Christmas in July

Okay, so it’s actually August, but I started this project in July!  Usually, around this time of year I start making big plans (that I later abandon) to prepare for the holidays.  I’ve decided to make a pillow featuring a Celtic Christmas tree for my mom as part of her present this year.  I wanted to use the same image transferring method I used to make this pillow

This was a simple project I made for my bed.  First, to make sure the lettering didn’t end up backwards, I used a sharpie to trace the lettering so the image bled through the paper.  Then, I traced the backwards image onto tracing paper with an Aunt Martha’s Tracing Pencil.  I ironed the design onto my fabric and it left a clear image for me to follow along with embroidery.

When I took up this idea again for the Christmas pillow, my Aunt Martha’s pencil kept breaking till I had used up the whole pencil and only gotten through a tiny portion of the image.  I tried another transfer pencil I had bought a while back but when I put iron to tracing paper - only the portion of the design that had been traced with the Aunt Martha's pencil showed up!

After discovering the total uselessness of this other pencil, I went on a hunt for another Aunt Martha’s Tracking Pencil.  Low and behold, I couldn’t find a tracing pencil anywhere!  I tried The Atlanta Sewing Center, Jo-Ann’s, Hobby Lobby, and finally Michaels but no one had any tracing pencils!

I picked up some tracing transfer paper and decided to give that a try.  This was successful but disappointingly hard to see on the green cloth.  I went over the design first with disappearing ink, and then again with my blue washable pen (in the image on the right you can see the feint lines of the tracing paper, the purple lines of the disappearing ink, and the blue of the washable pen).  That has worked and now I’m moving forward with my project but I’ve already ordered some Aunt Martha’s Pencils online so I don't have to deal with this again.

What is your favorite method of transferring a temporary pattern onto fabric?  Any other suggestions of amazing products I should try?  When do you start planning ahead for the holidays?