Last Minute Gifts #3 - Vintage Geometric Print Fabric

Oops, I didn't really mean to gift the fabric, but to customize your own fabric with geometric print and use it to create gifts. What I love about these geometric prints is that they are suitable for both genders. For eg. brown prints of a pink linen is really pretty for ladies while grey on blue is cool for guys.

To get these geometric prints, you need to get a kit like this:

I'm sure some of you have played with this when you're young! Not sure what it's called in English, but it's called Kuru Kuru Jyougi (くるくる定規) in Japanese..

Materials you'll need:

1. Main fabric and medium weight interfacing of the same size. They should be big enough for the project you're making (I suggest going with 2 times the amount you need). I'm going to make a pencil case based on Mairuru's pencil case pattern.

2. Kuru Kuru Jyougi set (or any equivalent in your country)

3. Fabric pen(s) with fine nib. I'm using Zig fabric pens with 2.0mm nib:

4. Double-sided tape

5. Other materials needed for the project you'll be making

First of all, you need to try out your kuru kuru jyougi kit on a piece of paper and make notes of the the pattern variation. You might want to select only a few particular patterns that work well with your design.

If this is your first time trying, here's a video I've made to show you how it works:

Next, iron the interfacing onto the wrong side of your main fabric. This step is very important, and it should not be skipped. The interfacing ensures that the fabric does not shift and stretch when you draw the geometric shapes on it.

The next step is to prep the "ruler" guide. As fabric surface tends to be more slippery than paper, we need to make the back side of the "ruler" guide tacky so that it can adhere temporarily to the fabric. My way of doing it is to stick double-sided tape.

Press the "ruler" guide down on one corner of your main fabric, and start drawing your first geometric shape.

Here's my first geometric shape:

Continue drawing more shapes according to how you have planned your design. If you are going for a perfect design, do go slow and ensure that the moving circle is not skipping any groove on the "ruler" guide. As for mine, I like the raw feel of the imperfectness. =)

Once you have completed your design, iron-fix the fabric according to the manufacturer's directions. Once done, you can proceed with your project. Here are my pieces for the pencil case!

And here are the finished products!

Have fun!