Win a Artbin Bead N Bellishement Craft Storage Box

Join us on Facebook and have a chance to win this Bead N Bellishment Craft Solutions Cabinet in our raffle

How To Paint on fabric

Sparkler * Pearl * Neon

Glitter * Glow in the Dark * Slick

Painting in fabric is becoming a very popular craft and is used to create many different crafts. For example projects could range from making a greeting card, brightening up that old Tshirt to painting soft furnishing.

You can use fabric paints straight from the bottle and come in a variety of colours and shades. Non transparent colours are great for painting on dark or light fabrics where as transparent colours should only really be used on light fabrics. You can mix colours with ranges. Try the Pearl, Sparkler & Glitter colours together to give you project that sparkly look

When painting fabric it is advisable to lay a sheet of card between the fabric layers to prevent the ink seeping through the fabric and ruining your project. After applying the ink from the pen leave your project to dry for 12 hours before ironing and then iron on the reverse of the fabric for 5minutes

Fabric are washable once fabric paints have been applies but shouldn’t be any hotter that 40C

The History of Cross Stich & Embroidery

Although printed patterns have been found as far back as 1525 it is thought that the golden age of cross stitch began in 1804. A man from named Phillipson a print seller from Berlin was developing block and coloured patterns for mass production. Many other printers followed and by 1840 there were printing over 14,000 designs a year.

The word embroidery comes for the Anglo-Saxon word for “edge”. This term firstly applied to stitched borders on medieval religious robes and after a while the word was also used to describe stitched decoration on any textile fabric, In 1828 the first embroidery machine was invented by Joseph Heilman making mass production embroideries, embroidery continued to be treated as a handicrafts as it had been in ancient times. If you look back in history embroidery has been used for many things for example, as an ornament for clothing, robes, wall hangings, linens and upholstery and rugs for domestic use.

Embroidery stitches could be very functional or just for decorating a piece of clothing. Applique work is stitched to the main cloth with decorative stitches; Smocking uses decorative stitches to secure gathers or folds which have already been formed. There are many names for stitches but the most common are chain stitch, blanket stitch, featherstitch, French knot, satin stitch cross-stitch and tent stitch. The thread used usually silk, wool, cotton or linen. In some 20thc century work some fine metallic wire has been found. Some types of embroidery are referred to by the kind of thread used for example crewel work is stitched in brightly coloured wool yarns on a natural beige or bleached white linen. Needlepoint it a form of embroidery but stitched on a canvas usually with the picture already printed on the canvas.

The earliest piece of embroidery includes cross stitch and dates back to the sixth or seventh centuries AD. Around this time folk art was becoming very popular and cross stitch decorated domestic items using geometric and floral patterns. Some of these patterns can still be found in books today

To start with cross-stitching was used t make working sampler. It was used as a means of recording a verse or a prayer. In 1797 orphaned children in a school in Bengal were given the task of stitching the longest chapters in the bible the 19th Psalm.

As pattern books became more accessible during the seventeenth century cross stitching was used to as an educational tool, teaching children needlework skills thought essential to young girls who would be making household linen and clothing. Many items would be produced for the home by these girls for example bell pulls, purses, cushions, fire screens, pincushions. and cushion covers.

In 1852 the first domestic sewing machine was invented and machine embroidered clothes were available at prices people could afford home stitching started to decline. But in the sixties when many women found they had a bit more time on their hands and Cross Stitch as we know it today was reborn

To do cross-stitch you need supplies and equipment such as embroidery threads, wool, needles, fabric and patterns. You can find all this equipment without having to leave the comfort of you home. The internet is a minefield of information. Below are a few example of what you will need to get you started. If you decide to buy a kit it will contain needle, fabric, needle and pattern

Aida Fabric is a material that has small square holes in it so you can sew when doing cross-stitching/embroidery. Aida comes in a lot of colours and sizes. You can get it in kits or on its own.

