Serinde's Stitching Adventures UPDATE 11 Dec 2019

[Serinde]

Here are my fancy 2019 Christmas cards. Also Faby Reilly, stitched last year. Quite the fanciest finish I've ever attempted.

[Mabel Figworthy]

They are gorgeous! I'm trying to see how they are put together - did you tuck the fabric under before attaching the squares to the cards? The effect with the ribbon and the button is great.

[Serinde]

The squares were cut to the correct size and then mounted on sticky felt -- so much easier than having to glue fabric down. The ribbon ends are hidden under the square (double-sided tape). Pritt stick onto the card, with square on top. (I know, but really, who has acid-free glue to hand? Not me.) The buttons and sequins were fiddly. Really fiddly.

[Mabel Figworthy]

Well the result is beautiful! And I didn't even know there was such a thing as acid-free glue...

[Garnet]

Well they are gorgeous!

I didn't know there was such a thing as sticky felt!

Your method sounds a lot easier than the turning under and mitre-ing of the corners that I did on the two turtle doves decoration.

The overall effect is so beautiful, muted, subtle and classy it.

[Podolyanka]

Gorgeous they are. But what do you mean by sticky felt? Is it sticky on both its sides? I have sticky felt to back bookmarks, but it is sticky on one side. Sorry, I must sound a bit stupid after the day's work.

[Serinde]

Well they are gorgeous!

I didn't know there was such a thing as sticky felt!

Your method sounds a lot easier than the turning under and mitre-ing of the corners that I did on the two turtle doves decoration.

The overall effect is so beautiful, muted, subtle and classy it.

That's not me, you understand. That's Faby Reilly's lovely design and excellent finishing instructions.

Gorgeous they are. But what do you mean by sticky felt? Is it sticky on both its sides? I have sticky felt to back bookmarks, but it is sticky on one side. Sorry, I must sound a bit stupid after the day's work.

Not at all! Yes, it's the felt that is sticky only on one side. Faby Reilly glues her design first to "real" felt and then to the card. Too much bother for me! Although I did use glue on the Merry Christmas design to attach the felt (non-sticky side) to the card. Didn't really like the result on the inside of the card (a bit of ripple, despite being under the heaviest book I own - War and Peace!)

[Mabel Figworthy]

Serinde, when using sticky felt to back embroideries, do you ever find (as I have in the past) that the glue makes the holes in the fabric look shiny in certain lighting conditions? This might be remedied, I suppose, by glueing the embroidery to the non-sticky side of the felt using a matt glue, and then using the sticky side of the felt to attach it to the card

[fccs]

Beautiful cards, stitching and finishing.

[rachdun]

The cards look lovely

[wendywombat]

Very classy and sophisticated! Proper 'grown-up' cards...not the silly Garfield ones I have sent out!!

I'd never heard of sticky felt! Is it readily available? Great for bookmarks as well as cards.

[Podolyanka]

Wendy, I will tell you a top secret about card making. You(I in fact) take a piece of plastic canvas, stitch a design and your wish, back the "card" with sticky felt, and off it goes. The addressee will never throw it away, let alone recycle it because it looks neat and can stand (leaned against something)in a bookcase or on a shelf forever.
The same is true about bookmarks and ornaments for the Christmas tree. I gave up on cards ages ago, now making only Easter ornaments and "cards" as described above, and this saves me lots of nervous energy as I have never been good at turning Aida and a piece of paper into a decent card. Plus I am selfish- I just hate the thought that my hard work may be recycled there and then. The worst that may happen to such creations is their being given away to a third person, but they will go on living, right? This is what matters to a stitcher.

[Serinde]

Very classy and sophisticated! Proper 'grown-up' cards...not the silly Garfield ones I have sent out!!

I'd never heard of sticky felt! Is it readily available? Great for bookmarks as well as cards.

I don't ever make very many fancy cards. I used to, and send them to family in the US, but that's prohibitively expensive these days. But I do love making a few.

Go to Minerva Crafts for self-adhesive felt in all kinds of colours. Here it is shown on the roll and you can choose how much (I bought a metre years ago). Baker Ross also sells it in sheets.

[wendywombat]

I'll have look at that, thanks! Postage to France bit pricey so I'll keep it in mind for the future!
Lots of lovely useful colours.

[Serinde]

Serinde, when using sticky felt to back embroideries, do you ever find (as I have in the past) that the glue makes the holes in the fabric look shiny in certain lighting conditions? This might be remedied, I suppose, by glueing the embroidery to the non-sticky side of the felt using a matt glue, and then using the sticky side of the felt to attach it to the card

I've not notices shininess through the stitching, but I don't have your eye for these things, either. No reason why you couldn't glue the stitching to the felt and use the sticky side to attach to the card, of course. And I now have seen a craft glue stitch specifically for fabric... though pritt works just fine.

Meeting up with pals tomorrow for our annual Christmas Jolly. It was so much easier when we all lived in the same place, but hey ho. It means a (bus) trip over to St Andrews, which doesn't exactly break my heart! I've also fancy-fied some plain brown bags to put their Jolly goodies in.I know his buttons aren't straight, but gingerbread men do tend to run fast! (Big cookie cutters, since you ask.)

[Garnet]

Oh thank you for that link Serinde, you are a

On the subject of glue, I have used Anita's PVA Tacky Glue in the past, it dries colourless and is flexible too. Amazon has it, but this tablet is playing up today and won't copy and paste
Ok, then, having a strong word I.e. shouting at the screen, closing tabs and beginning the whole process again worked, here is the link

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anitas-Tacky-V ... 338&sr=8-5

The gift bags are lovely, very jolly, very festive.

[Mabel Figworthy]

What a great way to Christmassify those bags! (And gingerbread men are notoriously sloppy about their buttons - the gingerbread women often have tospeak to them about it...)

Garnet, I love simple white PVA glue - it's great to use with gold leaf as well because you can build it up to a slightly flexible curved surface!

[Mabel Figworthy]

By the way, Garnet, what is the difference between ordinary PVA glue and tacky PVA glue?

[Garnet]

Mabel I have no idea it does state on the bottle that it is suitable for all craft projects, but I guess that's true for all PVA, it does wash off easily though.

According to the wisdom of google: PVA glues like tacky glues are commonly known as white glues and are water based using resin as the main ingredient.

The label on my bottle says its is suitable for Arts, Crafts, Hobbies and DIY applications. Dries Colourless and Flexible. I wonder if some PVAs are suitable for paper only?

It definitley doesn't leave a white residue and I have been able to get a needle through no problem - maybe that's the difference.

[Squirrel]

Serinde, your cards and Christmasy bags are works of art for sure. Absolutely astonishing and oh so elegant.