Voile Cupcake Toppers: A Tutorial

Okay, okay, I admit, putting voile on top of cupcakes sounds like an abuse of the masterful work that Little Folks Voile is. But… when planning the small party we had for M and after working with the fabric on these dresses, the only thing that I could do was use the same materials. I just had to. I held my breath and dove in.

Easy peasy. All you need is:
– card stock
– computer/printer
– detail scissors or an X-acto knife
– voile
– sewing machine
– toothpicks

I think I’ve mentioned before that I looooove sewing paper. Looooove it. To start, I set up a file in Adobe Illustrator, but you could do something similar in Word or whatever program you’ve got. I pulled a Little Folks image from my dear friend Anna and layered that in a circle with a “1” outlined. (I think that’s okay? I’m not selling these, and I am absolutely encouraging you to buy the fabric… so, I’ll leave it to my dear friend Anna to point out that she objects, if indeed she does?) Printed those 15 to a page.

I trimmed the center of the “1” out with tiny scissors. My favorite tiny scissors.

I cut the page so that I was working with four or six in a group and trimmed pieces of voile to fit behind each section with a little extra room around the edges. An aside: I love the stained glass effect of the voile. I’m definitely going to Mod Podge it to something transparent. Just haven’t decided what yet. It’s also very nearly double-sided. I may or may not have accidently sewn pieces together the wrong way on another project. Maybe or maybe not more than once. And it was hardly noticeable.

I didn’t pin or tape or anything. Just laid the paper and fabric under the presser foot and slowly ran around the center of each circle, keeping my fingers on the presser foot lever and picking it up every few stitches to move around the circle. I love that kind of detail-y stuff. I can actually feel Adrianna choking at the very thought as she’s reading this. After stitching, trim around your circles. Gently slide/shove a toothpick into the stitches at the bottom. Slightly off center is okay.

I loved that the voile rippled a bit as it was sewn and made the toppers a little dimensional.

Aaaaah, ready for the party.

Makes me want to throw another shindig. (If only my babies didn’t have to grow up for that to happen.)

Comments

Melanie says

May 5, 2010 at 2:16 am

cute, it is a lot like my happy birthday banner except on little cupcake toppers with MUCH nicer fabric ;) That means I can probably pull this off for a celebration!
My baby turns one this month. Crazy.

Tanya says

May 5, 2010 at 4:11 am

I came over here to congratulate Adrianna on her lovely Carefree Dress WIN, but was stopped in my tracks by this over-the-top idea. :-) THANK YOU for sharing this….I’ll will be using this idea for the next birthday at my house. 8-year old girls — that means I have to be clever. You two probably have other good ideas for me in the archives. ;-)

Beverly says

May 5, 2010 at 3:48 pm

Well how cute are these? Makes me wish mine were little again. My daughter is turning 17 tomorrow (YIKES). Wonder if she’d like cupcakes. Too cute.
Voted for you top yesterday. :) Missed the day before but I’m following Made By Rae now too so I can vote for you when she posts the Top 5!! :)
(and thanks for your sweet comment on my pillows)

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