Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Fabric Post Cards


You've got mail!


Or rather someone else is going to have mail...

As promised yesterday, I'm going to be sharing some ideas to get our kids writing more this summer.  This is the first installment in Summer Writing Camp.

Your kid is going to need a pen pal if they don't have one already...which is the reason I made so many.  This is a good way to get Firecracker to practice her writing without us having to twist her arm.

This is definitely one of those projects that evolved as it went.  I'd been envisioning making some kind of soft framed wall hanging that would be easily to mail to the kids' birthmoms for Mother's Day.  I was thinking some kind of bias tape or something around the edge.  Then as I was experimenting, I decided I liked it sans bias tape with just stitching...and that they'd be post cards.  So maybe I'll revisit that soft frame idea, but for now we're loving fabric post cards at our house.

I started by playing around with some of the patterns I've used from Twin Stitchers.  I love Coley's doodle people because they're easy for me to modify slightly.  (My Sister My Friend item #OU813 and the CTR sheild in the Tidbits All Occasions!)

I did several variations on My Sister My Friend.

Although you can still tell the difference in the ones I've tried to make myself...I think his head might be a little too small.

Then when I discovered Slovly, I emailed Sabrina to see if she'd mine if I used some of her designs for this little project.  She was super nice and said yes!

So of course I sent her a little stack of postcards as a thank you.

These two little dancing sisters can be found here where Sabrina shares a printable coloring page.

And you know I had to make some with a little girl reading.  They can be found here and here.

But my absolute favorite for a postcard, I found tucked away in this little post of unfinished paintings...
 I made several of most of these.  Here's my version, Firecracker's version and the blank one.


...and then I modified it a bit, so there would be a boy version for Little Brother.

So here are the things you'll need:
Muslin or other cotton fabric, preferably without a pattern.  I used white.
Picture to trace
Heat'n Bond Lite or similar adhesive
Iron
Sewing machine and thread
Ultra-fine tip sharpie or fabric marker  I used
Cardstock printed with post card lines.  You can get my free template here.

And here's how you make these.
I liked my postcards to be about 5x7.  I cut the muslin out to be about 6x8 so I'd have some extra.  Trace your pattern onto your muslin using a fabric marker or ultra fine point sharpie.
Cut your Heat'n Bond Lite into 5x7 rectangles.  Center it under your design with the shiny side toward your fabric.

Iron.

Peel off the paper backing.

Center your cardstock on the back so that it covers all of the heat'n bond.

Iron again.  (You don't want to get the heat'n bond on your iron!)

Trim the muslin to the edge of your cardstock and stitch with brightly colored thread on your sewing machine.  I liked to go around the edges twice because I thought it looked cute.

It should look something like this...

Color!

I let Firecracker color as many as she wants...as long as she writes a letter on the back before starting a new one.  Typically on any writing assignment, we tell her she needs three sentences.

Little Brother joined in on this one too...but I have him verbally tell me what to write and then he traces his name to sign it.

7 comments:

  1. Love it! I can't wait to try this with my little guy! Grandma and Grandpa are going to be so surprised!! Thanks for the tutorial!

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  2. Postcards - what a perfect writing "assignment." Audience and purpose are a given, and the length is just about right. The cards are darling. Thank you for an excellent tutorial. Now I need to go make/write a couple of postcards...

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  3. Such cute cards! Love the tutorial!

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  4. What a fabulous idea! My kids would love to do this for their friends and cousins! Thanks for linking up at Sassy Sites for our ffa party! Have a wonderful weekend! xoxo!!

    -Marni

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  5. Oh, I love this! What a great way to encourage writing!
    Would you be willing to link this up to our weekly Playdate at http://beneaththerowantree.blogspot.com/2011/06/playdate-link-party-in-summer-12.html ?

    Cheers,
    Lori
    Come & Play :: Playdate
    www.beneaththerowantree.com

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  6. These are fantastic! Oh my gosh, LOVE them! I am featuring them in this week's For the Kids link party. Thanks for sharing them last week. Stop by and grab an A++ button, and link up for this week's party fun! Always love to see what you have to share!

    :)rachel at http://SunScholars.blogspot.com

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  7. You could also do a pretend play post office! http://imaginationsoup.net/2009/09/imagination-time-post-office/

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