Handmade Note Card Tutorial

I needed to come up with a gift for our Stitch N Chat group Christmas exchange. Since there are 11 of us in the group, that meant 10 presents. I made these little note cards and gave everyone six. They seemed to be a big hit, as many have asked me how to make them, so I promised I would do a little tutorial. They are very easy, but time consuming and I'll warn you, they are addictive.

Here's what you'll need to get started:

8 1/2" x 11" card stock in colours light enough to write on and be legible

2 1/2" fabric squares

Wonder Under or Steam A Seam or fusible web of your choice

Double Sided Tape

Rayon Embroidery Thread (optional)

Crystals, Beads or Buttons for embellishment

Envelopes

Cut your 8 1/2" x 11" card stock in half, then half again to get a piece 5 1/2" x 4" (trimmed) and iron on your fusible web to this card.

Then take your 2 1/2" squares and lay them on point on your card - don't worry if they hang over the edge, just try and line them up. I started doing this with scraps of 2 1/2" fabric, but soon discovered it would be much easier to use a 5" charm pack and cut it in 4 - 2 1/2" pieces.

When you have finished laying your pieces on, it should look something like this. When you are happy with your arrangement, fuse the pieces onto the card stock.

This is what it looks like from the back. Then, from the back, take your rotary cutter and ruler and cut off the excess fabric. I also trim this slightly smaller than the original so it looks like it has a small matt around it once it is mounted. Keep all the cut off pieces as they come in handy to fill in holes on other cards.

Your card should now look like this from the front.

You are then going to stitch along each raw edge seam. I used a sewn out zig zag which I think gives it a nice look and used a rayon embroidery thread as it added a little sheen.

Here is what it should look like after you have finished the zig zag stitching.

Then I took one of my decorative stitches and stitched around the edge of the card. I tried using a satin stitch, but I wasn't happy with the results so I used a double edge stitch and it worked out well. This would be a great place to use some of the decorative stitches that never seem to get used - well, on my machine they don't get used.

Now it looks like this with all the stitching done.

Your next step is to take double sided tape and attach it to the perimeter of the back of the card.

Then take another 8 1/2" x 11" piece of card stock, cut it in half along the 8 1/2" side, then fold that piece in half to give you a folded piece that is 5 1/2" x 4".

Then stick the fabric card with the double sided tape to the front of the folded card.

I used hot glue crystals to embellish mine, but you could use buttons, beads, whatever is fairly flat and would easily fit in an envelope.

This is the finished card after the crystals were applied.

Add an envelope and you're all set!

I also added a little label on the back of the card just to give it a more professional look.

Now you know what to do with all those charm squares you've been buying that are still lying around.