DIY stitched fabric notecard

I was rummaging through my fabric stash for guest room pillow possibilities, and I found a little piece of this vintage print. Tiny uniformed guards — so cute! I stiffened the fabric, printed a quote onto plain cotton with my inkjet printer, and stitched the whole works together with a paper insert for writing a message.


The best way to make stiff fabric that I've found is to use Stiffen Stuff (I bought this bottle at Michael's). Mist both sides of the fabric until it's damp. A plastic garbage bag makes a good work surface for this.


Then let the fabric air dry, or for immediate results, microwave it on a paper towel for about 30 seconds or until dry. Don't worry if the fabric gets crumpled up as your turntable spins it around. Press it with an iron until it's nice and flat.


See? The fabric should stand up by itself. If yours feels too floppy, mist on another layer and microwave again.


To print text onto fabric, I set up my document and inkjet printed it on a test piece of letter-sized paper. Then I positioned the plain fabric over it and taped down the leading edge that feeds through the printer first (you MUST tape this edge or you'll end up with a snarl!) I taped the bottom edge down, too, for extra security. Then I reprinted my document onto the fabric. I used unstiffened fabric for this, since it doesn't need the extra structure.




I cut the quote down to size and picked at the edges to fray them a bit for extra character.


Then I trimmed the stiffened fabric into a rectangle and folded it in half. The notecard needed a paper insert for writing a message, so I cut a piece of coordinating paper to the same size.


Then I zigzag-stitched the quote to the front of the notecard and tied the loose ends of the threads together on the reverse side. I used a straight stitch across the fold to attach the insert to the card and tied off the loose threads on each side.


A stationery set with different messages and fabrics would be a really fun gift for someone, right? Add coordinating envelopes and tie the bundle with a ribbon. Cuteness.