Vintage dressmaker with Joanna King

Hello Friends! I'm back with my Creative Spell and the second part of my November Guest Design inspiration :).

There is something really magical about the Artistic Stamper's images. They make me 'push the boundaries' and try something completely out of ordinary. At least for me, that is :). This is why, when I saw this set, I was immediately inspired to dust off my sewing machine and go wild!

For my project I used the Dressmaking No 1 plate, which is full of lovely vintage dressmaking images. Yes, they are sew nice! And what a better project to use these stamps for than a cute pin cushion, where I could safely keep all my needles and decorative pins.

I started my work by selecting two patterned fabrics and a piece of off-white cotton cloth. I'm not that good in planning ahead so you won't get any set measurements from me lol. As long as your white fabric is big enough for your selection of images and at least and inch spare on each side, you can 'patchwork' the rest of the cushion to your heart's content. If you iron all your chosen fabrics first, it will make it much easier to work with them.

Next, using a permanent ink like StazOn, stamp your images onto the printable side of an iron-on transfer paper. They are widely available, even in chain supermarket stores. Colour your images in using Distress or alcohol markers (I use Inktense pencils). When you are finished with colouring, iron the artwork onto your white cloth. Make sure to follow the manufacturer's directions for the correct results of the transfer.

The transferred artwork will be a mirror image of the original so bear that in mind if you want to use any words. I haven't tried it, but perhaps if you stamp your words with a dark ink onto white tissue paper, reverse it and adhere the words to your transfer paper before ironing, then that might be a way to go :).

I love an added sparkle and texture of embossing powders so I added some shabby pink embossing enamel on the bottom of the cushion.

Now you are ready to sew your fabrics together, fill in the cushion with padding and embellish it with a selection of ribbons, lace, charms and buttons.

Thank you so much for your lovely comments on my calendar page and I hope you will enjoy this project just as much. Have a very crafty week!

Big hugs