Home » How to use Stamp Sets for Sewing Projects

How to use Stamp Sets for Sewing Projects

May 29, 2017 Minki Kim

Hi, it’s Minki from Minki’s Work Table. I am an author of Sew Illustrated and a new fabric designer for Riley Blake Designs.

Today I would like to share one of my tricky ways to transfer designs on the fabric—Using stamps!

I machine stitched this hoop art using my Sew Very Happy stamp set that I designed for Altenew. Altenew is well-known for their elegant floral designs in paper crafting and I am so happy to be able top contribute my designs for the sewing community. To share in the fun, I am giving away a set of my stamp designs and two inks for one lucky WeAllSew reader! Read more further below.

Making fabric/paper tags is another way of using fabric scraps.

Materials to Make a Hoop Art & Gift Tags

  • 15″ x 15″ Linen
  • 10″ hoop
  • A set of clear stamps
  • Acrylic block
  • Erasable Fabric Inkpad, Stamp ink
  • 10″ x 10″ Light weight fusible interfacing
  • Dark color thread (I used 28 weight gray Aurifil thread)
  • Air erasable marker
  • Fabric scraps
  • Cotton batting
  • Kraft paper
  • Pinking shears scissors
  • Open embroidery foot (BERNINA Open embroidery foot #20/#20C/#20D)
  • Eyelet, ribbon

Instructions to Make a Hoop Art Design

1. Fuse the fusible webbing on the wrong side of linen. Trace the hoop size on the center of linen using a temporary marker. (I used Air Erasable Marker by Clover and the mark disappears in a day.)

2. Use a set of clear stamps, a fabric inkpad and an acrylic block.

3. Arrange each design and stamp inside of the circle. Test your stamp on the paper first and decide your design.

I stamped big motifs first and fill in the gaps with smaller motifs.

4. Using an appliqué or open-toe foot to see better, set your stitch length 1.6. With 28 wt dark brown thread straight-stitch the design.

5. After the first row of stitches, I stamped more pin and button stamps until I was happy.

When you overlap stamp images, cover the first image with a piece of paper and stamp the second image, like scissors and a spool in the picture.

To see how I stitch letters, watch my How to Fill in Letters and Spaces video tutorial.

6. Using the same thread, french knot stitches for the button holes and cross stitch for inside of the pincushion or add your own initial.

7. Draw 15″ circle and  trim the excess fabric. Zigzag stitch (optional.)

This project not only works great as hoop art, you can also turn your stitches into a tote bag. I made this bag a couple of years ago by drawing each designs on linen. And that design on my sketchbook became a stamp set a year later! I hope it’s useful for many sewist and hand embroidery lovers.

Instructions to make Various Tags

1. Stamp the design on a scrap of linen using a dark color ink pad.

The stamp shown in the picture is water-based. If you are plan to wash your project, I would recommend Permanent Fabric ink pad such as  Archival Ink.

2. Sandwitch linen, cotton batting, and backing fabric, and sew around the outline. I used white 12 weight Aurifil thread.

3. Trim the excess fabric using pinking shears and attach an eyelet.

4. To make a paper tag, sew a small fabric scrap on a 2 1/2″ x 4 1/4″ piece of Kraft paper. Stamp as your desire.

I often make some fun gift tags and store them in my drawer as I am very rich person.

Try this easy but unique gift tags and believe me, it will be gone so quickly and you have to make them soon again!

It takes less than 30 minutes to create something cute and useful out of your fabric scraps.

I hope you like my technique using stamps.

Here is another way of using a stamp set for your sewing project. I stamped each design on linen using permanent ink pad and turn them into fun patches.

Altenew graciously provides my stamp sets  and two inks for WeAllSew readers!!

All you have to do is post a comment below answering the following question:

What is your favorite tip for using up fabric scraps?

A winner will be drawn from the comments on May 31, 2017 and announced about a week after the contest is closed!

The giveaway is open to residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia. One comment per fan. Comment must be submitted to the WeAllSew.com blog by May, 31  11.59 p.m. Central Time. Winner will be chosen randomly. Winner will be notified by email and will have 48 hours to contact to claim the prize.

Difficulty level
Beginner
Time to Complete
Evening
Used Material
12 wt cotton thread, air erasable marker, fusible interfacing
Projects
Crafts
Seasons
all seasons, fall, Spring, Summer, Winter
Techniques
applique, sewing
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75 comments on “How to use Stamp Sets for Sewing Projects”

  • I save my scraps for using in other quilts. Plenty of them require only small amounts of fabric and using them keeps me from cutting into my larger pieces. Thanks for the stamping instructions – I will surely use it with hand embroidery!

