14 Days of LillyBelle... Day 5. Fabric Collage Embellished Skirt

14 Days of LillyBelle... Day 5. Fabric Collage Embellished Skirt   

You probably already know this... I love fabric collage. I think it works on just about anything. I've done wall hangings, pillows, embellished sweaters, quilt edges, jeans and lots more. For this project, I embellished a jean skirt. If you were at quilt market you might have seen me wearing it. I actually did this in the hotel room the night before the show opened.

This is super easy to do. If you don't have experience with free motion quilting, this is also an easy way to get started practicing because it's just so forgiving. If your stitches appear too long or short, just go over them again. You are simply going to doodle. Watch me do it in the video below.

For this project you'll need about 20 or so raw edged fabric motifs. Mine are from LillyBelle in the both colorways. I used Aurifil 4651 which is a variegated thread for the quilting. And you'll need a sewng machine that has free motion quilting capability (feed dogs can go down and a quilting foot). You'll also need a piece of muslin to go underneath your motifs where they will hang off the edge. Quilting gloves are optional, but really help you grip the fabric to move it.

1. Lay the muslin on top of your jean skirt where you will be putting the motifs. It can hang off the bottom edge.

2. Lay out your motifs in a manner that is pleasing to you. Make sure that if it is going of the edge, they are on top of the muslin which you will use as a base.

3. Pin all motifs in place or use a washable glue stick to hold them down. You don't want them flapping about as you are quilting.

4. Free motion quilt/doodle them all into place.

5. Cut off the excess muslin up to the edges of the motifs.

6. Zig zag stitch the raw edges along the bottom with a tight stitch. You could go around the edge three times making each round a shorter stitch to mimic a satin stitch or you could also serge the edges.

7. Wash the skirt to give the pieces a frayed
look.

Here's a short video in which I show you how to free motion quilt for fabric collage. Happy stitching!

 

 

Comments

[SewCalGal]

1.

Very cute project and great threadplay tutorial.

SewCalGal
www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

[Sarah A. Doerr]

2.

I wonder if I can be so talented to decorate my clothing with such stuff...Anyway thanks a lot for the tutorial, I think this all looks very beautiful!