Cajun Corner – Vol.
4, No. 14 – April 14, 2012
Bon
Jour! Welcome to Cajun
Stitchery’s weekly email and welcome to our family.
ΘΘΘΘΘ
Don’t
forget to visit our blog at www.cajunstitchery.blogspot.com,
and www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com
often. We are also on Twitter and
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Visit
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Easter was a wonderful day. George and I dyed eggs the night before and
when visiting our friends on Easter Sunday, we hid the eggs in their yard. The eggs were located and we hid them, again,
throughout the house. It was a lot of
fun.
It has been a sad week. One of the attorneys I worked with many years
ago passed away in a drowning accident.
What makes matters even worse is that one of his daughters passed away
last Saturday. My heart and prayers goes
out to this family. They were a very
close knit family. The ray of sunshine
from this horrible situation is that I was able to reconnect with some very
dear friends from the law firm.
The scalloping edges are coming along. I did another shirt with a scalloped edge and
a design which turned out okay. There
were problems along the way with thread and needle breaks, but that is just
more of me learning the new machine, I think.
All of the scallops that I have done so far have been on jersey tee
shirts. The first attempt was on the
pink tee shirt and the second attempt was on the navy tee shirt. Wovens will be much easier.
Have I ever discussed puff embroidery? Puff embroidery is made using foam. The foam is the same foam that you see when
you go to a craft store or department.
Sometimes they are cut in the shape of little animals. Sometimes they are larger circles or
squares. They even have visors made from
the foam. Puff embroidery uses a satin
stitch, so, it cannot be very wide or the satin stitches will loosen and get
caught on things. It is also difficult
to take a photograph of an item using puff embroidery and actually showing the
effect. The effect is that the stitch
covered foam heightens the embroidery.
It is a texture that you can feel.
The design must be digitized for puff embroidery by eliminating the
underlay. At the point in the embroidery
where the foam is used, the machine will stop.
The foam is then placed in the area for the puff embroidery and the
machine begins stitching a dense satin stitch, thus perforating the foam. When the area of puff is completed, just lift
off the remaining foam and it is done.
Sounds easy, huh? There are some
complications with foam. One is that sometimes
little pieces of the foam protrude through the stitches. This is resolved by using a pin to push the
foam under the stitching. It is always a
good idea to use the same colored foam as your thread. Another method is a magic marker pen in the
same color as the thread.
Puff embroidery is great for outlines or even something
less than ½ inch wide or so, but what if you want a larger area raised in your
embroidery? How would that be
accomplished? It can be done, you
know. The method is trapunto. According to Wikipedia:
“Trapunto, from the Italian
for "to embroider," is a method of quilting that is
also called "stuffed technique." A puffy, decorative feature,
trapunto utilizes at least two layers, the underside of which is slit and padded,
producing a raised surface on the quilt.”
The trapunto method can
be used on modern embroidery machines. I’ve
never tried it but the instructions make sense and seem to be fairly easy.
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Found this at http://www.craftynest.com/2010/07/camp-craft-duct-tape-wallets/
How to make duct
tape wallets
Supplies and tools
·
duct tape (Duck
brand is available at The
Home Depot, Michaels,
and many other stores. TapeBrothers.com
carries the widest selection of duct tape I have seen, including Platypus
Designer Duct Tape.)· craft knife (X-Acto or other utility knife. We used these mini cutters)
· self-healing cutting mat or other cutting surface (we used sheets of Plexiglass from my salvaged window project)
· credit card/driver’s license
· 3- by 4-inch piece of clear plastic for ID window (I cut up a roll of clear plastic I had on hand)
· 12-inch ruler with metal edge
Main fabric:
1. Tear off four pieces of tape that are at least 9 inches long.
(Don’t use scissors. Don’t use your knife. Rip it!) Place them sticky-side-up
on your cutting surface. Stick them to each other (front-to-back), overlapping
about 1/2 inch.
2. Tear off four more pieces the same length. Starting about 1/2
inch from the top, adhere one piece at a time (back-to-back). The last piece
should overlap about 1/2 inch. (The reason you start 1/2-inch down is to
stagger the thicker parts of the duct tape “fabric” you’re making. If you
don’t, some parts of the fabric will be four layers thick, which is difficult
to fold.)
3. Fold over the top and bottom edges. Your fabric should now be
about 6 inches tall.
4. Using your ruler and knife, cut a clean edge on the left
side. Always
use your ruler when cutting with your knife.
5. Then measure 8-1/2 inches and trim the other edge. Set aside.
Credit card pockets:
6. Tear off two pieces of tape about 5 inches long. Overlap them
the same as step 1.
7. Tear off two more 5-inch pieces and adhere the same as step
2.
8. Fold over the top and bottom edges the same as step 3. This
large pocket should be about 3 inches tall.
9. Using your ruler and knife, cut a clean edge on the left
side.
10. Then measure 4 inches and trim the other edge. Set aside.
11. Tear off two pieces these are about 9 inches long. Stick them
directly back-to-back.
12. Cut this double-sided piece into two 4-inch long pieces.
These are your smaller pockets.
13. Tear off a 5-inch piece of tape. Rip it lengthwise down the
middle. (Yes, I said rip it.
Fast. You can do it. Don’t worry if it’s not exactly down the middle.)
14. Use two of the ripped pieces to make a top border on each of
the small pockets. Tape the top edge, then fold over. Trim the excess.
15. Tear off a 4-inch piece of tape. Rip it lengthwise down the
middle.
16. Stack the pockets on top of each other. Stagger the height
of the two smaller ones evenly.
17. Place a credit card on top of the stacked pockets to make
sure you leave enough space for your cards. Using one of your ripped pieces,
tape the left side of your pockets right up to the edge of the credit card.
Fold it over to the back side and trim the excess with your ruler and knife. Do not tape the right side yet.
ID window:
18. Use another ripped piece to tape the right edge of your
window. Fold it over and trim the excess. Do
not tape any other edge yet. Set aside.
Final assembly:
19. Fold your main fabric in half lengthwise. Make sure the
height of your pockets, window, and wallet are all the same height (3 inches).
If not, trim them as necessary.
20. Unfold the main fabric. Place the window and pockets in
opposite upper corners of your main fabric. Rip a 9-inch piece of tape
lengthwise. Option 1:
Use one piece to tape the top edge all the way across. Or option 2: Using your knife and
ruler, cut one of the pieces in half endwise. Tape the window down, lining up
the cut edge with the right side of the window. Then tape the pockets down, lining
up the cut edge with the left side of the pockets. Trim off the excess.
21. Tear off another 4-inch piece of tape. Rip it lengthwise
down the middle.
22. Refold your main fabric. Place a credit card on top of the
pockets. Using one of the ripped pieces, tape the right side of your wallet
right up against the edge of your credit card. Fold it over the entire wallet.
Trim the excess with your knife.
23. Tape the left edge (window side) of your wallet the same
way. Trim the excess.
24. Following either option 1 or 2 in step 20, tape the bottom
edge the same way. This piece will show on the outside of your wallet, so
follow option 1 if you want a contrasting border. (You can cut out a notch on
the inside, if you prefer.)
25. Fold your wallet in half endwise, then press it flat.
26. Add decoration with duct tape as desired. You’re done!
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C’est tout, mes amis
Cajun Stitchery
(850) 261-2462
P.S. You are always
welcome to stop by and look at all of the catalogs and pass some time with me,
cher.
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