Last month I helped host a crafty mail swap again called package pals (follow my blog in a reader or via email in the left sidebar to stay updated on when we host it next!). This time, I participated too! I was paired up with Jess. She likes, among other things, cross-stitching, old-school video games like Zelda and Super Mario, Captain America, and Disney. Here’s what I put together for her!
My main handmade gift was this cross-stitch-style wall hanging, using Pile o’ Fabric’s quilted cross stitch block tutorial. She has cutting directions for several sizes there, but I played around with the size of the pieces to get the right thickness in the size I wanted (2″ finished).
I made up several samples and cut out 1/4″ frames to picture them without seam allowances, and ended up going with the bottom right in the photo below, which used 1 3/8” strips of colored fabric and 2.5” background squares.
I also got some solid olive colored fabric and bleached it into Zelda fabric. I cut out a bunch of freezer paper template sheets with my silhouette, then sprayed on a mixture on bleach and water. Its not perfect, but it’s pretty solid looking with only a tiny bit of bleeding on the front, and you can see a cool splatter texture on the back.
I made her a Captain America shirt with freezer paper stencils (again, cut out with my silhouette, but this is an easy shape you could cut out by hand!) and craft acrylic paint with some fabric medium.
As a little gift for her two girls, I also made some vinyl decals with their names in Super Mario and Disney fonts 🙂
I had a great time getting to know Jess via email. She sent me a super thoughtful package with an , a travel caddy to use for crafting on-the-go, supplies to make my own robot cross-stitch project, a bit of penguin fabric, and some fantastic star-trek and coordinating fabric (see the dress I made out of the star trek fabrics here!)
what awesommeeeeeeeee pacakge you got.. so well made.. can’t wait for the next swap.. 😀