Treasure Chest Postcard Tutorial Part 1: Gathering Supplies

As promised, I am sharing step-by-step instructions for a project using one of the treasure chest sketches I shared. The tutorial is for a fabric postcard.

If you follow this tutorial to create a fabric postcard, I do hope you will let me know. I would love to see what you create!

I tend to be verbose, so I am breaking this tutorial down into several posts.

Supplies you will need:

• Computer and printer 
• Cardstock (white, tan, or light blue) - this will be for the back of the postcard. I cut mine to 8 1/2" x 11" and print 2 postcard backs. However, you may cut a 4" x 6" back and create the back by hand.
• Sewing machine
• Thread for sewing machine
• Rotary cutter, cutting mat and ruler
• Scissors
• Iron and ironing board
• A printout of the treasure chest sketch PDF shared here
• Embroidery hoop or q-snap large enough to hold a 4" x 6" design
• At least 6" x 9" piece of muslin fabric (this is for the foundation - make it big enough to fit your embroidery hoop or q-snap frame)
• White cotton - minimum of 5" x 7" (washed and dried - do NOT use fabric softener)
• Freezer paper 
• 4" x 6" of a sturdy fusible stablizer (I use Pellon 72F Peltex II Ultra Firm 2-Sided) 
• Crayons - you will need white and brown. Additional shades of tans, browns, blues, and greens are optional
• OPTIONAL: Scraps of tan, brown, blue, and/or green fabrics for sand and ocean water (you may just color the white fabric instead)
• Paper Towels
• Brown paper bag
• Bright window or light box (to help transfer design onto fabric)
• Tape (to tape the sketch to the window)
• Permanent Marker to transfer chest onto freezer paper (I use an ultra fine point black Sharpie)
• Permanent Fabric Marker to draw the treasure chest onto the white fabric (I use a black Pigma Micron 05)
• Optional - fabric glue (A friend likes to use Aleene's Original Tacky Glue. I use Fabric Fuse Quick Bond Fabric Adhesive. If you have a favorite, you may use it. Or you may prefer to simply sew the cardstock back to your postcard.)
• OPTIONAL: Clear mailing envelope (I found size A6 clear plastic envelopes through Amazon. They are 4.75" x 6.5" and have worked great for mailing fabric postcards. You may mail them without an envelope. I feel more comfortable with a bit more protection.)

Embellishing Supplies (to be covered better in another step of this tutorial):

• Embroidery needles
• Embroidery floss and threads (Floss, Perle cotton in sizes 5, 8, and/or 12 - colors may vary. I use black floss or size 12 perle cotton to outline the treasure chest. For other colors, think of coral, sea vegetation, fish, etc. I like shades of green, yellow, purple, blue, orange, pink, red and variegations of these colors.)
• Beading needle
• Seed beads and/or petite glass beads (Think SMALL - the finished postcard cannot be more than 1/4-inch thick. To fill the treasure chest, I tend to use gold, white, and perhaps a few red, blue, and/or green beads - I recommend adding your favorite gem color. )
• Optional: needle threader 
• Optional: charms or buttons (again, think small and thin)

Tomorrow's post will share how to transfer the treasure chest to your fabric.