This year I am endeavouring to find some really innovative and fun craft supplies for our shop to use with the various kits we sell. I'm ticking off pom pom makers, hoops and stitching supplies from the list and pleased to announce the arrival of soluble, yep - it dissolves in water, Aida (cross stitch) fabric. Say what?!
This stuff is manufactured by DMC, who also make the threads in the kits and comes as a sheet of plastic canvas.
This would be great for stitching names/initials on kids clobber or adding a little cross stitch motif to a bit of denim. The canvas is 14 Count - so works with all our cross stitch patterns (they will be launching as PDFs soon!).
To use, you simply position it on to your fabric to transfer a cross stitch pattern, then wash your finished piece to remove the canvas leaving just your embroidered project.
Here is a little project I made for Galentine's day - I love shoe clips and a LOVE/HATE motif!
CROSS STITCH SHOE CLIPS
You will Need:
- Soluble Canvas
- Cotton Fabric
- Embroidery thread and needle
- Embroidery Hoop
- Mini Cross Stitch Design
- Scrap card, wadding and felt
- Shoe Clip or Clip on Earring findings
Set up the embroidery hoop with a fabric piece. Cut a piece of the soluble canvas a little larger than the size of the design you wish to stitch. Tack the canvas onto the fabric with some long tacking stitches to secure it in place. Stitch you design as you would a normal cross stitch pattern
Repeat so you have two sets of stitching, one for each shoe. Following the manufacturers instructions fill a little bowl with some warm/hot soapy water (around 40/50C) and dunk the stitched work in it. Move the fabric around so the water permeates the canvas. After a couple of minutes you will see that the canvas will rub away when you bring it out of the bowl. Pull all the canvas away, dunking all the time and then wash it in clean water when finished. Dry and then press carefully with a iron.
Make a heart template and cut out a heart shape from the card, wadding and felt. Stick the wadding to the card with a dab of glue. Place the stitched fabric over the top of the heart, positioning the image in the middle. Trim the fabric so that there is a 1-2cm over lap around the card heart. Glue on the back of the heart and press in the edges of the fabric.
When the fabric edges are all sealed up, stick the felt heart shape on the back and then glue on the clip.
Voila! Position on your cutest shoes! I have lots of projects on there way this year - thanks for stopping by to read. I wanted to get the blog and tutorials off the ground so please bear with the photos until I get all my lighting sorted! They will be looking sweet once I get into the swing of it!
