Experimenting with sewing on paper by hand and machine

Date:   6/28/2013 9:10:12 PM ( 11 y ago)

"Elephant" Art and photo by mayah (c)2013   Card measures 7" X 5.5"

A family member is an artist who paints with acrylics; she wipes her brushes on paper towels. I cut up one of the used towels, glued it on piece of heavy weight metallic paper using a glue stick rather than liquid glue so that the paper towel would not become saturated (you can also use an iron-on glue paper such as Steam-a-Seam II), and hand sewed around the edges of the paper towel with metallic embroidery floss.  Then I glued the design onto a folded piece of white cardstock paper for the card. It's very labor intensive to sew by hand, but I find it to be very relaxing. To me, the shape of the towel looks like some kind of abstract elephant! 

Hint: if you want to try this, I find it easier to punch the holes first before hand sewing. Place the paper you are going to sew on top of a piece of corrugated cardboard, design side up. Take a sturdy threadless sewing needle or very thin nail and punch evenly spaced holes into the paper in whatever pattern you choose; use a thimble to push the needle or nail into the paper (and the cardboard underneath) to save your fingers! The sewing is easier and faster once the holes have been punched, and you can see where next to put the sewing needle when working from the back side of the paper. When sewing, I used a regular embroidery needle with a wide eye to accommodate the embroidery floss.

 
art and photo by mayah (c)2013

The "elephant" card is not a standard size so I made an envelope for it with a button and thread closure, embellishing it with paper scraps and strips of foil from a candy bar wrapper.




"Koi"  11" X 11" art and photo by mayah (c)2013

This is another reused acrylic paint-on-paper towel. This time, I glued the scrap onto textured paper and used a sewing machine for the stitches. The tension on the machine was turned up so the threads would be tight on the paper. Then the design was glued onto the textured yellow paper background. The pattern of the paint reminds me of the colorful markings on koi fish; hence, the name.  

Related Blogs:

Art: "Forest"/"Persimmon Beauty" http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=2086291 MORE Greeting Cards from reused materials and found nature objects.

Eco Greeting Cards: http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=2082809
In making new art, I like to reuse paper and scraps from other art projects as much as possible, as well as use eco-friendlier art supplies.

Mixed Media Greeting Card:  http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=2064478 Hand sewn card made from paper scraps

Art: "Love is Everything!" Fun and easy mixed media greeting card art using paper and fabric scraps; great for kids and "inner children"! http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=2059855


 

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