Post Cards

How I Make Postcards.

Post cards are a great way to sample new things.  I especially like to try new surface design techniques.  A fat 1/8^th of fabric will make 3 postcards.  I have been doing some sun prints with maple leaves and fabric paint this summer.  What about using childrens’ art work as a jumping off point?  Adding seed beads, buttons, ribbons, lace, stitches and other embellishments are possibilities.

You can think of a post card as a little quilt, a chance to work in mixed media, or a piece of fiber art. There are lots of tutorials and videos on line with ways to make postcards.  Just type fabric postcards into a search engine. Here are 2 I have read. http://killerbeedesigns.com/blog1/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/general-fabric-postcard-killer-bee-designs.pdf     http://quilting.about.com/od/quiltpatternsprojects/ss/fabric_postcard.htm 

There are some considerations specific to postcards and I have some hints that may help.  

1.  To send a post card through the mail it must be what Canada Post calls a postcard.

Canada Post says postcards have minimum dimensions of 140mm x 90mm (5.6 x 3.6 inches) with thickness between 1.8 mm (0.007inches) and 20 mm or (0.8 inches).  I have used a maximum thickness of ¼ inch including embellishments.  Anything that is a not standard size usually requires extra postage.  Information from Canada Post is at https://www.canadapost.ca/tools/pg/manual/PGletterml-e.asp#1392028 

2. Materials to use.

1. Batting layer.  Most books and tutorials about postcards recommend a heavy interfacing e.g. Pelltex, Timtex etc. as the batting layer.  It gives the post card a nice stiffness but is hard to hand stitch through.

I prefer to use a scrap of batting and add a layer or two of a heavy non woven interfacing to stiffen my post card at the end.  This can sometimes act as the back of the postcard as well.

2. Front of the postcard.   I choose fabric for the front of my postcard and cut it about 5 x 7 inches and mark the 4 x 6 inch lines so I don’t let my design wander off the post card.  I decide if I need to add an interfacing to it as a stabilizer. This may be a heavy interfacing or a lighter one.  It depends on what kind of stitching I am planning.  A light interfacing is better for hand stitching or a small amount of machine applique but a  heavy one works better for thread painting by machine.

1. Quilting.  I add whatever I am using for batting and add some quilting, usually without a backing layer.  
2. Finishing .   The backing must allow the name, address and message to be written on it.  I use plain pale coloured cotton, heavy interfacing or stiff card.  It should hide any stitching so as not to interfere with the writing.  The edge finishing is usually satin stitch, zig zag stitch or a blanket  stitch done by machine.  I use a few dabs from a glue stick to hold the backing in place while I trim the card to size and finish the edges.  If you choose to do a zig zag stitch around the edge of your post card try to position the edge of the card in the center of the foot so the zig half the stitch is on the card and the zag  half is off the card.  

I usually sign my post cards with a fine tip pen as small as I can write across the bottom edge of the back with “hand made by Sandra Hamilton”.  Or I initial or sign the front.

Have fun making post cards.  If you want to practice try some Christmas ones All you need is a piece of Christmas fabric and a bit of glitz.  

 I usually ask for my postcard to be hand cancelled at the post office.  It leads to some interesting conversations.