Guest Designer Tammy Tutterow: Fabric Page Tutorial

I love creating with fabric.  I learned to sew when I was a young teenager and consider it one of my first crafty loves.  I also love working with inks and paints.  When I can combine my two crafty loves, I consider it bliss!  I love trying out products and techniques that I might normally consider for paper.  I decided I wanted to create an art journal with fabric pages that I can try out different ideas on that I would normally do on paper.  

I originally planned to create a cover with a binder mechanism… but then I remembered a vintage clipboard I had in my stash.  The clipboard turns my fabric pages into a display piece instead of being hidden away in a book!

step 1:

Adhere a piece of  Ranger Sticky Back Canvas (8.5” x 11”) to a piece of cotton batting cut roughly to size.  In place of Sticky Back Canvas, you could adhere a piece of plain canvas or cotton to the batting using a glue stick or spray adhesive.

step 2:

Turn the combined piece over and adhere a second piece of Sticky Back Canvas to the back of the piece.

step 3:

Place the Love Collage Stencil over the canvas. Apply a variety of Distress Ink colors using an ink blending tool.  Use a pouncing motion to apply the ink with the tool.

step 4:

Continue applying color until the fabric page is covered.

step 5: Place the stencil over the page again, lining up the design.  Apply a brown Distress Ink to the fabric using an ink blending tool.  Apply the brown ink randomly as an accent to deepen the colors.

step 6:

Cut a piece of white cotton so that it is slightly larger than the heart on the stencil.  Cut a piece of cotton batting to the same size.  Use a glue stick to adhere the two layers together.  Use an ink blending tool to apply a light layer of Distress Ink the fabric.  Place the stencil over the fabric.  Use an ink blending tool to apply ink (same color) to the fabric again through the stencil.

step 7:

Place the Vintage Script Stencil over the heart.  Use an ink blending tool to apply a brown Distress Ink to the fabric through the stencil.  Continue placing the stencil and applying ink randomly over the heart.  Cut out the heart leaving a border about 1/8” to 1/4” outside the solid portion of the heart.  Use a glue stick to adhere the heart to the page matching up the pattern to the heart on the page.

step 8: Use a grey marker (I used a Pitt Artist Pen B in Warm Grey) to lightly sketch around the circles and LOVE.  Don’t worry about being really precise, the grey ink will look like sketchy pencil lines.  Add accent lines with the marker along straight lines and random small circles.

step 9: Use the marker to add extra shading along the edge of the heart and inside the small circles.

step 10:

Add random machine stitching along different elements of the stencil design.  Again, go freestyle and don’t worry about being really exact with the stitching.  Machine stitch through the heart to “quilt” it to the page.  Stitch around the outside edge of the page too.

step 11:

Add grommets as desired to the page so that it can be added to a book or strung together with other pages.

step 12: Dig into your stash of embellishments to add dimensional elements to the page.  

Mix metal embellishments, soft elements like flowers, paper, and even vintage pieces like buttons and keys!

step 13: These flowers and leaves are die cut from crinoline using my new Pom Pom Posies die from Spellbinders.

Details I love- I love the depth that the grey marker added to the design.  It helped to define elements and also added depth which keeps the piece from looking flat.

I love when a project turns out better than you hoped for!  I didn’t originally plan to add the marker accent.  I am so glad I did!  It totally makes the project!

Supplies:

Stencils: Love Collage L312, Vintage Text Stencil L267

Surfaces: Ranger Ink Sticky Back Canvas, white cotton, cotton batting, crinoline (flowers)

dies: Spellbinders Pom Pom Posies by Tammy Tutterow

Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink- Broken China, Peeled Paint, Scattered Straw, Shaded Lilac, Spun Sugar, Gathered Twigs

Stain: Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain: Broken China, Peeled Paint (flowers)

Marker: FaberCastel Pitt Artist Marker  Warm Grey B

Tools: Ranger Ink Blending Tool, Non-stick Craft Sheet; sewing machine

Adhesive: Beacon 3in1, Therm O Web Glue Stick

Links:

Website http://tammytutterow.com/ | Facebook https://www.facebook.com/tammytutterowdesigns | Twitter https://twitter.com/tammytutterow | Pinterest http://pinterest.com/tammytutterow/ | Instagram http://instagram.com/tammytutterow