I am so happy to be here as a Guest Designer for Sin City Stamps!
You can make the perfect fabric panel for your sewing projects by stamping on fabric! For this Steampunk Chic Fabric Cuff, I used the largest image from Sin City Stamps'
Time set.
I stamped the image with ColorBox Chalk Ink in Warm Violet onto tea dyed muslin. Tightly woven fabric gives the clearest image. I like Chalk Ink, but India ink works well, too. I heat set the ink with a hot iron. For more tips on stamping on fabric, read
this post.
You can see that the image didn't come out clearly all the way around. Sometimes you can get a clearer image by putting a piece of craft foam under the fabric, but this result was perfect for this project because I wanted a soft look.
I gathered a few tea dyed doilies to consider as possibilities for the base of my cuff. I wanted to make an extravagant cuff, so I chose large, lacey one.
I folded the doily in half, then pulled the top layer back a little bit to reveal both layers.
I planned the length of my focal section to make sure I could stitch it to the fuller portion of the doily. If you stitch your panel to a weak part of the doily, the whole piece will be weak.
I wanted the panel to have finished edges, so I added a seam allowance when I cut it out. I cut out a piece of plain muslin the same size. I decided to add a little ruffle with a piece of silk sari ribbon. I pinned the ribbon to the right side of the printed panel. I didn't measure the pleats for the ruffle. I just marked the halfway point and then folded the ribbon over to make the pleats.
Then I pinned the plain piece of muslin to the top of that and stitched all the way around it with my sewing machine. You can leave an opening for turning, but I like this method when it’s okay for the back to have a slit. After stitching all around, make a small slit in the piece that will be the back, and turn the piece through that. You can stitch it closed, or leave it as is if the back won’t show.
I added the gears to the panel.
These were raw brass gears that I treated to add a little patina. I learned this method from Brenda Sue Lansdowne of
B'Sue Boutiques. I adapted it a little to use the items I had on hand. I washed the pieces with warm water and soap to remove residual machine oil from the manufacturing process. Then I soaked the pieces in a combination of water, white vinegar and table salt for an hour. Then I removed them from the mixture and put them in the oven at 450 degrees for an hour. When they were cool, I rinsed them off. You can add colorants at this point, and seal the pieces, but I left these the way they were.
Each gear has a hole in the center, so I sewed them to the panel the same way you would sew on a sequin. Bring your thread up from the bottom, go through the hole of the gear, go through an anchor bead (mine are brass), sew down through the hole of the gear. I did that twice for each one and then knotted the thread on the back.
Next, I pinned the panel to the doily and stitched them together.
There are many different closures you can use for a fabric cuff. For this one, I chose a large snap because it was simple and I did not want to overlap the ends of the cuff. I put one side of the snap on each side of the doily, and when you snap it together, the edges of the doily drape down.
I hope you will make your own fabric cuff. Please let me know if you have any questions.