Dies and cutting fabric

When I let Riley loose in the fabric store with the pattern books. . . this is what we get. She wanted this so she could wear it to Gnomeo and Juliet when it opens in a few weeks.

 

I didn't stray too far from the pattern. They used iron on daisies and a mushroom for the hat. Well our Joann's isn't stocked so well so I didn't have too many options. I used to have a Revolution die cutter but then last year got a Sizzix Big Shot. Recently I broke the Revolution (not that it was used much . . .nor are the dies) but it jammed with a piece of paper and two pieces of double stick tape. It was a horrible death. We fought the machine just to get one border die out. There was no saving it. I think in a way, I was relieved. I put my sewing things in it's case and the machine in the bottom of the garbage. 

Anyways, to the point, I can't really cut much with the Quickutz dies. Seriously even using the Big Shot. What I have found is that the Big Shot will cut fabric with their dies no problem. But I don't have many of those dies. So I hit up my mom's stash. She's a Nestabilities addict. But no daisies. She did have custom dies from Heartfelt (they make dies and stamps to match. . .super cool). I was hesitant because the dies are just as thick as the Quickutz dies.  It cut wonderfully. The problem I had was that I needed to flip the die around to get an even cut. If you run it through one pass, parts don't cut.

I used felt even though I wanted to use fleece but was worried about the bulkiness. So if you are a scrapbooker, like to sew, or recycle clothing. . . use your existing dies. I picked up Beacon's felt glue as well. It was amazing. I have used other glues with felt (ones that die clear. . .blah blah blah) but you could always see the glue and it died hard. This is undetectable. I pulled ribbon and cardstock out of my stash to finish the project as well.

The skirt was so cute on it's own that I also recycled a pair of jeans and made a denim vest with the red polkadot lining.