My grandmother taught all her grandchildren how to sew. Before we were able to jump on her sewing machine though, she brought out sewing cards. She wanted us to learn the basics before we ever put our foot on the pedal. I remember she brought out sewing cards similar to these, except instead of on-trend cacti, our cards had singing babies with harps or something like that. But they worked the same, and we learned the basics of sewing. I love ALL of Amy Robison’s designs (she is so talented), and when I saw these cactus tags she designed, I knew that with just the slightest bit of tweaking, these tags would make EXCELLENT sewing cards. You and your little ones will have an absolute blast when you teach them the fundamentals of sewing, by stitching over the cacti needles, giving these cute cacti a cool 3D effect! So with a few clicks of a mouse, your little ones will be learning how to sew in no time.

Step One: Create the Design

  1. Open the Cactus Tags design (Design ID#181693) in Silhouette Studio®.
  2. Ungroup the artwork and make a simple colored background behind each cactus. I made my colored backgrounds by drawing rectangles that were 5 inches by 7 inches and filling them with a color using the Fill panel.
  3. Remove the circular tag part of the design by editing the points of the design. Click on the Point Editing icon located on the left-hand side. Then simply double-click and select the squares around the round tag, clicking the X at the top of the screen below the main toolbar to remove them.
  4. Create a solid white background behind the solid colored background.
  5. Turn on registration marks under Page Setup panel. The Silhouette Print & Cut feature is the absolute best! I use it all the time. By adding the registration marks, the Silhouette machine will be able to read the little black marks and cut out the design perfectly. No scissors needed here!

Step Two: Print the Cards

  1. Print the design with registration marks from your home printer by clicking the printer icon at the toolbar at the top of the screen. 

Step Three: Cut the Cards Out

  1. Place your freshly printed cactus sewing card on the Silhouette cutting mat, and load it into your Silhouette machine. Make sure you select the Cut Edge option so that you don’t cut the inside of your card. When you click Send, the Silhouette machine will read the marks, and cut the white border around the colored border with precision. Amazing!
  2. Using a needle and thread (or you can even use yarn or embroidery floss), sew along the lines inside the cactus.

My little one is still too young to hold a needle and thread, but I hope your little ones enjoy learning how to sew just as much as I did when I was younger. Stitching on these brought back so many fun memories with my grandmother and cousins, and I love this modern version of a sewing card, compared to the singing babies I stitched on once upon a time. Be sure to display the finished sewing cards on the fridge for years to come.