Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Another Muff Cover--A Mini Tutorial!

I have a muff base, so of course, I needed more than one muff cover! Some of my favorite period muffs are those with miniatures. I didn't think I'd be able to have one though, as I don't draw, paint, or anything remotely like that.

Enter Spoonflower and public domain artwork :)

Pink Muff 5

It was really quite simple--I found a painting I liked, in this case, The Wool Winder by Greuze, cropped it into an oval in Photoshop Elements, and uploaded it to Spoonflower. I chose a centered design, and just hit the smaller button until I liked the measurements--about 3 1/4 by 2 1/2 inches. Then, all that was left was to order a cotton/silk blend swatch. An 8x8 swatch is more than enough fabric--note the size of the design--and only $5.

Pink Muff 1

And here's the swatch. The cotton silk is a nice, satiny fabric.

Pink Muff 2

I cut the "miniature" out and clipped the edges so they could be tucked under.

Pink Muff 3 Pink Muff 4

Then pinned it on, and sewed into place with a whipstitch. Unlike my last muff, I sewed the trim on first this time.

I then made a frame and bow of some sequins I had on hand (yes, modern, but I had them on hand, and they are flat, not cupped. They should be round, but I was impatient and didn't want to spend a fortune on real metal spangles for this project).

I then finished the cover as in my last muff. I did make this one two inches shorter though, so it fits better. Important with no trim on the ends!

And now, of course, I need another. I uploaded a mezzotint to Spoonflower today during lunch at work. I didn't even crop it this time (silly impatient me) and will just cut it into an oval when it gets here. This will be a grey silk satin muff with a pearl frame and a green embroidered vine around that.

Muff Number Three!

I think I might be addicted to muff covers. They're quick and so pretty!

13 comments:

  1. Wow, thanks for all the tutorials you've been posting lately! Your blog is lovely, and I've nominated it for "A Lovely Blog Award!"

    http://quinnmburgess.wordpress.com/2013/01/15/a-lovely-blog-award/

    Best,
    Quinn

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    1. You are so sweet! Thank you!

      When I originally started my website, I had planned to have loads of tutorials, but with coding in html, I soon grew sick of it. I'm so glad that blogging is easy enough so I got back to it!

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  2. Awesome, thanks for the how to, I am SO doing this!

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    1. Do it!!!

      If enough of us do, I can imagine Spoonflower getting confused about all these silk/cotton samples with a small 18c picture in them :)

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  3. What a fabulous idea! I knew about Spoonflower, but had not thought about doing that. Clever you, and it looks great!

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  4. Wow, that is such a great idea, thank you for sharing this! :)

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  5. What a great idea! It looks lovely!
    Another alternative is to print onto printable inkjet silk sheets on your home colour printer. I've found it's worked very well. I've also printed on cotton and canvas. Both worked really well, and the colours didn't run. Might be worth a try! You can then put a number of images on a sheet of A4 size. If you are interested in trying it just search for printable inkjet sheets. Always use a good quality image with plenty of colour saturation.
    Sorry if you all know about this already. I've had great fun with it.

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    1. I've wondered how those worked! Thanks!

      Right now, they're really not a good option for me. My printer prints lines in all pictures, and is currently low on ink, which would be $80 to replace. So annoying! If I were printing more than just the two I've done, it would be a great option. If I were ever to do a lot of them though...

      With a new printer, of course, which is about the cost of ink. Silly ink. I just rarely print anything now, mostly just plane tickets and hotel reservations :)

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  6. Wow! This could very well replace one's addiction to tea cozies!

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  7. mini ball gown
    so beautiful--and that tiara...FINALLY! I am so happy!
    I, like most here, am hoping to see a full-length picture, but just the glimpse!
    Thanks so much for the update, Charlotte! Seriously!

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