Since I am creating many fabric panels with my artwork on them, I thought you might like some tutorials for sewing and DIY projects that you can do.
I learned some time ago, that my passion was not in the handmade thing itself, but in the design process. My craft journey is long, but I have enjoyed every second of it. I have spent many years creating and making art products with ceramic, painting, and collage, but before that, I was all into any kind of art and crafts.
Painting and fabric design were areas I never thought of as a possibility. I didn't know designing fabric was a real thing, and for me, painting was only for those with an amazing talent, and that was not me.
When I was nine years old, my mom and aunt taught me to crochet. By the same age, I started participating in summer camps from church (one of my fondest memories from my preteen and teen years). In those camps, which were organized by people from the USA, we were introduced to a variety of crafts using materials that were very unusual for me, coming from a very low-income family.
The camp was free of charge, and I have been grateful for that all my life. The craft time was my favorite, along with the canteen and playtime during the nights. I learned to sew, do cross-stitch, embroidery, macrame, papier-mâché, stained glass, needlepoint, and many other kinds of crafts. I loved every minute.
One of my fondest memories is sewing dresses for Barbie dolls with a friend from church, and sewing a bunny pillow with my friend Marie when we were college students enrolled in the industrial engineering department. I always point out that during my college years, my best days were when the craft magazine arrived in my mail. It was from that magazine that Marie and I made the bunny pillow. The magazine also taught me how to embroider a fish and ocean scene for Marie's house and an embroidered butterfly for her wedding rings.
Over the years, I learned that I get bored making the same thing over and over. I also do not like it when it takes too long to finish a project. I learned that when I am in the process of creating, even if it is a painting, I get transported to a peaceful place that I love. If I am stressed, I can get the iPad and play around with Procreate, or I can grab some markers and a drawing pad, and the stress is gone. If I am anxious, I get a brush and papers to create a collage, and the anxiety is gone. Another thing I learned about me is that I need to make some kind of art to feel alive.
Discovering these things about myself helped me realize that my mission was not to produce and sell. I can provide my creations in different ways to people who love making crafts with sewing, quilting, patchwork, and many other forms of crafting. This way, I can see the projects I love with my art made with different hands, knowing that a joyful moment was possible for someone who I may never meet.
Helping others create with my art is the main reason I started selling my fabric designs through Spoonflower. I also sell my prints on fabric panels in my Elizabeth Claire Store on Etsy, and downloadable art on my Print My Art Studio shop on Etsy.
For all of you, I am creating tutorials to help you make things with my fabrics! Soon I will be adding a tutorial for a mask I make and a link to buy mask kits with my fabric designs.
In the meantime, here are some photos of my fabrics, with ideas you can use with the fabric panels:
6" x 5" Fabric Panel, "Enjoy The Ride, Love Will Lead the Way":
Use a panel like this one to make these gorgeous pouches or coin bags, depending on the size of the panel:
With this beautiful lady portrait piece on fabric....
...you can make a pouch for makeup or for many other spare things like jewelry.
With one fabric panel similar to this one below...
...you can make projects like this guest towel...
...or a fabric coaster like this:
I'll be adding more designs on the store, and tutorials for some projects are coming soon... Stay tuned.
If you would like to get notified about new designs and tutorials, please register on this webpage.
And you can shop for my pieces at the following online sites:
Take good care of yourself and stay safe. We are in this together...
Elizabeth Claire
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