Last week I blogged about making embellishments using fabric...this week, we are using fabric as patterned paper! Here's a little bit about my thought process when incorporating this bold fabric pattern:
1. Choose fabric.
2. Chose another fabric.
3. End up with a pile of fabric on the desk due to indecision. (Right here I should have stopped and realized that I needed to choose MY PHOTO first, like I usually do. It's a lot easier to choose colors when you have a photo to work with.)
4. Notice the red gingham fabric (from October Afternoon Farm Fresh fabric collection) overlapping a piece of pattern paper and decide it's a sign that those two patterns were meant to be together.
5. Rip the fabric into a rectangle and trim long strands.
6. Adhere fabric to paper and stitch around the edge several times. I used brown thread for two reasons: I like a dark contrasting thread on bold colors, AND brown was already in my sewing machine. (Another meant-to-be moment.)
7. I visited my scrap drawer to collect some strips for a frame around the fabric and stitched around those.
8. At this point, I wish I had taken a picture (hindsight is 20/20!) because I'd like to show how desperately the layout was begging for a neutral frame. I pulled my new absolute favorite Sidewalks pink grid (Ring Around the Rosie) and trimmed my page to fit on it with a nice, big frame border. MUCH better.
9. Here is when I realize that there are very few pictures in my extensive collection of digital photos that could possibly work on this crazy, colorful, in-progress layout. It was going to have to contain a LOT of white space! I was happy to find this photo from several years ago. Not only does it have lots of white space, but the colors are quite neutral. Happy me.
11. This is the place where I got excited and made the Chip 'n Stick banner with the twine from my Sidewalks Wrap Pack. (It's my favorite thing about the layout besides the photo.) I did remove the sticky back from the banner pieces so they would be easy to play with.
12. Originally I had thought I'd use the white space in the photo for the title, but it worked very well to put it on a Shape Sticker below the photo.
13. I spread the journaling out vertically to give the page a downward "flow" (and because that's how they fit!).
14. I forgot to add my own handwriting to this layout, so I will go back and write something (probably just the city and state) in the bottom left-hand corner.
I told my fellow design team member Jill Sprott what I was doing and she came up with this completely amazing layout:
Here's what Jill said about her layout:
"There is so much that can be done with the cute new October Afternoon fabric line, but even keeping it simple works, too! I sewed a square of the new October Afternoon fabric on a sheet of patterned paper from the new Farmhouse line, and used both as a backdrop for this photo of my great-grandmother. I've been wanting to tell this story about her for some time now. It's kind of a ghost story, but it's also a love story, I suppose."
More detail shots of this one (because I KNOW you want to get up close!):
Have you used fabric on a layout before? Try it. Or try it again! We want to see the results, so please post your creations in the October Afternoon Flickr Gallery!
Wow!! I'm blown away...such gorgeous layouts and use of fabric!!!
Posted by: Emily Hammann | October 05, 2011 at 11:28 PM
LOVE both of these pages, ladies!! SUPER use of fabric on layouts! :D
Posted by: Amy H | October 05, 2011 at 11:58 AM
wow great page layouts...love all the detail..
Posted by: ANNETTE A. | October 05, 2011 at 10:18 AM