Text on felt tutorial and name tag!

This post is a HUGE thank you to Shirlee Fassell who suggested I put my name on my chatelaine.  I did it after the chatelaine was finished as I wanted it to actually look like a name tag pinned to it.  I would have never thought of doing this myself and love it.  And here is how I did it.

When I did the rabbit poem recently and when I did all the lift-up flaps in my Morris book I did a lot of experimenting.  The first thing I learned is when you just use the 2-way fusible to attach the printed text, the felt texture and fibers as well as the adhesive of the fusible  bleed through the printed fabric.  And this is so even though I use a poplin photo fabric which is pretty dense.  It would be even worse with printed silk.  I solved this problem by first using a fusible tricot on the photo transferred text.

Here are my usual supplies for this technique.

First I apply the fusible tricot to the printed text which is untrimmed.  I find it easier to trim it after the fusible is bonded and then there are no loose threads.  I add the 2-way fusible now and trim to size and remove the paper backing.






Then I use the 2 way fusible to attach it to the felt and trim so there is about 1/16 edge of the felt showing.  I usually use this bit for stitching it down and adding beads.

Sometimes in the Morris book I used 2 and even 3 layers of felt to get the effect I wanted.

But  my name tag I wanted to be REALLY firm BUT flexible and  under the felt layer I added another layer....crinoline.  Crinoline is a lightweight buckram which looks like starched cheesecloth.  I had this scrap left from a ribbon flower class.  In the olden days when I was in high school all the girls wore long gathered dirndl skirts with crinoline petticoats.

This crinoline layer was perfect and I'll use it again for certain... The finished piece is very firm (not brittle) and still flexible and sewable.

So I did a little beaded ruffle around it and there you are.  The only other thing I wish I might have tried is an oval shape.. but too late for this project...

Again a big THANK YOU to Shirlee!!!!