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You are here: Home / Crafts for Kids / A Butterfly Birthday: Free-Motion Invitations

A Butterfly Birthday: Free-Motion Invitations

October 12, 2010 by Jodi 4 Comments

Our family has decided to limit the number of invitees to a birthday party to the age of the host.  So Gianna picked three of her friends to invite to her birthday party, and with just three invitations to make, I was able to get a little more elaborate. (I swear I’ve seen similar projects to this SOMEWHERE, but I couldn’t find the link to share with you.  So if you have seen it and can share a link, please do. )

To make the invitations, I printed off a butterfly coloring sheet in two sizes.  Using them as stencils, I cut out a large construction paper butterfly and a smaller butterfly out of scrap fabric.  Then, I glued the fabric on the paper with stick glue to prevent slipping.

Then, I made my first attempt at free-motion sewing.  Free-motion sewing refers to sewing without the use of the feed dogs and is usually done with a special foot like the one above (check your sewing machine manual for specifics). My first few attempts were quite ugly and I broke a couple of needles, but I can see that with practice I might actually learn how to quilt like this.  For the invitation, I swirled two colors of thread all over the fabric scrap.  If “free motion” is too intimidating to you, you could use standard machine stitches to secure the outer edge of your fabric pieces.

Once the invitations were “quilted”, I glued the party information to the back.

I’m really excited to have tried this new sewing technique.  Have any of you attempted free motion embroidery or quilting?

Filed Under: Crafts for Kids, Tutorials

Previous Post: « A Butterfly Birthday: Tissue Paper Butterflies
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Comments

  1. Caroline says

    October 30, 2010 at 10:22 pm

    That’s what “Fancy Nancy” does in one of her books…Bonjour Butterfly, I think. It might have been the Tea Party one.. I was thinking of using it for Rina’s birthday, but opted to use for her fifth. She loves the book because she is fancy, and likes butterflies, and tea parties. The invite came out great!

    Reply
  2. Jodi says

    October 31, 2010 at 10:02 am

    We have just discovered Fancy Nancy. I really hope to get Bonjour Butterfly for our family library (for obvious reasons). 🙂

    Reply
  3. Ashley Bourgeois says

    January 2, 2015 at 8:20 pm

    Theses are so cute!! My daughter is turning three and I thought… BUTTERFLIES! She loves butterflies so I also thought, well no one else has thought of doing a butterfly themed birthday party so I’ll do one for my sweet little lady:) These are cute! I don’t know how to sew 🙁 Looks like I was wrong though about no one ever doing one.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Butterfly Birthday Roundup | Sew Fearless says:
    October 26, 2010 at 3:10 pm

    […] Free Motion Butterfly Invitations […]

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Jodi - Sewing Advocate - Mother of 7 - Lover of Swings and Deadlifts - Catholic

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