I haven't been posting much on this blog lately, apologies for that. I'm easily side-tracked and forget how quickly the days speed by. I've treated myself to a couple of books, so no change there! The 'Stitch, Fibre, Metal & Mixed Media' is a book I'd borrowed from the library, and liked so much I wanted my own. It's secondhand, as is the 'Modern Folk Embroidery' which I picked up for a bargain price and I've had on my list of books-to-buy for ages.
I love these fabric baubles from the 'Stitch, Fibre' book, and had a go at making something along these lines. I'd had the idea about three years ago that I wanted to learn needle felting, thinking I'd make lots of cute little animals and dazzle everyone with my needle felting skills. I acquired a boxful of supplies and - guess what? - I didn't get anywhere with that craft. My enthusiasm fizzled out.
Anyway, literally years later, when I decided to make a version of these fibre baubles, I dug out those supplies, as well as these reels of shiny narrow ribbon, some felt and pieces of organza. Oh, and I'd got a pack of water soluble stabilizer paper - the kind you use for embroidery - and that's important in this process. It comes in sheets of A4 size, and has adhesive for one side.
I laid a sheet of stabilizer sticky side upward, then placed over that a rectangle of organza, then layered on top lengths of wool roving, adding them in different directions to cover the organza. Then I added snippets of thread, tiny scraps of sari silk and tiny pieces of shiny ribbon. I covered it all in another sheet of stabilizer, sticky side downward. Then used my sewing machine to stitch all over the surface to sandwich the layers together. After that, I dissolved the stabilizer in warm water, and this is what I got.
The result was a fabric that looked pretty, but using organza for the backing wasn't sturdy enough to make baubles out of. So, let's try again.
I had another go, but this time I used a base of felt, not organza, and needing only one layer of the stabilizer. Laying the felt down flat, I used my needle punching tool to attach little clumps of wool roving to it. I did the same with sari scraps and thread pieces. Then a layer of the water soluble stabilizer on top, sticky side downward. After which, I both hand stitched and machine stitched those layers together. After I dissolved the stabilizer I was left with a sturdy enough material to make baubles out of. I've been adding beads and sequins to them today, and will take a photo when they're completely finished.
Hopefully that explanation's made a bit of sense? If not, I'll leave you with something else to keep you amused. It's another random video that the YouTube algorithm threw my way, all about wonder of natural dyes and the extraordinary colours that can be obtained from common plants. Maybe it'll interest you too? Why not take a look?
It's Saturday afternoon, and I haven't done half the things I'd meant to. Partly because I spent most of this morning messing about with paints, stencils and the gell plate. Never mind, everything on today's 'To Do' list will join tomorrow's 'To Do' list ... it's hardly life or death if I don't haul the hoover around the room or pull up weeds in the front garden. I thought I'd show you what I made on Wednesday. I'd gone to my monthly StitchArt group, and this time we did something a little different. There's a project called 'Threads of Freedom' which is working with various community groups across the city. It's about creating little stitched pieces, some of which will be included in a textile panel to go on display at Leeds art gallery. There was lots of fabric we could choose from to sew with, and I picked this vintage tray cloth with the roses embroidery. My own embroidery's not a patch on those flo...
I'm typing this as snow's falling, and has been steadily all day. It's not settling to any great extent, though I bet by tomorrow morning the paths will be slippery with ice. Which always makes me paranoid about falling over and at the very least looking undignified, but at worst breaking a bone or twisting an ankle. Oh well, it's ideal weather to stay inside and craft, isn't it? I finally got around to listing packs of sari scraps on Etsy this morning. I only made up six bundles as I've no clue whether they'll sell or if I've set a reasonable enough price point. Time will tell. This is a link to the listing, if you're interested. This vaguely pink fabric isn't from one of my Etsy packs. It's from a bit of experimenting I was doing yesterday. I'd seen a post on Instagram showing how a DIY version of batik could be done without using hot wax. The Instagrammer used PVA instead, and I wanted to try this out....
Saturday's rolled around again, and it's not been the most eventful of days. Cleaning and hoovering, a walk to the shops to buy groceries, an hour on the allotment, then home to do some odd tasks in the garden. The strawberry plants are sending out runners, so I've been dealing with those, plus deadheading the perennial sunflowers, and cutting back the gone-over flowers on the sage and marjoram. I'm sad to see those blooms gone as the bees loved them. This afternoon I spent a few hours finishing 'Dawnlands' by Philippa Gregory. It's a really good book, a page turner where you care about the characters and want to be reassured everything's going to work out well for them. Plus you become enraged about the corruption of the so-called justice system at the time of the Stuart kings and queens, about transportation of prisoners to the West Indies, and about the vile nature of the sugar trade in the 1600s and the vast profits made from it....
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