Saturday 14 January 2012

Experimenting

I collect all my threads from my various stitching and knitting projects, and keep them in a jar.  I quite often use them for stuffing, but have thought, they could be used for something a bit more pleasing.  I thought I'd try playing with water soluble fabric and see what happened.

The water soluble fabric arrived with no instructions, so it was definitely a try it and see project.
I layered some of the threads etc, between two layers of the water soluble fabric and started stitching, using the darning quilt and FMQ in no particular pattern or order.

As there were no instructions, I soon found I had layered the threads too thickly in places, and rapidly went through my needles.  In fact, by the end of the project, I'd broken five, a personal record.

Eventually, I decided I'd stitched enough and the fun began.  I dissolved the fabric, and moulded the resulting fabric around a little pot, and allowed it to dry.

The pins you see are just hold folds in place until it dries completely.


The idea was to trim the edges to the height of the pot, but there is something about the raggedy edges that I like.  This is still a work in progress.  I think I'll trim the loose threads, maybe add some velvet ribbon, and possibly some beads.  I have it on the mantel shelf so I can look and it and let it tell me what it wants.

This may not have gone exactly as planned, but it's something I shall try again.  The threads will be spread thinner to make the stitching easier and more effective, and I shall try different forms, possibly platters.  Who knows where it will go, all I know is, it's been fun.

8 comments:

Nicola said...

You are so creative. This has got me thinking. Thank you for sharing.

Terry said...

That's so cool! I like it with the uneven edges too! :0)

Rudee said...

This is an incredibly amazing project. I usually save my bits and pieces and leave them out for the birds to pad their nests in spring. This is an even better way to display the remains of past projects! I like it a lot.

Wendy said...

I absolutely love this! And those raggedy edges are awesome! Very creative of you.

CJ STITCHING AND BLOOMS said...

Hello Jane, What a fantastic creative lovely project. Love it and I really like the uneven edges. Hugs Judy

Karen said...

I think it's wonderful and experimenting is NEVER wasted...we always learn something.

Maggi said...

Great result for your first attempt. The other think to be careful with are metallic thread snippets.

Anonymous said...

This would not have crossed my mind in a million years. I love it. And I totally agree that the raggedy edges really add something to the finished look.

You should be thrilled with this.