Guest Post: Fabric Scrap Cards

I constantly find myself in awe of the wonderfully talented people I encounter daily - especially here in the land of blogging.  I share links to some of the fabulous projects I come across each weekend in my Week in Review posts, and now on (most) Wednesday's... at least for a awhile... I'm going to be going a step further and inviting one of those creative folks to guest blog here at Ready, Set, Craft! 

I am so very excited to have Gabrielle from i.craft at BeeWiseBags here today to share a little project with you and give you some info about French Picnic, of which she is a co-founder.  Gabrielle has been a personal inspiration to me - she's one wonderfully crafty woman and entrepreneur!  Enjoy!

 

Greetings!

When Joanne asked me to guest post a couple of months ago, I was honored and then astonished at how quickly the time passed before it was upon me. It gives me great joy to be creative and have an outlet for my artsy ways but I am far more blessed to be able to share the things I have learned, discovered and gleaned from the creative people who surround me. Thank you Joanne for inviting me over the Ready, Set Craft! to share and interact with your world.

My blogging began as a simple journal a little over three years ago. It has been many things from deep thoughts to food to goal setting to organization and finally has landed firmly in the creative realm with i.craft @ BeeWiseBags.  From this grounding and focus I was able to connect with Marie the writer of Permission to Unwind...her friendship and the eventual realization that we are surely twins separated at birth enabled the beginning of French Picnic. This cyberworld miracle has been marvelous. Not only do I count her as a best friend but she is an outstanding business partner - yet we have never met in person. Once-in-a-while she or I will have a dream that we had coffee together and feel as though we have met. Isn’t the internet a strange and wonderful place?

There are great plans for French Picnic as a brand, a store and eventually a book, but for now we will remain your crafty French loving girls. Come join us in creativity - it’s a PEAR revolution!

Let get right into a fun project...I am an all around crafter. I love to sew, paint, make, do and even the occasional knitting project. But, today I want to inspire you to make cards from scrap fabric.  I received a beautiful set of these as a gift from a dear friend. I wrote her and asked if I could duplicate them and share them as a tutorial...she happily agreed. 

 

 

Step One: dig out your scraps, if you do not have any then use any fabric. Cut 5 -7 strips of fabric. Make sure not to make them too wide, since the idea is to get several on one card. Cut a sheet of cardstock into fourths.  Lay out your strips and place them overlapping onto the cardstock. Let the edges hang over a little, you’ll be trimming it later. After you get the arrangement that you like, slide all the pieces off of the card, in the order you want to attach them.

Step Two: Take the bottom strip, line it up on the bottom of the card and zigzag the bottom edge onto the card. You do not need to sew the top edge because the next strip will take care of that edge. 

Step Three: Get the next strip in your arrangement and stitch it into place on the bottom edge of this strip. Continue all the way to the top, overlapping as you go.

Step Four: Sew around the outer edge with a straight stitch. This will hold down these edges and lock the threads from your zigzag stitches. 

Step Five: Trim the card and fabric to create clean even edges.

Step Six: Glue this trimmed sewn card to a folded piece of cardstock. Place under a book to dry. 

Step Seven: Stamp a nice message inside the card. If you want to give a set of these cards you can leave them blank, add envelopes, tie the bundle with a ribbon and you have a wonderful gift.

As the world embraces the artistic reusable culture, we will find more ways to repurpose the items that we normally throw away. Let your imagination run wild in how you find ways to re consume that which is already here. Happy Crafting!

~ Gabrielle @ i.craft for BeeWiseBags