EXPERIMENTATION: Teabags!

Last week I talked about an experimentation journal that I began.  One of my first experiment was from an article called "Teabag Trail" and the photo in the article looked like teabags sewn together. Well, I didn't read the article, just set it aside and began collecting teabags;  all winter long, when I drank a cup of tea I harvested the bag. The day I sat down to read the article, I realized it was about tea dyeing and not using the actual teabag. I was already invested in the teabags so I decided to play with the teabags and have not stopped; in fact, I ran out of teabags and went through my tea stash to create used teabags. Here is my monster load drying outside. 

I love giving a homemade card and I created many using the teabags.

Briefly, here are the steps I used to create my greeting cards:

1. I have found that once you use the teabag, do not let it fully dry, take it apart when it is still slightly damp. 
2. Iron the teabag before you begin marking on it.
3. Draw on the teabag with a soft-leaded pencil.

    4.   Use a non-permanent fabric marker to draw around the edge of the design. I love Tombow markers.

    5. Using a wet paintbrush, paint along the inner edge of the fabric marker to let it bleed.

6.  Adhere the teabag to unbleached muslin using misty fuse. 
7.  Free motion sew around the edges

8.  Spray teabag shapes with a sealing spray
9.  Cut shapes out and adhere to your card

Below is my Teabag Card Gallery:

Do you make cards for family and friends' special occasions?

Remnants: 117,000,000 Girls Gone

I was reading one of my favorite magazines, Down Under Textiles, Issue 19, 2015, and it talked about Janice Appleton who was shocked when she read that the United Nations estimates there are 117,000,000 girls missing throughout the world with most of them from China and India.  Janice jumped into action and is collecting one million teabag tags to help visualize the enormity of the situation. She is going to create an art installation from these teabag tags to be displayed in 2016.

Here is Janice's Facebook page: 117,000,000 Girls Gone.

Have you ever been so disturbed by something that you jumped into action?

Next Week:  What to make when you are given these lovely vintage crocheted stars?  I will show you my take...

Enjoy your week!  Kathy