GD: Penny Nuttall Project #2 {June} Bright And Cheerful Butterfly Design Cushions

"Hello again, Penny here and welcome. Today we have another fabric and stencil project.It does involve a little bit of simple sewing (I can't help it - it's what I do! ) but you could display the same design on the wall as a covered canvas".

I love bright and cheerful colours so this was my inspiration for tonight's project.

I started by making my own giant stencil using freezer paper. (If you are unfamiliar with this product it is paper with a wax coating on one side which when ironed onto fabric makes a temporary bond, easily peeled off.

I drew half the butterfly design on the paper side, folded the paper and cutout to make a whole butterfly shape.

{Remember when cutting out that it is the NEGATIVE that you want to have a neat edge}.
I ironed the paper to my fabric. I probably should have said that it is normally recommended that the fabric is pre-washed before painting to remove the size (chemicals) but sometimes I am lazy and I don't. If your project is to be washed frequently (maybe for a child) it is probably best to use a brand of special fabric paint but for this I chose to use Fresco Finish Acrylic Paint mixed with fabric medium. 

Leandra stocks a fabric medium online in the PA shop, and generally with textile medium you mix a small portion (1:8) with your paint, paint your fabric as normal, then heat set the paint (iron, or tumble dryer works well) and your paint will be soft on the fabric, washable and permanent.

I started building up layers of stencilling using Lin Brown's stencil 002 and JOFY's 007 overlapping onto the paper with a small stencil brush.

 

REMEMBER to wipe the underside of the stencil and dry the paint with a hairdryer between each use to prevent smudging! If the paint is made too runny by the textile medium, then it can be more of a challenge stencilling, but practise makes perfect, and you will find that you don't need lots of paint on the brush, the overall effect is what we are after so you can get away with some smudging here and there.

Lastly, I shadowed the edges by dry brushing a slightly darker than background colour.

Next with lots of anticipation, I peeled off the paper ...... 

Follow the fixing instructions given on the fabric medium (usually iron-fix). To finish the cushion, I cut the panel of fabric to a 17" square, and cut two pieces of co-ordinating coloured fabric 17"x 11". Hem one long edge of each back piece.

Layer, right sides together as shown, pin and sew a half inch seam all round the edge.

Next, I trimmed the edges and clipped the corners.

Finally, turn right side out and insert a 16" cushion pad.

I liked it so much I made two more! I kept to the same colour schemes,lovely and bright.

Do have a go! Until tomorrow evening. 

~Penny~ 

Leandra Says: Wow Penny, what a fun idea, and so easy to co-ordinate with room decor. 
  
Gillian Says: I adore everything about this project from the beautiful bright/tropical colour palette to the butterfly stencilling. These cushions would brighten up any home and bring many an Ooo and ahhh!

If you would like to join in this week's challenge and play along with Penny's techniques, then do link up your creativity here, and go in the draw to win some PA stamps of your choice! You need to link your entry by 17:00, Sunday June 22nd 2014.

Posted with Blogsy