Make your own fabrics

I’ll admit it. I’m a bookaholic. Since I started quilting, I have managed to grow quite an impressive collection of quilting/sewing books. But I seem to have finally reached a point where I am no longer tempted to buy… too many more. 🙂

These days what interests me the most is anything to do with a new technique I hadn’t seen before. So I am more apt to invest in a video download than in a book. But I recently came across a book review that tweaked my interest… so of course I had to buy it. 🙂 I have to admit it… Sew Wild: Creating With Stitch and Mixed Media, by Alice Burke, is one of the best book investments I have ever made. And I just had to share this information here, particularly for those of you who, like I, live in countries where a lot of the new, modern quilting and mixed media supplies are simply not readily available.

If you are interested in creating your own fabrics and are not able to find or invest in special dyes, resists, paints, and whatnot… this is the book for you. And even if you are lucky enough to have easy access to a myriad of supplies, you might be interested in experimenting with these fun and easy techniques. Burke uses very simple, inexpensive, and readily available materials to achieve some pretty spectacular results. The book is really easy to use… kind of like a cookbook. Even better is the DVD that comes with it. You will grasp her techniques in one viewing, but will certainly want to come back to it time and time again.

I can’t recommend it enough. Proof of the pudding? Here are some samples I made following her techniques. All that was involved was one ugly piece of fabric for one project, cheap white muslin for the others, a spray bottle with water, a couple of homemade foam stamps, some fabric paints, and some fabric markers. Done. The results? See for yourselves…