Friday, January 30, 2009

Stretch That Fabric Out

Here's a weird little tip, if you need to write on fabric with an indelible marker, try stretching the fabric using a cross stitch hoop. We stumbled upon this a few days ago when my son was struggling to write on a t-shirt for his book report. I suggested it on a whim and was surprised at how well it worked. Don't forget to put something between the front and back if you're doing something with two sides, like a t-shirt.

He finished off the t-shirt by tie dyeing it, along with the fabric that will become the kids cape for Tasha's salon chair. We got the tie dye kit at the thrift store. I love the whole process, especially the thrill of finally seeing what your pattern looks like. Rob really enjoyed it as well. I used the bathtub as the center of operations for this to keep it reasonably neat.

Book reports certainly have come a long way from the dreaded two page monsters I remember in grade school. Next month Rob is planning on designing a quilt depicting his favorite scenes from the book he chooses. He told me this today as he left for school. I love that he has absolute confidence in my ability to make this come together. It's not that he wants me to do the work for him, he just wants me on as technical advisor. My job is to answer the tough questions like, should I use fabric paint or indelible marker and will the words still show up after we tie dye?

I'm off to shuttle the girls around to job interviews. Have a great weekend!

1 comment:

Ruthie said...

Katie ~

I'm reading thru your archives and found this great quote from 2005:


The thing about getting away from being a junk food or french fry vegetarian is you need planning and lots of it. Most the food in the world that is convenient is garbage. If you think I'm wrong try walking into your local 7-11 or Mobil on the Run and finding something healthy to stave off your hunger.

Thanks for the advice, girl