New Scissors Rubber Stamps

As some of you know, I design and manufacture deep etch rubber stamps that are especially designed for fabric stamping and creating Angelina Appliques.  I'm so excited with my new stamps a mini (1.25") and a regular (2.25") Scissors stamp.  They are fantastic!  I've been busy at work creating a project to hare at the Road to California Roundabout and used the Scissor stamp as part of the project.  I love it and it was so easy to make. 

Angelina Film better than Mylar for machine Embroidery

Angelina Film:

The most exciting thing about Angelina Film is the 18 fantastic colors it comes in.  It is similar to Mylar, and can be used in Mylar suitable designs, but also can be used in any of your designs to give an exciting new effect.  Back to the colors, which include shades that look like copper and gold metals, pink and green carnival glass, irridescent purples – each one will give a different effect to your design.  The film comes in rolls of 4” x 3 feet each. 

Technique 1 – Mylar suitable designs:

 The idea behind Mylar-suitable designs is to have a design with open stitches that will allow the film to show through them bringing out the sparkly effect between the stitches, giving that lovely metallic effect from all angles.  Since Mylar only comes in one color that is colorfast (white/clear) it only adds a sparkly touch to the threads you are using.  When you use Angelina Film, you add a second element of a background sparkle color.

1.     Prepare your Angelina Film.  You can use the Angelina straight off the roll, like mylar, for a glassy finish.  But even better, you can up the refractive quality of the film ten-fold by using this quick and easy method (I call it my High-Tech Texture Trick").  Cut the film to the size of the hoop area, and then take the Angelina Film in your hand and crumple it into a ball, now straighten it out.  Put it on your pressing sheet “book”, cover with the top of the pressing sheet and lightly tap down with the iron to press the crinkles into place.

2.      Place the fabric you will be embroidering in the hoop together with the right stabilizer for the type of fabric you are using.  Put your piece of film down and hold it in position with some small pieces of magic tape.

3.      Stitch the design.  When the embroidery is completed, remove the hoop out of the machine. Carefully pull or cut away the excess Angelina film. Trim any jump stitches.  If there are any small pieces of the film left behind, these pieces can be removed with tweezers.

Machine Embroidery - Angelina Fibers instead of Metallic Thread:

Angelina Fibers instead of Metallic Thread:

         

Using Metallic threads in your machine embroidered designs can be a real hassle.  They are expensive and temperamental.  Metallic threads tend to break, fray and bunch up.  As a result I started using Angelina in place of all Metallic threads in any design and I love it (I think you will too).  The look is a little different than metallic thread, but I really like the look.  It is textural and sparkly.  It saves tons of time, thread and frustration, and best of all it’s super-easy to do.

1.     Pick out the design you want to embroider, look at it to determine which color of thread you would like to leave out to have the Angelina show through instead. 

2.     Select the color of Angelina you would like to use.  Lay the Angelina on your pressing sheet “book”.  Using you fingers, spread it out to the approximate size of the design area you want to cover.  You are making a thicker sheet of Angelina so you want to keep the fibers fairly close together.

1.     Cover with the top of the Pressing sheet “book”.  Using your Iron on silk setting, no steam – swipe the iron across the pressing sheet twice.  Check to see if the fibers are bonded.  If it still looks furry , flip the pressing sheet “book” over and swipe once on the other side.  Check to see if bonded.  If your iron is too hot or you press for too long, you might dull the Angelina.  It helps to remember that you are not melting the Angelina, only bonding it to itself.

2.     Put your piece of Angelina between two pieces of water soluble stabilizer (if you are making a stand-alone design) – if you are going to use on a garment layer as follows: 

a.     Your favorite stabilizer

b.     Shirt (or whatever you are embroidering on)

c.     Pressed sheet of Angelina Fibers

d.     Water Soluble stabilizer favorite stabilizer

3.      Hoop and embroider your design, leaving out the fill stitches or those colors of thread where you want the Angelina to sparkle through.  Trim any excess Angelina away from the design using embroidery scissors or a hot knife.

