Mar 9, 2010

fabric silhouettes

so, the pink and navy nursery is almost finished,
but i thought i would give you another sneak peek
at a project i completed for it:
fabric silhouettes.
a totally fun, easy and personal 
project you can do yourself!
the nursery is for my clients 5th child.
she has 3 boys, and (now) 2 girls.
i really wanted to bring some more fabric and 
interest to this wall, and i thought it would
be fun to have silhouettes of her 
other children in the nursery. 
the "A" is for amelia-- 
the new baby's name. 
isn't that darling?
for this one, i simply used the font "bodini ornaments"
to get the floral shape. 
the "A" is "times new roman".
i wanted the boys to be in all blue + white fabrics,
their other daughter to be in pink + white fabrics,
and the baby's initial to be in pink + navy + white.
a close up detail.
we had a lot of fun mixing up the 
fabrics for the silhouettes.
i also chose to have the boys facing one way,
and the girl silhouette another.
the frames started out like this...
i bought them from a thrift store,
and they cost between $1.50 and $3 a piece.
i wanted them to be different, to
reflect the different fabrics and 
silhouettes they would be holding.
okay, so there are literally dozens of tutorials on
silhouettes and using fusible webbing/heat and bond,
but here is my super quick and very stripped down version.
1.the first thing i had my client do was to email me 
a side view picture of her 4 children.
2. once i had the pictures, i printed them out.
3. i outlined their faces, and made a few adjustments, as you can see.
4. next, i cut the heat and bond in the approximate size of the silhouette, and 
ironed it onto the back side of the fabric.
(there is still a paper backing on the heat and  bond)
5. then, i used double stick tape and attached the silhouette to the
backside of the heat and bond.
6. i cut through the 3 layers--the printed out photo/silhouette, 
the heat and bond, and the fabric.
7. last, i peeled the paper backing off of the heat and bond (along with the
attached silhouette, and ironed it onto the background fabric.
we ended up not using this particular silhouette.
i thought that the fabrics were too similar, and the
silhouette didn't show up as much as i wanted it to,
so i switched fabrics, and ended up using a stripe and 
a floral, as you ca see below.
i think they turned out great.
and the total cost for all 5 of them,
including frames, 
heat and bond
 and fabric,
was less than 
$35. 
not bad...
for filling up a wall and
making a fun and personal statement!

13 comments:

  1. These turned out SUPER CUTE! I love the idea with the fabric. I have been stocking up on some old frames and now I need some cute fabric. Thanks for such a great idea. Can't wait to see the nursery done.

    Jennie @ Cinnaberry Suite

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  2. This is so cute! What a great way to spice up old frames.

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  3. do you have 2 blogs/profiles? i know this might be a dumb question, but i can explain. :)

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  4. I really love these! I never thought to use fabric, I like the contrast. Great job!

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  5. Very pretty! I bet they love it!
    I'm visiting from Tip Junkie!
    ~Liz

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  6. girl!
    i love these.

    like you, i've seen tons of silhouettes, but i love the fabric on fabric.

    beautifully done. as always!

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  7. fantastic job! wow. i am in love.
    just found your blog and i think its adorable.
    keep showing your talents to us!!!!
    so glad i found you

    xo
    ashlina
    secretsofdomesticbliss.blogspot.com

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  8. beautiful! thank you for the how-to!

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  9. I'm dying because I had that pink frame with the heart wreath as a kid. It was from one of those parties where you buy candles and plastic flowers to decorate the candles. Some seriously ugly stuff. I really wanted that picture and my aunt bought it for my birthday! - jennie h.g.

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  10. I just love this project. I am currently getting ready to trace my children for a similar project on paper. However, I love your idea of using fabric instead. I wrote an article at http://www.examiner.com/x-33503-Ann-Arbor-Childrens-Crafts-Examiner~y2010m3d10-Family-Silhouettes
    visit me @ www.mommiesandbeyond.com to see our project when complete.

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