Stamped Applique

B'day bear tablecloth
Originally uploaded by pajalu (Paula)

Hi all,

Well I've been busy over the last few days with my patchwork & quilting. Shock horror I know, but it has been great to finally feel like getting back into my fabric stash & creating. I decided while making Em's fairy costume that it was about time that I finished off some of my patchworking projects & start some new ones.

This teddy bear being a new project. It was fairly easy to make as I made a tablecloth so there was no batting/backing/quilting involved. The hardest part was making sure the checks didn't wander off the edges. That & remembering which way the needle went when I satin stitched around the applique pieces on my machine. I am not a huge fan of sewing by hand. I admire people who can do it, but it's just not for me. I am not even fond of hand sewing down the binding, I think it's because I want the projected finished now. Impatient sod aren't I *grin*.

I used a Hero Arts stamp (an old one) that my friend Helen lent me to stamp images for Em's upcomming b'day. I decided that the stamp would be perfect to turn into an applique so stamped it & then scanned it into my computer. I then printed it out on an A4 paper, took it to my local newsangency & had it blown up about twice the size. Then I traced out all the individual pieces onto iron on interfacing (can't remember what it's called) then ironed that onto the fabric. After cutting out the fabric on the lines I took the backing paper off the fabric, ironed it into place & satin stitched around all the edges in matching threads. I think this bear has turned out well, considering he started out life as a stamp the size of my palm & now is about 10 times bigger :D. Well I'm off to bed so TTFN