Tuesday, February 8, 2011

New Pillows!

I love to experiment, some things work, some don't, but I learn about products and how I can change things to improve on them.
I wanted to use fabric markers and still get a prim folk art look. I started with marvy markers, then I added some watercolor pencil and art pens. I think I got carried away and turned my colors to mud. What I need to do is, have more markers in coordinating colors, so I can shade without overdoing it. I like the marvy markers, they go on nicely, they don't bleed and can be washed.

When I was done, I started by painting on distress ink, not a good idea. The watercolors started to bleed out. So, I tamped up some of the color and then tried a light spray and that worked without bleeding. I guess I should have heat set the colors first, then added the spray;) But it worked in the end, the cloth was pure white and the spray gave it a nice aged look and covered what little red that was showing.

The design is a freebie that I found at Mary Corbet's site. She has some nice embroideries and wonderful tutorials on stitches. To make the piece, I lay the white fabric onto the pattern with a light box. I taped the pattern and fabric, so it wouldn't move. Then I colored in the design with the markers. Once that was done, I took it off and added the shading. The original shading was nice, but then I added more and it a lot of it blended in. Once that was done, I outlined the design with two strands of floss and added little details. I forgot to do the big flower, duh to me;)

This would be fun to do with small hearts too and hang them on a prim, valentine tree.
I distressed this piece with Distress It, on the cloth, before I made the pillow, I think it stained nicely.



I also made some more little pillows from Tiffany's designs. I am in a rabbit and easter mood, so the bunny if going to go into a new project I will be trying out. The pillows are made with tea stained fabric from moda, a light and a dark shade. I used distress on them, after I made them into pillows, and they didn't stain, seems the stain goes into the stuffing. So, if you use distress it to antique a piece, it works best on flat fabrics.

13 comments:

Linda said...

Oh I love them all!! I think the heart is beautiful. You are right, a few more of them on a prim tree would be just darling!

SewCalGal said...

Lovely. Very interesting effect for the distressing. Could make for a great tutorial some day {hint, hint}. I've never played with anything like that, but your project is certainly inspirational. Great job!

SewCalGal
www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

so nice!!!

Jacque. said...

Wonderful, fabulous, as always! Great job, Debbie.

Staci said...

I'm just amazed you started with white fabric! The transformation is stunning. Have fun coloring! The results are really wonderful!

~Madalynne~ said...

Great projects! The heart reminds me of the painted Pennsylvania Dutch furniture . . . so folk artsy!

Anonymous said...

Oh so prim!

Deb said...

I love all of them, but especially love the heart! Veery pretty!

Melissa said...

They look great, Debbie! You are a creative spirit!

Soggibottom said...

Lovely stuff as usual Debbie, hey, anything with bunnies on is fine with me, especially if it means Easter is near along with the warmer weather. :-) x x x

Gayle said...

You've been BUSY! Thanks for sharing the source of your heart pattern with us - she has some great designs - and free is always GOOD!

Carole said...

Cute projects! You're so good at distressing things! thanks for sharing!

Carrie P. said...

They are all so cute but I do like that little bunny.