Saturday, October 17, 2009

Sweet Dreams Pillowcase Set

I'm creating a gift set of pillowcases and I wanted it to be elegant but I couldn't find any patterns anywhere that made me happy! So what I did was go into a program and type "Sweet Dreams" and when through different fonts till I found one I liked! The one I choose was 'Parchment' I thought it kind of looked like a princess story book font so I changed the size until just right and printed it out. Then I flipped the paper over, set it on a light box and used a black Sulky Iron-On Transfer Pen to make it able to iron transfer to my pillowcases. I wasn't sure if the font would work because the swirls you see went thick and thin but the pen made it all the same thickness, even so it worked and looks good. I had bought the set of pillowcases from WalMart they are the Egyptian cotton ones I think 400 count anyway they had the nice piping around the edge of the case. I washed them in hot water and dried them on the hottest setting to preshrink before working on them.
I chose to use black thread because it had such a crisp elegant feel to it on the white fabric, and it has such a story book look too! I love them so much I'm wishing the set was for me! LOL

6 comments:

Unknown said...

What a perfect solution! It's lovely! I will have to remember that!

Mary Corbet said...

Very Nice! I've used Parchment for text to embroider as well - I think it's a beautiful font for embroidery!

Your pillowcases are perfect - I love the black on white!

How do you like that Sulky pen, by the way? Do you find the lines are fine enough when you do the transfer?

Someone needs to invent an iron-on pen that will wash out flawlessly, every time. Wouldn't that be ideal?!

Mary

The Mom, Wife, and Crafter said...

Those are pretty! I'll have to remember that font...I'm thinking about getting back into embroidery and would love to do one like that but the other one say "Sour Nightmares"...LOL

Melissa said...

Thanks Tattingchic!
Mary,
Thank you so much for your comment. I do like the sulky pen and then I don't in some ways. I like it because it does offer me the best transfer lines that iron well into place (I've used the red pencil kind and it's too faint when transferred for me), but as you said they tend to be too thick for my liking. I was worried that making all those swirls thick would look weird but so far it seems okay, not as ideal as I'd like though. I wish they would make a fine version of the pen, I'd use that all the time if they did. I don't really mind about the wash out ability as the being able to cover it with the thread. I used 3 strands of floss for this set when I normally don't like to go any thicker than 2 and I love the fine look of 1 strand. Although I have gotten away with 2 strands (stem stitch) with those pens, but I chose to do the back stitch for the swirls so I used 3 to make sure it covered well.
OH BTW I noticed that I'm getting puckering as I'm filling in my letters with stem stitch, not sure if I'm pulling it too tight or if that happens easy with stem stitch or if I need some stabilizer on the back!
Torie,
That is a cute idea too! And would prob be loved by your kids since you say that to them! I also thought "Once Upon A Time" and "Happily Every After" would be adorable too! Or "Don't Let..." "...the Bed Bugs Bite" LOL

Kathy Raker said...

Very nice and I haven't see the Sulky pen until you mentioned it. You don't like the blue wash out marker? I just looked at the one I am using and there is no brand name. That is strange. I do have one in an unopened package by Dritz but it looks differen than the one currently using. I'll do more research.

Melissa said...

Kathy,
OH I do love the blue washout pen too and the one that disappears, but I ususally use those to draw free hand patterns. I prob could trace it onto the case with the light box but since the edge area is double fabric I'm not sure if it would be easy. And I have noticed that for patterns like this the blue is sometimes too light and I have trouble making out where the lines are after working on it. The iron on pen is just easier for me is all. But I do wish it came in a more fine tip.