A Fun Mixed Media Project

Recently I was asked by a friend to make her daughter a kiddie sized purse as a gift from her parents for her 3rd birthday. Of course I was ever so happy to make something for this sweet little girl! So while I was making her this little bag, I also wanted to send her something that would be a present from us.

When decorating my daughter's room I made some wall art using Anna Maria Horner's painted silhouette technique, and loved how they turned out. But I've been wanting to make some artwork that is strictly fabric to make sort of the same effect, and then add embellishments to make it three dimensional. So I decided that Jordan would be my guinea pig of sorts!

I chose 2 fabrics that I thought worked well together, but were different enough so that her name would stand out from the background. I traced the letters onto fusible webbing (remembering to reverse the image when you're working with words!), and then cut out the letters in Jordan's name. From here I adhered the letters to the center of the background fabric, which I had measured ahead of time to make sure it would wrap around to the back of the size of canvas I had chosen to work with (this was 12"x6"). You could also stitch over the applique before moving on to the next step, but I chose not to.

At this point I grabbed my staple gun, and began to wrap the prepared fabric around the canvas, making sure her name was centered, and stapling at the back so the sides had a nice finished look for hanging. (Make sure to start in the middle of each side, and work your way out with the staples, pulling the fabric a bit taut to make sure no bubbles or wrinkles occur). After I made clean corner folds, and was happy with the position of everything at this point, I started to embellish (my favorite part!). I hand sewed some buttons through the canvas itself, I used Sharpie Paint Pens to add a shadow line to the letters so they would look more three-dimensional, and then hot fixed some clear crystals below Jordan's name - and it was fit for a princess.
Have you tried this kind of project? What techniques do you find the most helpful or most enjoyable? I'd love to keep building on this idea. I was super happy with my first attempt at this mixed-media art project, and I can't wait to get to try it again! Anyone need a gift?

Happy Friday! Amy