September 6, 2022

Well, now that the Labor Day Weekend Holiday is over, that means that fall is on our doorstep.

An update on the house, we are still awaiting the second appraisal to finish.  If it passes, as it did with the first appraisal, then we should get the house.  If not, well, I would rather not think about that!!

My only concern is that if the closing is not this week, then I hope I can reschedule the pods pickup in a timely manner.  Moving dates are filling up fast!

Tuesday's focus is on fabric...all types including yarn, string, etc.  Today, I thought it would be fun to make a scrap fabric collage that uses up all your left over scrap fabric.  As all my fabric is packed I had to use some of the three inch square fabric I purchased this past week.

The supplies you need are fabric scraps, one fabric piece on which you create the collage, scissors and a way to adhere the fabric to the background piece.  There are three ways to create a collage.  

First, the easies method is by using an iron on adhesive such as Steam-A-Seam (or similar).  You will need the adhesive and an iron.  Cover the entire background piece with the adhesive.

Second, you can use a small dot of tacky glue to hold each fabric piece in place and then sew the pieces together with a zig-zag stitch.  For this you need tacky glue and a sewing machine.

Third, instead of tacky glue, you can use pins to hold the fabric pieces in place.  You will need pins and a sewing machine.

I used Steam-A-Seam with my small craft iron which worked well.  First, take the paper off the adhesive sheet (you can tell by feeling which has the bumpy adhesive), place the paper with the adhesive on the background fabric with the adhesive side next to the fabric.  Follow the instructions on how long the iron has to stay on a section to transfer.  You know you are successful if you can peel the paper away from the fabric easily leaving the adhesive on the fabric.  If not, reapply iron.

Next using your scrap fabric, create a collage.  If you are not going to use a sewing machine, butt all edges together rather than slightly overlapping.  That way all the fabric will be glued down.  Using adhesive is nice because the fabric pieces will stay in place while creating the colloge.  You can rearrange them, but the glue will hold them down.

Once you have the collage you like, again, follow the instructions on applying the fabric pieces to the background.  I like to tack them first but placing the iron all over the fabric for about three seconds.  This will hold in the fabric pieces place while you complete the process.

I choose to also zig-zag on the seams because I did overlap in a few places.  I used my craft sewing machine, an inexpensive small one that has complete stitches (Not chain), a backup stitch plus 15 decorative stitches.  Surprisingly, it stitches well even if a bit loud.  Here's my completed collage...

What can you do with the collage?  Well, you can make placemats, or journal covers, or a banner.  You are limited only by your imagination.  I plan on using my collage to show you how to make a journal cover and a notebook cover later on.

Have fun and enjoy the fall...

Talk with you tomorrow...