Freezer Paper, Mistyfuse, and Banner Progress

The big banner of the workers in the vineyard is coming along.  I got started first thing on Thursday morning, pinning the dye-painted background up on my wall alongside the design to enable me to place the first shapes quickly.

Design wall on Thursday morning (look closely, you can see Flossy's ears in the lower left, just above the wastebasket).

 The process goes like this: I trace the shapes from the drawing onto freezer paper, then iron these pattern pieces onto the right side of the fabric.  I lay a piece of Mistyfuse (cut to fit the fabric) on a Teflon protector sheet, then put the fabric/pattern on top, cover with another Teflon protector and press lightly with my iron on wool/silk setting.  The assembly is then ready to cut out along the pattern lines and place on the background.

This is where I ended up by quitting time Friday.  (At this point, I have returned the background to the flat surface of my big ironing table).

Nothing is adhered to the background in this detail, as I was still getting the positioning figured out - kinda a head-scratcher at times!

This is where I left off today.  The figures are ironed down onto the background, as is the lower portion of the vine.  (You can see pieces still covered with freezer paper at the top of the piece).

I still have a ways to go but the hard part - positioning the major design items - is complete.  I highly recommend Mistyfuse - it is the easiest fusible product I have ever used - no need to reverse your design, and it adheres to fabric super quickly.  Freezer paper is also a terrific versatile material, thin enough to use as tracing paper but very durable, and re-useable/positionable after ironing to fabric.