Embroidery silk usually comes in 8mtre skeins and is available in hundreds of different colours and Tapersty needles in different sizes

Embroidery hoops are used to hold the material taut for when you are sewing. Frames and stands are also useful for keeping large pieces of work taut and work can be also on show with this piece of equipment.

Good lighting for the work area is essential. If you work area is dark there are a variety of daylight bulbs available to suit you setting

Patterns can come from a magazine, books or the internet. (If you buy a ready made kit your pattern will be in the kit).

Although tapestries have been woven from lots of different yarns for years, it is said that the first yarn to be used was Jute. This is one of the world’s strongest fabrics and is used for making ropes, rugs & wall hangings. These days Jute is not used and most wall décor is woven from cotton to acrylic wool.

With so many fabrics to choose from its very hard to decide what type to buy. That decision will depend on what style of tapestry you are choosing to do and what sixe you need. The classic designs are wool tapestries and are much heavier and larger that other tapestry wall hanging. This types of tapestries are usually found in castles and large estate houses. Many medieval tapestries were woven from wool as sheep were a large part of medieval society

Cotton wall accessories are the most popular as they are not so heavy and much easier to keep clean. They are also a lot cheaper to make than the old wool tapestries but still looking like the old wool tapestries

How to use the Fiskar ShapeCutter Plus

The Fiskar ShapeCutter Plus is designed to be used with the ShapeCutter Templates as well as a freehand cutting this new simplified design is easier to hold and has a new drop blade replacement

Crop and cut shapes and borders with ease and accuracy! The Fiskars ShapeCutter Plus offers free rein to your creativity when it comes to making cards or livening up your scrapbooks. Ideal for paper, photos, card and a variety of thin materials.

This new ergonomic design has softgrip pads for better comfort and even more control over the blade depth. It also includes a new freehand template, which means no more adjustments to the blade when you switch from freehand to using a shape template.

Keep Up To Date on New Craft Storage & Supplies

Follow my blog and keep up to date with all new craft storage & supplies

Making your own scrapbooks or just adding pages to another, here you will find pages and kits for any project, various colours and themes. For more information about scrapbooking and how to start click here. Use embellishments & stickers, to enhance your scrapbooks , peel offs, quotes & sayings and lots more...

Keep your craft worktops tidy by keeping them well organised with our craft storage totes and craft boxes. Our craft storage category contains a selection of craft storage totes and craft storage boxes that have been ingeniously designed to maximise space and offer an excellent solution for your all craft storage needs Craft solutions from Personal Impressions, Craft Mates, Impex, Dovecraft & Tidy Crafts

Start your new craft hobby with some basic tools and add extras as you need them. The tools you will need can depend on what kind of craft you plan to make. Our large selection of jewellery & craft tools are perfect for the beginner crafter or the advanced

Craft & Jewellery Tools from Dovecraft, Impex Tidy Crafts that no good crafter should be without.

Ideal for Jewellery Making, Card Making, Scrapbooking & lots more

Clearance Sale - End of Lines

Been busy at Magic Lady Crafts today clearing out the stock room to make room for all the new Craft Storage & Craft Supplies coming soon. Check out the bargains by following the link and get yourself a Craft bargain.

Dont forget this months special offer of 25% of Fiskars ShapeBoss & ScrapBosss offer ends 21.01.11

ARTBIN Bead n Bellishement Solutions Cabinet

Great for organizing and storing any number of supplies. Place all your craft embellishment in one handy storage solution with the ArtBin Bead'n Bellishment Cabinet. Complete with 15 translucent storage pots with screw caps and 2 translucent storage boxes. Each storage box has 6 to 18 compartments with 12 removable dividers. Removable front panel for convenient access. Buy mor than one and they stack together

Storage Pot external dimensions
3" x 1" 7/16
76 x 37 mm

Storage Box external dimensions
10" 5/8 x 7" x 1" 5/8
27 x 17.8 x 4.2 cm

Solutions Cabinet external dimensions
11" 3/8 x 8" x 11"
28.9 x 20.3 x 27.9 cm