    • I have never seen clear stamps. So reading your article was a good learning experience.
      LOOKS LIKE I NEED TO GET UP TO DATE!
      I use my scraps to make bookmarks to give to friends. I also donate to places where they are learning
      to use scissors, preschools, grade schools, therapy facilities etc.

  • I like to Use my scraps for making coasters. I like the hexagon ones you can slip stemmed glass in.Helps identity your glass. Can also use squares and circles.

  • What gorgeous stamps, Minki! My favorite technique for using fabric scraps is improv piecing them into larger pieces and then using them in other patchwork projects.

  • this is my new greatest tip for using scraps! Had not thought of making tags from fabric with stamps. My most favorite is making cards using tiny scraps. No two are ever the same and they are soooo easy to make. People love them to!

  • I like to keep a supply of small scraps next to my machine so that when I finish a seam, instead of cutting the thread, I chain stitch a couple of scraps together, then I can continue with the main project without wasting thread. Eventually, I have enough of the scraps stitched together to make a crazy quilt project.

  • Love saving scraps and making them into hexies if the scraps are big enough! If they’re too small, I’ll just save them in a jar – it’s like fabric confetti! But using them in little tags sounds like a wonderful idea and I’ll have to try that! Thanks for the wonderful tutorial!

  • I am fairly organized with my scraps, “trying” to keep them chopped up into usable bits as I go. Then when I am ready to use them, I have a collection of like sizes that work well together. I keep a collection of “scrap” quilt ideas on my Pinterest page, and voila!, a quilt is ready to be made with my ready to use scraps.

  • I love applique, so depending on the design even very small scraps can be used. Scraps cut into shapes such as hearts or flowers prettily turn plain tags into small sweet gift cards that only take moments to make. And of course scraps can be used for making happy scrappy hexie panels.

  • I love the fabric tags! I clearly need to explore stamps.

    My favorite use for fabric scraps is in scrap quilts. Some friends recently introduced me to using the very tiny scraps as stuffing for shelter pet beds.

  • My favorite tip is to use my fabric scraps to embellish other projects such as a tote bag or it’s straps. Although, I’m loving your gift tags in this article!

  • when our granddaughters visit, I have a pillow case of scraps and I let them loose to stitch and cut and sew whatever they want on my old singer machine.

  • I can barely stand to part with fabric scraps–even very small ones. I keep them organized (fairly organized) by color and use them with my machine embroidery projects.

  • I love using my fabric scraps on charms for necklaces that I make and then I use fabric scrap strips to make ribbon ties for my gift wrapping and quilted greeting cards.

    I love this project & the stamps are super adorable

  • Loving those stamps! I hoard scraps since I love scrappy quilting projects – never gets boring. The downside of saving all the bits of fabric is that they multiply faster than I can use them up!

  • For me the key to using my scraps is keeping them organized. I cut them into three different sizes of squares and keep them in piles in some plastic boxes. That helps me use them. Thanks for the chance!

  • I use my scraps for log cabin quilts, applique in various embroidery designs or I use them to spice up tote bags that I make or include them in whatever craft I may be working on at the time. They are always useful.

  • I used to use my scraps for “starters” (so that my beginning stitches don’t get buried at the beginning of a seam); but I’ve lately re-discovered stamping and card making, so now I use a lot of the scraps to make quilt-block cards. Lots of ideas for these on Pinterest. And I LOVE Altenew stamps!!! (watch a lot of Jennifer McGuire videos, where your stamps are often featured)

  • These are such wonderful designs and ideas! I’ve always used sewing scraps to make smaller things (hats, pants, shorts) the the ones I sewed originally. Now that I’ve begun quilting, I have a use for the even-SMALLER scraps! Thank you for such a generous giveaway.

  • Love the stamps and ideas. I have been using scrap fabric for pockets on Fabric Pillowcase Dresses. Also like to make potholders with scrapes.

  • So many ways to use up scraps, but my favorite is to cut 2-1/2″ squares and alternate them with 2-1/2 x 4-1/2″ rectangles for children’s quilts. Very satisfying. I’m entranced with your stamping ideas.

  • I use my fabric scraps to make little thread catchers for my friends…they love them. I also use the scraps to make little projects that hang on your keychain, such as lip balm holders.

  • I can use my never ending love of stamps and sewing with this great idea.
    The ingenious new stamp set would be a welcome addition to play with!
    Thanks for another great one. B.ficacci

  • Cute Projects and good ideas for little scraps!

    My small scraps turn into hexies and I’ve been collecting my smallest scraps for a future Postage Stamp Quilt. My grandma didn’t waste a thing and I’m trying to follow in her footsteps!

  • Great ideas! Love the gift tag one a lot.

    If my scraps are strips, I save them for making string blocks for some really unusual quilts. If they are smaller, I generally offer them to some women in my quilt guild who make quilts with teeny-tiny blocks. And if they are too small for them, they get bundled up to turn in to thread-cycling – recycling of fabric and damaged garments. Not sure what happens to them but it is a “green” way to go!

