Quilted Die Cut Fabric Embellishments

Today I want to share an easy technique for adding quilted fabric embellishments for your projects.  I cut my shape using a steel rule die, but you could cut your shape free hand or by tracing the shape with a stencil or pattern.

Begin by cutting two pieces of fabric and one piece of thin batting slightly larger than your die shape.  Place the first piece of fabric wrong side up and apply a layer of SuperStik glue stick to the backside of the fabric.

Place the batting onto the first piece of fabric.  Apply SuperStik to the top of the piece of batting.

Place the second piece of fabric on top of the batting.  Burnish over the three assembled layers with a craft scraper or edge of a ruler to help them bond together.

Place the assembled piece on the die and die cut according to your machine or die instructions.

Use an air or water dissolving fabric pen to draw stitching guides on your fabric as desired.  I planned to use my piece on a harlequin embossed tag and wanted to duplicate the harlequin pattern’s lines into my quilting.  To do this, I applied just enough SuperStik to the back of my fabric heart to hold it in place while I used a ruler to draw the pattern’s lines onto my heart.  I used a Distress Ink Marker to draw my lines so that I could add a subtle layer of color under by stitches.

I machine stitched over each marker line.

If you were to use a non-dissolving pen like me, and were to decide that you did not care for the marker lines under the stitching, you can simply flip the piece over and use the reverse side.  This also would be a simple solution for creating sewing lines for anyone not having a dissolving ink pen.

To erase the dissolving marks, mist the heart with water.  I wanted my lines to show, but wanted to soften and blur them, so I misted my fabric with water to activate the Distress Ink Marker, which is water reactive just like the ink in Distress Ink Pads.

After drying the heart, I added extra Distress Ink to the edges of the heart to add a bit of age and shabbiness to it.

I adhered the fabric heart to my tag lining up the stitched lines with the embossed lines.  I finished the tag by adding ribbon and a small text tag.

Supplies:

• adhesive: SuperStik Glue Stick
• fabric: Adorn It Happy Hearts Fabric Collection- Curly Motif Aqua; natural colored cream cotton batting
• die: Sizzix Bigz Primitive Hearts
• ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink and Marker- Vintage Photo

tammytutterow.typepad.com