Thursday, December 22, 2005

Transferring posts from forum (I hope)

trying ....Yes....you can buy soluble by the metre but it is also sold as "laundry bags"....used in hospitals and the like when dirty linen is placed in it and of course then dissolves when in the washer. I'm not sure there is a name for the result, it as it is more a technique. Basically the soluble (Wash Away it's often called) forms the base of the piece you want to make....you then add whatever you want on top....wool fleece, fancy yarn, snippets of fabric. Depending on the size you are making you can adhere all the bits with bonding powder which makes it easier to carry to the machine. You can also lay tulle or chiffon over the top if you want a non lacy piece. The important thing is to stitch ALL over it, free machine or grid using plain or fancy thread, this is all that is going to hold it together. When finished wash away the soluble. Laundry bag type requires very hot water so you need to be aware any natural fibres will shrink. There is Wash Away that dissolves in cold water. I think that sort you can find in Spotlight. The resulting effect is fabulous. I have found an article on the stitch I mentioned...it is tufting with the only skill needed is being able to do a herringbone stitch. If you want to pm me am email addy I can scan it or even put it on blog if others are interested.

Cobweb felt is just a lighter version of the heavy stuff. You can make it quite whispy or denser...whatever you like. Very quick too... Wet towel on the bench to stop everything moving lay down a piece of bubble wrap lay down a piece of net (tulle you buy for tutu's etc) lay down some wool fleece the length you want and pulled apart so your felt will end up fine....place several pieces vertically across to whatever size (larger than you want the finished piec as it will shrink) lay another layer, same or different colour, horizontally decorate this if you want with more coloured fleece or silk fibres place another piece of net over this hand sprinkle on hand hot water until very wet rub all over with cake of soap using your hand work the water and soap all over, circular movements turn whole piece over and do the back when it looks like it is holding together rollup the bubble wrap and roll on the bench, undo and turn 90deg, roll again test to see if fibres have felted......the net will pull away easily take off the net, rinse well, put out to dry. If you don't like the look of it, push and pull it, add more and refelt once dry do with it what you will The whole process takes only minutes, any longer and you are about to make dense felt.

Hope this works transferring from the forum!

2 Comments:

Blogger Maureen said...

See
Not a problem!
Now you can cut and paste to your heart's content!

4:12 PM  
Blogger pinup said...

But after that I want to paint it too!

7:58 PM  

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