Folded Ribbon Rose Tutorial

I seem to be on a roll at the moment and I've been adding tutorials galore on my Craft Fairy Designs blog so I thought that I would add one here too.

You will need the shocking pink 23mm wide grosgrain for this and I used the swiss dot one as I wanted to have the contrast between the plain side and the dotty side. You can make a plain one if you want to but this looks kind of cute.

You will need to start by rolling a short section of the ribbon and securing it with a couple of stitches. Stitching is better than gluing as it will held in place and then, if you want to put it on a garment you can wash it without being afraid that it will fall apart. This roll will be your bud.

Next fold the ribbon at a 90 degree angle to the roll as shown below.Roll the ribbon around the central bud until you get to the end of the folded part. It will be obvious when you do it. Secure the bottom with a couple of stitches. ,Fold and roll again and again. See below. Make sure to put in a couple of stitches as you go.Below is what your rose should look like after you have folded a few times.Now look at the back and you will see how this is coming along, and where to put the stitching. Basically you keep on going until you have as many petals as you want. The cut you r ribbon and tuck the raw wdge under and tack into place. Turn over and your ribbon is done.

Ribbon Pincushion Step by Step Instructions

Today, I'm posting a set of instructions to make a pincushion. I am making this as I am going to enter it for a WI competition in the summer. So. as I was going to do it for this, I thought that I might as well do the instructions and blog it as well. Lots of tutorials available on the Craft Fairy Blog Being in posession of a huge choice of ribbons I really had no choice but to use them. All the ribbons that you see here are available from craftfairy.co.uk

Here is the finished cushion. I know that it is really girly and over the top kitch but who cares. I thought that if I was going to go for a domestic goddess kind of thing I might as well go over the top. 1950's at least. I even feel a frilly apron coming on. Perhaps not today though.

So. if you want to make something like this you will need to do some ribbon weaving first. This really is a good way to use up your scraps too as it only requires short lengths. the sort that are usually too short to be used for anything else.

Cut yourself a piece of fuisable interfacing about 2cm larger than the finished size of the pinchshion. E.g. if your pinchshion is to be 50cm then cut your square 12cm. I used a lightweight interfacing as I wanted the finished cushion to be soft not stiff.

Put the interfacing on the ironing board, fuisable side up. If your don't do it this way your will fuse it to the board. Lay your ribbons out in a pattern and pin to the ironing board over the interfacing.

Cut your lengths of ribbon so that they extend beyond the size of the backing fabric. You will trim them later so don't worry about being too precise. I used a mixture of widths and patterns but to keep the design looking good I used only three harmonizing colours. Pink, blue and a touch of white in the pattern. Lay them vertically over the interfacing.

Now weave the same pattern of ribbon in the horizontal direction as shown.

You should end up with what you see below. Push the ribbons together so that there are no gaps showing and pin in place. You will need to do this or the ribbon will move when you iron it.

Cover the ribbon weaving with a cloth and press with the iron. Do not use steam. This will create enough adhesion to allow you to flip the ribbon weave over and then press again to cause a better adhesion and create your fabric. See below. Now, flip the fabric over, and iron from the back. This will ensure that the ribbons stick to the interfacing really well.

Now, take a length of sewing thread with a knot in one side and sew a running stitch along one edge of the ribbon very close to the edge. When you have reached the end pull the thread to gather it to approximately the length of your 4 sides combined. 40 cm in my case. Secure the end of the thread.

Pin to the right side of the edge of the ribbon fabric. Tack the ribbon in place very near the edge. You will not reallt have a seam allowance on the ribbon. No need to have one really as the ribbon has a sewn edge should not frey. There will be a seam allowance on the ribbon fabric though.

Cut a piece of backing fabric that is the same size as the interfacing. I used a little broiderie anglais that I had in my scraps basket. With right sides together and the ribbon in the middle like a sandwich sew around three sided of the pincushion. I did this by hand as it really is too fiddly to even contemplate sewing on the machine.

When you have done this turn the pincushion around to the right side and fill with kapok or any other stuffing that you have. I had some left over from goodness knows when. Sew the last side into place from the back of the cushion and you have done.
More tutorials available on my Craft Fairy Designs Blog

Easy Paper Basket

I can't remember if I posted this tutorial last year but I thought I would post it again because Easter is Sunday and it's time to make baskets!

