or less)
brown or green paint pen
paper towels
Steps:
1. Select your fabric based on a pattern that you like. For this example, our pattern is a cluster of leaves.
2. Outline your chosen pattern with tailor’s chalk (figure A).
3. Cut out one pattern (cluster of leaves), keeping everything in tact.
4. Spray adhesive on the back and place it on card where desired (figure B). Place a paper towel over the clipping and use your hand to smooth out the fabric on the card.
5. Cut out second and third clippings, but instead of leaving the entire piece in tact, cut out each leaf individually.
6. Use diagram to see placement of leaves. Visualize your pattern in three dimensions. Always work from back to front. For this example, the leaf to the right is the furthest back in our pattern. Start with the leaf to the right.
7. Leaves on the right: Apply a small amount of glue from glue gun at the bottom center back of one individually cut right leaf. Gently place this right leaf on top of the previous (already glued down) right leaf, just off-center, keeping bases of leaves on top of each other. Using tweezers, pinch the center of the leaf before the glue dries to add dimension (figure C).
8. Repeat the same process with the last right leaf, placing this leaf off-center in the opposite direction that you placed the second right leaf (figure D).
9. Leaves in the middle: For this example, the next furthest leaf from the back of the pattern is the leaf in the middle. Since this individual leaf is not perfect, plan your placement of this leaf so that the imperfection is covered up by the next leaf glued. For this example, the imperfection is on the right side of the leaf. Glue the new middle leaf just to the left of the first middle leaf, keeping the bases of the leaves on top of each other (figure E). Glue the last middle leaf just to the right of the second middle leaf you just glued.
10. Leaves on the left: Place a small amount of glue from glue gun at bottom center back of the leaf. Gently place the new individually cut left leaf on top of previously glued down left leaf, just off-center, keeping bases of leaves on top of each other. Make sure that this left leaf overlaps the middle and right leaves that are nearest to the center, so there are no holes. Using tweezers, pinch the center of the leaf before glue dries to add dimension. Repeat the same process with the last left leaf, placing this leaf off-center in the opposite direction that you placed the second left leaf.
11. Use paint pens to draw branches or stems, if desired.
Tips:
Long-nose, footed tweezers can be found at any sewing store as they are used to thread serger sewing machines.
Spray adhesive works best to adhere the first, intact pattern.
Choose fabrics that are not sheer. Thicker, stiffer, tightly woven cotton fabrics work best. If you find a thin, soft fabric that you like, try spraying fabric stiffener on the back before you begin cutting. Be careful to choose fabrics that will not fray when cut.
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