Christmas Apron - Sizzix Chapter 4

A couple of the Sizzix Chapter 4 releases from Tim Holtz were the Merry and Bright thinlits, and the Festive Stems which are a Bigz L steel rule die. A steel rule die can cut chipboard, fabrics, felt, thin leather, and other thicker materials. It gives you more options than just paper. I decided to try my hand at a little bit of sewing and use them to decorate an apron.

To begin this process I stopped by the fabric store and purchased this Wonder-Under Fusible Web with the paper backing.

It comes on a roll and you cut the size you need. I also purchased thick felt in several colors. They were in the same section of my fabric store. Then I cut the wonder-under and felt the same size using my Tim Holtz Tonic Fabric Scissors.

You place the Wonder-Under onto the felt with the webbing side down onto the felt. This is important! You do not want the webbing facing the iron. Now, heat your iron according to the directions on the plastic sheet that comes with the Wonder-Under. It needs to be dry, no steam. Then iron the paper backed webbing onto the felt. This process will melt the webbing and the paper will be adhered to the back of the felt. Then you just run it through the die cut with the paper on the back side of the die.

Once the shape is cut, gently peel the paper backing off the piece. Place it where you want it to go, and then iron it into place. The webbing will again melt and the piece will be adhered into place. If this it an item that will not be washed or handled a lot, this would be enough of an adhesive, but since we are making an apron, we will need to sew it into place. I also lightly drew a circle so I knew where the wreath would go and the merry would be in the center.

This thinlit die that cut the word Merry, made a lovely, thin greeting. I wasn't confident in my sewing skills enough to attempt to machine stitch over this, so I stitched it by hand with a needle and thread. You will see that the thinner felt material I purchased to go through the Merry and Bright thinlet die started to fray as I stitched. I actually decided I liked it so I used the Tim Holtz poker tool to fray it a little more all around the outside.

Next I cut and adhered the greenery. I used a camoflage felt that I found and I really liked the light and dark spots as I thought it gave the Festive Stems a little more interest than the flat green color I tried first. So I cut multiple stems and then adhered them on the same way I did the Merry. Then I did go ahead and machine stitch over each needle.

I also cut the holly berries from the Festive Stems and after I ironed them on, I hand stitched each one of them to give them a little added security and detail.

The stitching gave this piece not only more permanence to withstand machine washing, but also added definition and interest. 

This apron was a little time consuming because of all the stitching, but it really isn't a difficult one to make. And what a great way to add some festivity to the kitchen for the holidays. 

Tami

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