In the Good Old Summertime

Hello friends!!

I am so thrilled and honored to be the Guest Designer over at Frilly and Funkie today!!

The current challenge is "In the Good Old Summertime".

As with most projects these days my first thought was how can I incorporate some stitching? While perusing Pinterest for some Summer inspiration I thought it would be fun to do a vintage inspired bathing suit. 

After a quick run through of my stash I decided on one of my favorite fabrics from Tim Holtz's Correspondence line for Eclectic Elements. 

I started by making a fabric sandwich. I layered the fabric with double sided facing and backed it with some duck cloth for stability. I also cut my pattern out of freezer paper. You can iron freezer paper onto your fabric and then just cut out around it. I find it much easier than trying to mess with pins and stabbing my fingers!! 

I wanted my bathing suit to have a belt and contrasting straps. I had some vintage twill tape in my stash and decided to use that. I used Distress Oxide Ink in Faded Jeans to dye the tape. Cut your tape to the length needed, smoosh some of the ink onto a craft mat and spray with water. Make sure you cover all of your tape with ink. Heat set and voila custom dyed twill tape!! I stitched about a quarter inch around the edge of the suit and stitched down the belt and straps. 

I wanted my dress to be able to be displayed. So I made a stand for it out of a dowel and vintage spool. I painted my spool cream and then layered on Distress Oxide inks in Vintage Photo and Fossilized Amber. Spray and heat set. I love the oxides because depending on the amount of water you use determines the amount of vintage patina you end up with. Plus you can keep layering. For the dowel I used a blending tool and simply rubbed on Distress Oxide in Vintage Photo and heat set. Once the spool and dowel were dry I coated both with a layer of Distress Collage Medium Crazing gel. It gave a nice finish with the perfect vintage touch. I then added a bit more color using Distress Ink in Vintage Photo.

Using bits from Tim's new Snippets ephemera pack I stitched on a few pieces that reminisced a day at the beach with friends. I added a mini star fish and "memories" from the Chit Chat pack. 

To complete the spool and continue the story of the day at the beach I wrapped the spool with a torn piece of muslin and tied it around a tiny vial filled with sand. I completed the piece with a memo pin and a Elementary Flashcard. 

To finish hot glue the bathing suit to the dowel and dream of being at the beach. 

Thank you for stopping by!! I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial. 

Be sure to stop by Frilly and Funkie for even more Summertime inspiration.

~Happy Creating!!