1990s Retro Embellished Christmas Sweatshirt Craft

I know it’s not quite Halloween so maybe you’re not wanting to see Christmas crafts yet. LOOK AWAY, and come back in a few weeks. If there is one thing I could impart to new crafters is that to acquire all of your materials in time to finish your crafts and ship them off before Christmas, or have them ready for the family Christmas gathering, you want to start gathering supplies as soon as they’re out and available. Nothing quite ruins the joy of a holiday craft as not having that one component you need to make it complete.

YOU CANNOT DO THIS PROJECT IN ONE DAY – so settle in and just expect it to take a couple of days.

I actually started gathering supplies for this craft a month ago, starting with the vintage fabric prints that are circa the 1990s. I acquired that from eBay. I always check that it’s coming from a smoke-free home when ordering fabrics. You should, too.

MATERIALS

Sweatshirts
Christmas Appliques – I highly recommend checking for vintage first as they have the cutest styles with the proper retro 1990s feel.
Fusible webbing
Puffy fabric paints multi-pack
Flat-back foiled/silver-back gems (they sparkle more) and sequins (You can also choose sew-on beads if you like, the whole thing will last longer).
An embellishing adhesive like Aleene’s Jewel It (which was what I used in the 1990s!)
Pencil
Good scissors

INSTRUCTIONS

• Cut out your designs from the fabric right up to the edge of the color.
• Turn them face down and trace them onto the waxy removable paper side of the fusible webbing sheet then cut the shapes out
  Turn the design face up and put the non waxy side of the fusible webbing to the design (the glue side), they should line up nicely
• Use a 2 pieces of parchment paper larger than the cut-out, sandwich the cutout and the fusible webbing between the parchment – this is so you don’t get any accidental sticky overhang around the edges onto your ironing board or your iron. PLEASE BE SURE YOU HAVE THE CORRECT SIDE OF THE FUSIBLE WEBBING TO THE CORRECT SIDE OF YOUR FABRIC DESIGN
• Read the fusible webbing instructions. There is some variation. Using the hot iron on a medium heat (or whatever your packaging says) run it firmly in slow circles over the parchment. Make sure you don’t leave it sit too long and melt anything. But make sure the iron is hot enough, you press firmly, and do it long enough or the fusible webbing won’t melt properly and fuse the fabric. Some older fabrics are plasticky, you want a more cotton-like fabric.
• Once cool peel the waxy paper backing off of the design cutout and lay it where you want it to be on your shirt. Make sure it’s exactly where you want it, because once you start ironing there is no going back. Put the design where you want it and lay one of those pieces of parchment over it and iron firmly and well. Don’t try testing it at the edges until it’s cooled, you’ll just peel it up!
• After the design has cooled completely use your choice of fabric paints to line the edge of the design. This helps seal it and keep it from unraveling, as well as adding a decorative touch. You can add paint to make certain elements like berries, or snow. It’s better to make it thicker and allow a long drying time rather than trying to build up the paint over several applications.
• ALLOW TO DRY FOR THREE DAYS AT LEAST
• Use a warm iron and parchment to heat-set the fabric painted elements.
• Use your fabric beading glue to tack on any embellishments you feel will suit your design. You can also choose to sew your beading on if you get the proper kind of beading for that. However, nobody was really sewing on beads, these have a certain “quickly made craft” feeling to them, which is authentic.
• Allow the beading to dry for a minimum of 10 days before attempting to wash.

CARE INSTRUCTIONS

Wash inside out on gentle cycle, cold water. Hand wash if you want to. Don’t wring hard! Press the water out or use a towel to roll it up and press out the water. Twisting will ruin the designs.

Air dry in no-heat dryer or hang to dry.

Keep a little container of replacement beads and the glue for when something needs a touch-up as needed.

Thank you for joining me for this retro craft! Do you have any old timey or vintage crafts you’d like me to post about? Something from your childhood you’d love to do yourself? Leave a comment!

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Art Smash Junk Journaling Workshops

WORKSHOP REGISTRATION FORM

Location: Laurel, Maryland in Prince George’s County

Since recently teaching publishing workshops I remembered how much I enjoy teaching classes. Crafting was once a big part of my life before publishing became my main focus. With only so much time between my paycheck job and my creative passion jobs (which I hope someday will be my full-time paycheck jobs) and divorce, house selling, house buying, marriage, deaths, pandemic and all of the things that keep us busy, I hadn’t really considered getting back into crafting workshops. Plus, I didn’t really have anywhere to teach them. HOWEVER! I have now found a place and have settled on Art/Smash/Junk Journaling as what I would like to teach.

I Miss Crafting

I used to work at a major craft retailer as a craft designer and workshop teacher. I’ve really been missing that connection with art materials and expression in colors and various mediums. Here are a few of the crafts I did that I really enjoyed creating. Maybe at some point I can get more into crafting again when I can find that ever elusive and possibly mythical life balance.

Often there were art supplies I might never have used before, so I might have a first and second attempt. The pale colored doll was my first attempt. The doll in darker colors was a second attempt and came out much better.

Do you find yourself not having as much time for crafting? Do you miss it? What do you miss most? What type of crafting do you enjoy doing?

Cereal Box Aquarium Craft for Kids

Hi all! Here is the result of the Cereal Box Aquarium Craft.

Cereal Box Aquarium – KID’S CRAFT

Two lovely little children made these from my instructions. Aren’t they the best?

Hello! While we are all practicing social distancing I wanted to get back to my craft roots so I’m dusting off this blog and offering up some crafty classes.

Mixed Media Jewelry

This is a mixed media necklace I made out of a variety of found objects.  I had some bottles left over from the fairy wish necklaces I used to make and of course some of these bits are purchased scrapbooking or jewelry findings.  This gift was for my friend Grey, so that is what is written on the scrap of paper in the bottle.  I think next time I make a necklace like this I will do a tutorial.  I started work on something similar last night.  So, perhaps next necklace will be a DIY for you jewelry types.

Check out that old lock from a long lost vintage diary.  And the little scroll with words is a paper bead.  You can make those too!

I’m not really sure what types of tutorials folks will want, so I will just jump right in next time and take images of my steps.

Spring Hat Door Hanger

This is a cute and fun craft for spring.  It also happens to be inexpensive and very easy to make.

Fairy Horns

Festival season is coming!  Don’t be caught without horns!  They’re a basic staple of the fantasy cosplayer.

Here is a quick guide to making your own fairy or imp horns.  Or whatever manner of magical creature you might be.