These cutwork bookmarks use free motion stitching and three layers of fabric.
Using felt for the top and bottom layer means that it won't fray and so you don't have to worry about that. The contrast fabric in the middle is a cotton print.
I got this idea from a book, simply stitched gifts, by Cynthia Shaffer which has lots of relatively simple projects that incorporate free-motion embroidery.
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| Image source: http://cynthiashaffer.typepad.com |
I lay the three rectangles on top of each other with the contrast fabric in the middle. I drew the outline of a feather on with a fabric marking pen that disappears with exposure to air - but I found with the friction as it was moving through the machine, that it all but disappeared while I was stitching it!
Free-motion stitching involves putting on a special foot, and dropping the feed dogs. Then it's just a matter of moving the fabric where you want it to stitch. It's kind of like sketching with the sewing machine. Doing the bookmark, I stitched a couple of times over every line. Then I cut off the loose threads and trimmed around the shape.
Then came the fun part of cutting out sections. I cut a 1cm slit through the top layer with a quick un-pick, being careful to ensure that I didn't catch the fabric that was underneath. Then I was able to get the blade of a pair of scissors in and trimmed away. The hard part is knowing when to stop cutting out more sections!
Whether it's just a few sections or a lot, it's fun to expose the pretty fabric colours that are hidden underneath. On a couple of areas, I went the extra step and cut through the printed fabric layer as well, to show the bottom felt layer. For the green leaf, I only cut out a few sections. And that's it!
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