Mule Quilt Pattern now available

I just have to show you my newest pattern - Portrait of a Mule.  I have also created a pattern for a packing mule as well.  Surprisingly there are little to no quilt patterns for Mule Lovers.  I had such fun creating him and even did my own quilting(very new machine quilting beginner)!  I think you'll love him too.  The two tiny crystals on the eyes, bring him to life!  Here is a little information about mules. 

A mule is the result of the mating of a male donkey (jack) and a female horse(mare) to produce a hybrid. Mules are anatomically normal and show normal breeding behavior unless gelded (castrated) early in life.  Mules are sterile due to an uneven chromosome count. The mule's body type and temperament depend on the breed of mare and jack used. Mules come in any horse or donkey color or combination of both. A mule is easily distinguished from a donkey by looking at the tail. A mule's tail is haired all the way to the top like a horse’s tail; a donkey’s tail has a tuft on the end like a cow. The mule has the patience, endurance, sure footedness, sense, and drought tolerance of the donkey, combined with the size, speed, strength and courage of the horse. He is so new I haven't even put him on the website yet - you can email me at Diane@cowgirlquiltdesigns.com for more information.  I leave in a few hours for the Houston Quilt Festival - Maybe I'll see you there!!

Machine Embroidery using Rubber Stamps and Angelina Fibers

I'm off to the Houston Quilt Festival tomorrow so if you are going to be there stop by the Embellishment Village Booth and see me!!  I'm really looking forward to going and sharing so of the exciting new things we are doing with Angelina Fibers.  This post I'm going to share how you can make a piece of textured Angelina and then use this in your machine embroidery.  If you want to more about Machine Embroidery using Angelina Fibers and Film you can contact me at www.cowgirlquiltdesigns.com and request a copy of my detailed instructions. 

Textured Angelina

This technique produces a gorgeous piece of Angelina with an embossed design.  I think that textured Angelina gives the look of embossed metals and I particularly like to use it in appliqué designs as the fabric component.  Since Angelina is a Polyester-based fiber what you are doing when you create a piece of textured Angelina is creating a piece of fabric, which you can use just like you would use any other fabric. 

1.      Use your Stamplates or Texture your Textiles stamps to get this effect.  These stamps are created specifically for fabric stamping, using the deep etch method so they are deeper than a regular crafting stamp.  The fibers can get into the crevices of the stamp and the result is a beautiful embossed piece of Angelina.  My favorite stamp to use is the Swirls pattern.  My favorite color of Angelina to use is Peacock.

Texture Your Textile Stamp -Swirls Pattern

2.     Take your stamp and place it design side up on your surface (I always use my pressing sheet “book”). 

3.     If you are using a light shade of Angelina, you can apply some ink to the stamp.  Use Pigment Ink (I recommend Colorbox Pigment Ink) as it becomes permanent when ironed, so you can wash and dry it.  If you are using a dark shade of Angelina, I generally don’t use ink.  To apply the ink, take your ink pad and hold it upside down in your hand between your thumb and fingers.  Now you can pounce the ink pad directly onto the stamp’s design for full coverage.

4.     Put a clump of Angelina over the top of the stamp.  It doesn’t matter how thin or thick it is, you just need to cover the entire stamp.  Leave the Angelina hanging off the edges.  Anything you cut off after embossing the Angelina, can be re-used, so nothing goes to waste. 

5.     Put the top of the Pressing Sheet “Book” over the top of the Angelina covered stamp.  If you are right handed, put your left hand on the left lower corner of the pressing sheet to hold it down while you drag the iron across the stamp with your iron held in your right hand (lefties do the reverse).  Remember, you are dragging it across, rather than pressing down.  As soon as you start to see the design show through the pressing sheet it is done. 

6.     Remove the textured piece of Angelina from the stamp (it won’t stick).  Use this piece as the fabric element in any appliqué machine embroidery design and take your design to the next level! 

7.     Embroider your appliqué design as usual, except the Textured Angelina will be your fabric.

Have Fun!