Stashbusting Fabric Cards

Why not pick up your needle and thread, and treat your recipients to a seasonal homemade surprise, featuring elegant prints and traditonal hues? Christmas is all about embracing those cosy winter comforts and Carolyn Letten’s designs ooze warmth and joy. Be sure to add a twist to your cardmaking and use the oddments from your haberdashery stash to craft a collection of adorable mixed media greetings.

You will need:

Craft essentials
Template from paper craftermagazine.co.uk
Fabric: Christmas prints,
coloured
Thread, assorted
Glitter glue
Ricrac

Partridge

1. Glue decorative fabric to a 13cm x 15cm blank. Stick a strip of 2cm x 13cm spotty fabric onto thin card and glue it to the bottom of the blank. Attach a length of silver ricrac across the top.

2. Trim the tree tops and trunk from fabric using the templates, then stick them onto scrap card. Leave to dry, then machine stitch white circles around the tops and brown detail on the trunk. Cut away any excess and stick ricrac around the trees.

3. Use the template to make a pear in the same way, then add a holly leaf. Glue five fabric snowflakes onto thin card and cut out. Mount the shapes onto the greeting using 3D foam pads.

4. Cut one complete bird from purple fabric, then a yellow and pink wing. Assemble onto scrap card, then glue in place. Add a beak and collar, allow them to dry, then machine stitch details.

5. Create holly with the same technique. Trim around the shapes and mount onto the card. Add glitter highlights to the snowflakes, bird, holly and pear.

Two turtle doves

1. Adhere patterned fabric onto a 10cm x 15cm side-folding card blank. Snip a strip of card, 2cm x 15cm, and cover one side of it with spotty fabric.

2. Cover a second strip, 1.5cm x 13.5cm, with coloured fabric. Trace the template words onto white tissue, place on the fabric strip, then machine or hand stitch over the letters twice, then tear the tissue away.

3. Glue the stitched fabric to the spotty strip and mount onto the card. Stick a length of ricrac across the top and set aside. Trim two sprigs of mistletoe from fabric, stick to thin card, machine stitch around the details, then cut them out.

4. Attach mistletoe to the greeting using 3D foam pads. Cut two more birds and wings. Stick them to scrap card, stitch the details, then cut out and mount them onto the greeting. Add glitter to the berries, birds and wings.

Three French hens

1. Cover a 13cm x 15cm card blank with patterned fabric across the top and bottom. Allow for a 1cm overlap, glue in place and leave to dry. Hide the join with a length of ricrac.

2. Using the three tree templates, cut each one from thin card and glue to patterned fabric. Trim around each shape and use white thread to machine stitch around the ovals. Glue white ricrac around the edge of the biggest oval and set aside.

3. Use the template to cut three hens from fabric. Stick them onto scrap card, leave to dry and sew around the details. Cut around the shapes and set aside. Cover 2cm x 13cm of thin card with red fabric and allow to dry.

4. Use the tissue paper method from the previous project to stitch the template words onto fabric. Cut a tree trunk from brown and stitch it in place. Cut three fabric snowflakes and glue them to thin card.

5. Fix 3D foam pads to the back of the shapes, then mount them in place. Add glitter glue and embellishments to the tree, snowflakes, hens and words.