GEL MEDIUM TRANSFERS

My latest favorite craft project is making gel medium transfers with xerox images and fabric. It is so easy and so fun. the results are great. I ran one through the washing machine on hot and the dryer on high with my laundry and it came out unfazed. Before washing it, I carried it around all day folded up in my pocket. These things seem pretty durable. That was a concern of mine when trying this out. I looked around the internet and couldn't find anything stating how durable these images were. So far, so good.

I have been making the transfers mainly onto muslin fabric I got at S.R. Harris the other week. I have been making patches to use on bags and things I sew. I feel like it makes them a little more neat and special.

This is a pencil/thing bag I made for taking to school. The patch says "A STITCH IN TIME SAVES NINE". That is very very important. Don't forget it. I used some left over striped fabric I made my curtains from, a zipper and black heavy canvas. I keep my calculator, pens, pencils, pencil sharpener, eraser and whatever small thing I need to be able to find right away. I kind of screwed the sipper up on this, that's ok though. I think I might cut the top off and finish it with bias tape and just have it be a pocket. It is kind of amazing how useful having a 'pocket' in my bag is. As far back as I can think of my main bag I have used in the winter or for school has had many pockets and pen holders, etc. This year I have been using a canvas bag that is pretty much a fabric shopping bag (dimensions of a brown handle bag) with a long strap in addition to the handle straps. I lose things in it all the time. A pocket is a godsend.
This is the corner of the 'front' of a pockety foldy thing I made. It is for drawing. Inside it has a pocket for paper and things and slots to hold pens. The whole thing folds up into a square about 8.5" x 8.5" and closes with some serious velcro. It could have a strap through the top and be worn like a purse or be secured over a belt or even top bar of a bicycle. The inside is green and white houndstooth and black fabric with neon green stitching. I will try and get a picture later.
For the life of me, I could not get a good picture of this with my phone (all these pictures are from my phone). I used striped fabric instead of the cream colored muslin. It says the 'stitch in time saves nine' I swear by. This is very small. It is sewn onto some of a sleeve from a cute shirt with bow fabric and there is teensy pink rickrack. I think I will add a drawstring to it and then it will be done.
SO HERE IS HOW YOU MAKE A GEL MEDIUM TRANSFER!!!

You go to the art supply/craft store and buy this stuff. It was less than $15. I don't remember exactly how much it was. I think closer to $12. I got it at the art material store by mctc. I'm sure they have it at any place like that.
I bought a bunch of muslin and cut some of it into squares.
I drew some pictures and practiced my writing backwards in cursive. Then I went to the corner store and made a xerox of what I had done. 25¢.
You should probably use a brush or something, but I used my finger to apply the gel medium to the fabric. I spread it to be larger than my photocopied image.
After I am sure that I have enough gel medium on the fabric I put my photo copy down, image into the goop. Make sure that you really press on it. I usually trace all the image with my fingernail or the back of a spoon.
If you hold the fabric up, light shines through it and you can see your image.
Let dry overnight.
This craft project is to be continued...



NEXT DAY!

Get the paper wet. Let the water soak in for about a minute.
Peel up an edge of paper that isn't really stuck to the fabric. Start rolling it off. Don't be afraid to press on the image, if done right the image should not be affected by rolling the paper away.
You can use the faucet, a wet sponge or a spray bottle. I have been a fan of the spray bottle. I will mist the whole area and then spray some water onto to fingers and start rolling the paper.
Ta-da! The image is on the fabric! When it dries you may see a need to re-wet and peel/roll away a remaining paper film.
I decided to make a small drawstring bag with this patch. I also used some corduroy fabric, some rickrack and a shoelace (not pictured below).
I secured the patch to the corduroy with a small zigzag stitch along the top and bottom.

Here it is attached!
Now attach the rickrack! I just did a simple straight line across the middle. The thread doesn't match but I don't care.
Now I made a bag. I am not going to explain how I made it. That can be a later tutorial. But here it is done.

MITTENS

I made some mittens. I got impatient and made them smaller than my hands, I just wanted to see them done! The mainly green one was made fisrt, with more care and caution. I did not pay attention to or write down what exactly I did. You can see that in the wonky shape of the mainly "putty" colored one.



These mittens are like a Cinderella glass slipper. They found their hands that fit perfectly. Quite timely too. A co-worker did not have any mittens (it is cold) and these fit her tiny hands just fine. Hoo-rah.

I would like to make more, figure out how to make them well, and not lumpy sided. At Depth of Field they have leather pieces for the palms and I think I need to get those when I figure it all out and make a nice pair of my own.

I used Aunt Lydias heavy rug yarn for these. I love how stiff the yarn is, they make nice durable items.