Season’s greetings

USE THE APPLIQUÉ TECHNIQUE TO MAKE SWEET CHRISTMAS CARDS FOR YOUR LOVED ONES USING TREASURED SCRAPS OF FABRIC

GETTIING STTAARRTTEEDD (STITCHING ON CARD)

Before you start your card, prepare your sewing machine by attaching a freemotion embroidery or darning foot. Next, drop the feed dogs – the mechanism that grips and pulls the fabric through your sewing machine. Your sewing machine manual should tell you how to do this. If your machine doesn’t have an auto setting then adjust your tension setting to 1 or 2. Test your stitching on a scrap of card to see what works best for your machine, as some card 1%& (+"00"0 /".2&/" !& "/"+1 0"11&+$0 1, others. We recommend using a designated card/paper needle because stitching through card will dull your needle over time – a good needle for card is a size 16 denim needle (although, this is optional). Practise stitching through card with fabric layered on top to get a feel for the technique. Make sure you work slowly to prevent your card from tearing.

MATERIALS

Fabric scraps: 20x15cm, brown, dark brown, light brown, very dark brown, green, red and yellow

Machine thread: black, light brown and white

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envelope: 14.5x14.5cm

Small white buttons x2

5mm black sequin

Bondaweb

Sewing machine with freemotion or darning foot

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Basic embroidery kit

STITCHES USED

Machine Straight Stitch

NOTES

Find the templates on p70.

Transfer one of each design from the 01 templates onto the paper side of your Bondaweb using a pen or pencil, leaving a small gap between each one. If you are using another method of transfer, note that the design has been flipped to accommodate this method. Try to position each motif on the paper so that you waste as little as possible. Cut out each design from the Bondaweb and use an iron to press each one onto its corresponding fabric – the mistletoe leaves on green, the branch on very dark brown, the body on dark brown, the tummy on light brown, the chest and face on red, the beak on yellow, and the wing on brown.

Cut out each piece along the outline and 02 then place all the fabric elements to one side and prepare your machine for stitching. Attach your freemotion foot to your machine, drop the feed dogs and change your tension setting if required – see Getting Started on the opposite page for more information. Remove the backing paper from the 03 mistletoe leaves, robin body and branch, then lay each one out on the front of the card. Move them around until you are happy with the positioning and then use an iron on a medium heat to press into place. Refer to the main image on the opposite page for placement if needed. Then, add the tummy panel along the bottom edge of the bird and iron in place. Next, iron on the red chest and face. When pressing, apply each layer of fabric one at a time and try not to move the iron around as the layers can easily become misaligned. Trim away the ends of the branch that extend beyond the edge of the card. Thread your machine with light brown 04 and work lines and swirls across the branch to create a texture similar to bark. Then, switch to white thread to work the mistletoe, first outlining the leaves and creating the stalk at the top, and then stitching the lines down the centre of each leaf. Now, use black to stitch the outline and legs of the robin. Stitch over the lines of the mistletoe and robin twice to create a denser outline. Move your card back and forth slightly as you stitch to make wobbly lines – creating a hand-drawn appearance.

Peel off the backing and iron on the beak 05 and wing. Stitch in place adding a few lines to the wing to indicate feathers.

Trim any loose ends, then glue your 06 buttons to the mistletoe and your sequin to the robin, as an eye. Allow to dry fully.