Bendy Fabric Postcard - Update: Success!

by fungus amungus

13K6729

Intro: Bendy Fabric Postcard - Update: Success!

There's really no reason to send a postcard made of fabric and wire, but why the hell not? You can keep changing the shape of it and keep putting it back to the original rectangular shape. And of course you can mail the thing and your friends have a laugh when it shows up in their mailbox.


STEP 1: Inkjet Print Onto Canvas

Print out the addresses and a bounding cut line using the inkjet printing on fabric technique.

STEP 2: Cut and Peel

Scissors and fingers, but not at the same time.

STEP 3: Cut and Shape Armature Wire

I used 1/16" armature wire for this. Get this stuff if you can because wire from a clothes hanger will be absolutely useless for this.

Cut it and shape it into a wacky rectangle shape.

STEP 4: Seal It Up

Cut some Stitch Witchery and place it between the fabric and itself as you fold the edges over.

Now iron it all together.

STEP 5: Seal the Corners

Those corners can fray and create some problems. Get some clear nail gloss or nail protector or whatever else your girlfriend will let you use and paint them.

STEP 6: Get Bent

Might as well play around with it a bit. The armature wire allows the "card" to hold its shape brilliantly.

STEP 7: Mail It Off

Here's the real postcard I made for my friends near Atlanta. I put a 39 cent stamp on it along with some glue for good measure and dropped it off in the mailbox yesterday morning. With luck, it should be there by the weekend.

STEP 8: Success! It Makes It

There it is in what is obviously Georgia. Can't deny that, eh?

30 Comments

kelle 16 years ago

way cool, unfortunately we don't have freezer paper here in Europe but luckily I hade a can of repositionable spray glue at hand. That works too when you glue it to cardstock paper.

HurdyGurdyMan 16 years ago

I repeated this, I didnt have any wire so I used some solder and used hot glue to put everything together and seal the corners so it looks good and the corners dont fray. Spare copper wire does the trick too.

Eddbot 17 years ago

maybe if you used tiny springs instead of wire it would snap back to it's regular shape, but you would have to wrap the springs with some thing so they don't get tangled up

joejoerowley 17 years ago

What about EL wire rapped around the armature wire. That would be cool. You slip in a CR2032 to power it up.

naught101 17 years ago

cool. I can see a problem if you bend and unbend the wire too much it will get stressed and eventually break. perhaps another cool idea (with a slightly different aim in mind) would be to use spring wire? also, why make it rectangle? you could make it any shape really (although internal corners will leave gaps in the bits you fold over). I reckon a random trapezoid would look pretty cool.

jleemero 17 years ago

It's armature wire, it's made to bend a lot without breaking, this is the stuff they use to make armatures for clay figures used in claymation.

royalestel 17 years ago

Yeah, it's just aluminum wire. You can also use floral wire just fine for armature wire. The copper is great stuff.

Bob Moore 17 years ago

wow luv it - hope to replicate soon - also glad it worked so well

skirtmuseum 17 years ago

wow, the post office really will deliver anything. nice.

jongscx 17 years ago

you can also use electrical-fence wire. It's cheap and really pliable, unfortunately, it comes in 25ft sections at least.

zachninme 17 years ago

Glad to see it made it! What will your next postcard be???

fungus amungus 17 years ago

Two more have already been sent and received. Both need more pics before they're ready to be published.

zachninme 17 years ago

Awesome! Glad to see it worked!

zachninme 17 years ago

I can tell where you picked out the rectangles from to mask the address in PS. Right below the state. The yellowish-shadow gives it away.

rachel 17 years ago

There's also stuff called Fray Check which does exactly what you want here, only without getting all stiff. It's available in any fabric store. Maybe your girlfriend will buy some and you can borrow it.

saites2001 17 years ago

Finally, a reasonable use for inkjet printing on fabric. Great job, and very cool!

zachninme 17 years ago

Agreed! Before this, that seemed so useless, unless you were making a scrabble quilt or something ...

arez81 17 years ago

How do you get the postage to stay affixed?? I mean it would fall off eventually. Maybe silcone glue perhaps...

fungus amungus 17 years ago

I used some Krazy Glue Craft. I haven't gotten it mailed it back to me yet, so hopefully it's already out of the state by now. Does a package need its postage once it's already off and running? I wonder.
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