  • I use scraps of fabrics using the flip and turn method for quilts.There are times I need to add a focal point to the block I am working on, I think this is a wonderful idea using stencils to create that.

  • I like to test myself from time to time by sewing tiny quilts. Scraps are great for this. Pincushions made of scraps are very rewarding.

  • I put all our fabric scraps in a bucket so my girls can use them for whatever they want to make. They have used their imagination to make many things for their dolls. Also grab scraps to see up baby gifts or quilts. We end up putting fabrics together we normally would not. It’s fun!

  • Great projects!! I’m a long time stamper and been sewing for a couple of years so I really enjoyed this post. Love your stamp sets. I like to use my scraps for fabric art projects. Thanks for the chance to play and all the info- I didn’t know about the fabric disappearing ink : )

  • I keep a large jar on my desk with scraps in – every so often I do a mini paperpiece that when all put together will make up part of a border.
    Love the stamp set ideas – love the stamps!

  • I use my scraps to make hexies and patchwork for small projects, scrappy bibs, coasters and pouches. What fun and great ideas to make with these stamps.

  • I keep all my scraps organized by color. When a color “bag” fills up, i piece them all together to make blocks. When i have 9-12 blocks, i then sew sashes on them to make baby quilts, changing pads, or little grab and go diaper bags. I am loving the idea with the stamps. This would be great to use the tiny pieces to go with the items i am making. Brilliant!

  • What great information. I can think of all kinds of new things to do with scraps of fabric now. I have never gotten into stamping so I’m a novice, thought it was just for scrapbookers. Looks like I was wrong. Before this I was using all my smaller scraps for making dog beds to donate to shelters. Looks like I’ll need to go stock up on some stamps & ink. (Would be great to win some.)

  • Great post! Love the stamps and projects. I have several sizes of scraps that I use for EPP. I also save fabric strips for my friend that uses them to make fabric beads. Not too many pieces of fabric gets thrown away here, hehe.

    Thanks for a chance to win.

    usairdoll (at) gmail (dot) com

  • I’m saving scraps to piece the continents for a map of the world quilt. Each continent is made up of other colors. South America is done; Australia next!

  • Scraps get turned into pin cushions, towel borders, small fabric baskets.
    Thank you Minki, always, for your sewing illustration tips and inspiration. Congratulations on your first Fabric Collection too…that is so cool.

  • There are some really cute yo-yo designs for dish towels, children’s wear, holiday linens, and so on. Scraps are made for yo-yos! Or is it the other way around? Love making yo-yos!
    Also, scraps are good to save for appliqué machine embroidery. I can depend on a good selection!
    If I have a piece that I’m not fond of and it’s of good size, I tie it in knots and toss it to my cute Jack Russell! He loves scraps as much as I do!

  • Thank you for the adorable ideas! I use scraps to make small bags. It doesn’t matter how small the scrap since nests of threads can also be used. Fuse tiny pieces of scraps and/or threads onto a clear stabilizer, place a sheer material in top if you like, cover that with a clear stabilizer and stipple stitch on top to hold everything in place. I learned this in a class. Every person’s design was unique and every design was beautiful

  • I love to make hexi’s and one inch tumbler’s with my scraps. I hope to have enough made when I retire for two nice scrappy quilts. I love the memories scraps bring of different fabrics, where I got them or who may have shared them with me. I think that makes them even more special. I also enjoy making mosaic quilts with tiny scraps.

  • I like to do quilt piecing with in-the-hoop machine embroidery designs. They often use really small fabric pieces. They make cute sachets into which I can put lavender, cedar chips or cedar sawdust. They make nice gifts to use with wool. Also, the scraps can be used with machine embroidery applique designs.

    Thanks for the info on stamping on fabric. I have wanted to create my own fabric with stamps and have collected some appropriate stamps for the purpose; but often wondered about the permanency when the fabric is washed. I plan to make amounts for small quilted projects, so now I am encouraged.

  • My favorite use of scraps is to make placemats or other small useful items. I create strata using flip and sew onto paper towels cut into strips. No need to remove the paper toweling from the back!
    I love the stamp projects; I plan on creating with stamps now.

  • One of my very favorite ways to use fabric scraps is to make pin cushions filled with crushed walnut shells. There are many patterns for cute little animals and other items on line. They make wonderful gifts.

  • I sew my fabric scraps into larger fabric scraps. When my piece is large enough, I make bias binding to put around potholders, placemats and other small projects. It’s an interesting look and no one has ever returned any of my quirky gifts. I keep the “binding in progress” beside my sewing machine sew (sic) that I can joined them right away and that way the scrap pile doesn’t get too out of control.

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