MY FLOWERS ARE MELTING!

At my team stamping day on Saturday I demonstrated a kewl technique to make fabric flower accessories, using the Big Shot, some synthetic fabric, and a heat tool.

I saw this project demoed at Leadership by the textile goddess, Jill Olsen (Google her, or go to StampingJill.com for more fabric ideas - but not until you read this post first!! Come back here!!)

First, I cut my flowers using the "Flower Folds" Bigz XL die (this die has four identical flowers on it, in different sizes.) Because this particular die has both cutting and scoring lines on it, I learned from Jill to put only 3 layers of fabric through at a time. If I had used a die with NO scoring lines (eg the scalloped circle die) then the Big Shot will cut up to eight layers of fabric at one time - talk about a time saver!

Next step is to stack the flowers one on top of the other, with the largest at the bottom & working up to the smallest on top. I then hand-stitched a simple X in the centre to tack it all together.

I stuck the flower onto a wooden clipboard using my temporary Dotto adhesive and applied heat to all the petal edges with my heat tool. (Another way to do this is to temporarily clip the flower to the end of a wooden tongue depressor or Popsicle stick, so that you can hold the opposite end of the stick while you apply the heat ... no scorched fingers!)

You need to watch carefully at this point for A) evenly curling edges and B) smoke coming from the fabric and/or wood ... go ahead, ask me how I know that one, lol. Better yet, ask my hubby who got out of bed early one morning to query if the house was burning down. Ah, the hazards of living with a crafty wife!

The photos shown here are ones I took at Jill's demonstration - I won't show you my own sample, 'cause they didn't turn out nearly as beautifully as Jill's. Let's just say that it's important to use the right fabrics for this ... cotton/poly blends won't work because they don't melt, they BURN!

Now the two fabrics I used at Saturday's demo were both definitely synthetic, but one was kinda gauze-like and definitely see-through, while the other was more solidly woven and thicker in weight. As a result, all the thinner layers melted into lumps long before the thicker fabric began to curl at all.

I'm going to try it again with all my layers made from the same fabric ... but this time I won't stand directly under the smoke detector!

Hey, if you want a personal demonstration of the Big Shot die cutting machine, I'm your gal! OR if you would like to purchase your own Big Shot and/or some new dies, call me! If you prefer the budget plan, I have one opening left in my Big shot Club which starts on Tues Feb 23rd!

cheers,

Comments

[Debbie McNeill]

I love how the flowers turned out. I remember doing that with ribbon but didn't think about fabrice. Clever girl you are.

[sueanne]

hi there - please can you tell me where you got your heat tool from and what it's name is?? i want to heat fabric but can't find any tools (a friend of mine had one so i know they exist). thanks so much!!!

[Donna Henley]

Hi Sueanne!
I used an embossing heat tool (also known as a heat gun) to melt my fabrics.
I sell them through Stampin Up!; there are other models available at some of the big craft stores too.
Remember though, your fabrics have to be synthetics (rayon, nylon, etc) in order to melt.
HTH (hope that helps),
Donna

[sueanne]

hi donna, thanks so much for your quick response! i'll take a look at stampin up and see what i can find! thanks again, really appreciate it! sueanne

[sueanne]

hi donna - having some trouble finding the product, would you mind pointing me in the right direction please? thanks so much, sueanne