My Pillow Process
Is it me or is this handmade movement catching on? There was a time when my friends needed to spruce up their homes, they would head to the closest decor department and get something off the rack. Recently, I have been getting requests form them for unusual items to enhance their home decor.
I decided to use the "teach a man to fish" approach and invited a few friends over to learn the process. The first step was a bit tricky because unlike most people, I do not sketch my patterns on paper, I go strait to the computer. For me, its all in my head - inspired by something I encountered in the past.
[caption id="attachment_164" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Poppy"]
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The image above was inspired by a poster that my friend had hanging in her office. I borrowed it, scanned it into Photo Shop, transferred it to illustrator, then traced the outline using the pencil tool. (After I did all that, I came across an embroidery pattern that I had stashed that was quite similar - I could have saved time using that image, since it was already a line drawing - oh well...)
[caption id="attachment_165" align="alignnone" width="403" caption="Poppy Pillow"]
[/caption]
After the outline was complete, I colored the flowers and leaves, using 'live paint'. Next I selected a piece of white cotton fabric, cut it to 13x19 (that the largest paper size that my printer will accept), then ironed some freezer paper to the back of the fabric to make it sturdy enough to easily go through the printer. (Sometimes I use sticker paper from my local office supply store - they come in 8.5 by 11 sheets). Finally, I print my image to the fabric, then remove the paper backing.
[caption id="attachment_166" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Alternate view"]
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For this project, I decided to further embellish it with some embroidery and beading - that way my friends will learn some additional techniques. I used a simple stem stitch to highlight the stamen, and added some beads for texture.
[caption id="attachment_167" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Zoom"]
[/caption]
I could have outlined the entire project with stem stitch, but I was anxious to move on to the pillow process. I cut another piece of fabric for the back of the pillow, stitched them on my sewing machine - leaving a hole for turning and stuffing - then finally I stuffed the pillow using poly fiber fill and whip-stitched the opening to finish off the pillow. Our next project is a silk ribbon embroidery piece....
[caption id="attachment_168" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Another close up shot"]
[/caption]
[/caption]
The image above was inspired by a poster that my friend had hanging in her office. I borrowed it, scanned it into Photo Shop, transferred it to illustrator, then traced the outline using the pencil tool. (After I did all that, I came across an embroidery pattern that I had stashed that was quite similar - I could have saved time using that image, since it was already a line drawing - oh well...)
[caption id="attachment_165" align="alignnone" width="403" caption="Poppy Pillow"][/caption]
After the outline was complete, I colored the flowers and leaves, using 'live paint'. Next I selected a piece of white cotton fabric, cut it to 13x19 (that the largest paper size that my printer will accept), then ironed some freezer paper to the back of the fabric to make it sturdy enough to easily go through the printer. (Sometimes I use sticker paper from my local office supply store - they come in 8.5 by 11 sheets). Finally, I print my image to the fabric, then remove the paper backing.
[caption id="attachment_166" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Alternate view"][/caption]
For this project, I decided to further embellish it with some embroidery and beading - that way my friends will learn some additional techniques. I used a simple stem stitch to highlight the stamen, and added some beads for texture.
[caption id="attachment_167" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Zoom"][/caption]
I could have outlined the entire project with stem stitch, but I was anxious to move on to the pillow process. I cut another piece of fabric for the back of the pillow, stitched them on my sewing machine - leaving a hole for turning and stuffing - then finally I stuffed the pillow using poly fiber fill and whip-stitched the opening to finish off the pillow. Our next project is a silk ribbon embroidery piece....
[caption id="attachment_168" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Another close up shot"][/caption]