 

Make sure to visit me for other tutorials and fun too!

Thanks!  Monica

Colored Butterfly On B&W Photo...

After doing my layout with this photo technique, I thought I would do a tutorial on one of the butterfly photos from my layout yesterday... for some this may not be new... but for others, it may be something you've wanted to do but didn't know how... I think it will surprise you how simple this really is to do with your photos.

I will be using Photoshop... on a mac. But most of these simple principles will apply to whatever photo-editing application you may be using...

1. Once your photo is open, make a duplicate of this layer.

2. Rename it to whatever you'd like... I named mine is Black&White copy.

3. Go to Image, then Adjustments, then to Black & White to make this layer Black &White.

4. A window will come up for you to adjust your photo... lighter or darker in black&white... most times I leave this on the default settings... if I do adjust anything it is the reds and magenta... to make the photo lighter or darker... play around with this for making your photo darker of lighter.

5. Enlarge the area you want to have the color on.

6. On your Black&White layer... choose your Eraser Tool. Now adjust your Eraser Tool to size.
For large area choose a large eraser... for small area... choose a small eraser.
I always like to erase large parts first with a large eraser... then adjust the eraser for the detailed areas.
Now erase your image on the Black&White Copy layer.

7. After you've erased the large parts of your image... now adjust your Eraser Tool to a smaller size for the more detailed areas... the edge of the image or like mine the legs and antennas...
now erase the small areas.

8. And you're done!!! Easy right?

9. Now... SAVE this file as a layer document (.psd), just in case you want to go back and make more adjustments. I save mine as the file name + a number, but you can save it as anything you want.

10. Save your file again as a .jpg, this will flatten the layers for you and saving the .psd file.
NOW this saved .jpg file is what you will print....

I hope this has helped you... and you will try using it on some of your photos. To see how I used this photo on my scrapbook layout, please come by my blog at EverydayScrapbook.blogspot.com

Tissue Paper Blooms... Redo... Photos fixed!!!

Don't know what happened to my Tissue Paper Blooms tutorial post... but here it is again... thanks for letting me know the photos weren't coming through.... soooo let's try this post again shall we...

While I was helping out in my daughters class with tissue paper... I was thinking what a great material to make a flower bloom for card and my scrapbooking. So I came home and started playing around with tissue paper... and here's what I came up with. For this flower I used:

1. 3 different shades of Tissue Paper.

2. Round objects (or templates) for 4 circle sizes.

3. A pencil.

4. A pair of scissors.

5. Glue dots.

6. Flower Centers - I used Pearl stickers

Making 4 different size circles. Trace your circles onto several layers of tissue paper...

Cut out your circles.

 

Use one circle from the 4 different size circles. Layer the circles... change colors for each layer
(I started & ended with the same color). Then place glue dots on the backs of the top 3 layers.

With glue dot tissue paper stacks... put on the center of your bloom.

Crinkle the tissue paper.

Start to open, then smash it up some more... the more crinkles the better.

Open up and fluff up each layer, until it exactly as you want your bloom.

And here's one of my bloom on a card. Enjoy!

I hope this comes through this time... I am sorry for any problems these photo may have had... 

Michelle - EverydayScrapbook.blogspot.com

How to draw a flower with calligraphy pens

I should introduce this video. It shows you how to draw flowers using calligraphy pens that are blendable. They are available from Craft Fairy in a variety of colours. Many samples of cards using this technique can be found on my Craft Fairy Designs Blog.

Ribbon Spool Box Tutorial

Jill and Kelly make custom party favors and decorations, mostly out of paper.  They are beginning to add upcycled gifts and home decor items to their shop.  Jill loves to Mod Podge everything and often decorate old containers, boxes, tins, etc.  Jill also has a degree in interior design and she also upcycles old furniture and sells it locally.

They were kind enough to share a tutorial with us on making the cutest boxes out of your empty ribbon spools.  But before you download the tutorial, visit their Etsy Store where you can purchase your own and see all of the great things they make too!  

Here's a link to their store where they have so many wonderful items!

Faire une Fete

 Here's where you can download the tutorial:

Ribbon Spool Tutorial

Visit my website and my Facebook Page for more "green" crafty ideas too.
Thanks!  Monica