I would like to illustrate further why I was so excited about the new discovery I made recently.  I wanted to create these labels for my teabags in a border and as you can see by the dime comparison below, the illustrated portion is really quite small.  Trying to trace this over a light-box etc., would have not turned out very well.  I want line precision.   

So now you understand the scale I am working with and why I was excited about being able to work with a small area and keeping it washable with my own choice of fabric.  The nice thing about using the extender is there is NO CHANGE to the hand of the fabric so not only is it pliable and soft, but it is definitely easier to hand applique the fabric.  There is no stiffness and you would never know anything had been applied to the fabric.   It passes the most discriminating touch test.  Can you imagine trying to see this “Paris” font and the teacup’s handle and foot over a lightbox or other tracing methods & trace by hand and have it turn out good? 

this just came out of my hoop so please disregard the distortion.

 OK, so how did I dress it up?  the first step is to take my handy Fabrico markers and color in the printed image of the cup.  

So then what?  I think images that are just inked for detail are rather flat and boring.  I want some texture!  I am working with fabric not canvas or paper, so why eliminate that tactile dimensional effect that makes a quilt, well…..A Quilt??  

It always looks so hairy in an enlarged massive detail shot. I think I need to invest in a magnifying glass, I see I missed a couching stitch in this picture.

1)  I took one strand of pink DMC floss and made french knots with 3 wraps for the “roses” on the upper portion of the cup.   Then I added a single straight stitch of white sewing thread–again one strand.

2)  The leaves are sewing weight dark green thread (one strand) using the lazy daisy stitch.

3) The white cross-hatch work is Lattice Couching with sewing weight thread (one strand).

Easy peesy and it looks so much better than just inking it in don’t you think?  Oh and before I get any comments on lack of time issues, this takes me all of about 5 minutes, if that, and I don’t have to worry about the tiny details being blurry as with the ink and fabric combination. 

I used to embroider the lettering with sewing weight thread, but even I think that is taking it a bit far and becomes rather a step in the direction of the ridiculous and an exercise in chest thumping bravado.  At that scale I could never see the difference anyway.

So now you can see why this is just a different technique that can be added to your technique repetoire.  Be flexible and adapt to the needs of your project by learning and playing as much as you can with different alternatives to accomplish the desired result.  There is NO one size fits all solution.

By the way, you can thank my mom for this new post.  She was tired of the pictures from the last one.  LOL

Everyone in the U.S. have a nice and safe Fourth of July!

All text, images and designs ©2009 Sandra Leichner all rights reserved.