Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Monkey Mind

I've never used a laying tool, and I've never been happy with my satin stitches, but today as I was browsing through one of my favorite embroidery sites, I found that Mary Corbet of Needle & Thread uses laying tools and has instructions for how to use one.  She even has a video tutorial.  Gotta' try it!

I've done a bundle and a wrap around an old foil-covered coffee can for the eco prints.  My fingers are crossed that I'll get a good set of prints of the cabbage, yarrow, and birch leaves on the silk.  The problem is the waiting.  I'm so impatient, and this could take a month of waiting...if I can restrain myself.  I've taken some pictures and will show you tomorrow.

What else is going on?  I'm in the middle of trying the flour resist on fabric.  Jane LaFazio has a tutorial on her blog, and since this is something I've wanted to try for some time, I was inspired to go ahead.

Another waiting game.  It takes hours for the resist to dry, then you paint, then wait for the paint to set, then rinse off the resist.   And then, maybe another coat of resist, paint, etc.

It has taken about 24 hours for the resist to dry completely, the above photos show that in the darker spaces, it wasn't completely dry yet.  I may have put too thick a layer of resist on the fabric.

I'm so deep into so many experimental projects right now that I'm not finding time to read,  or review, or keep up with my book blog.

Gotta' go now, the resist is dry enough to paint

What have you been up to?  Tell me, give me another project for my ADD to latch onto!

5 comments:

  1. I never used to use a laying tool either, but I found it really made a difference, especially when using multiple strands. It keeps them smooth, and stops the twisting. Takes a bit of time, though.
    Looking forward to your experiment results! Isn't it fun getting messy?

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  2. This is all pretty exciting stuff! Being patient while waiting for the outcome is the hardest, isn't it? Maybe the trick is to have so many projects in the works that we don't think so much about it in the mean time.

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  3. Suz- I played around it using one of the huge needles I use for sewing dolls, and I'm pleased with the effect. Now, if I can just make sure I stay in the lines!

    :) Yes, it is fun getting messy, very much a reversion to childhood pleasures. I use a flour paste when doing papier mache, and that process is much messier because you have to keep applying strips. The resist process is like finger painting.

    Valerie - I'm patient with stitching, but completely impatient when waiting for an outcome like eco printing or waiting for paint to dry. As you say, though, maybe having so many projects at once will make it easier. I hope!

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  4. I guess I don't know what an eco print is.....

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  5. Stephie - Eco prints are leaves, flowers, etc. that are printed onto fabric by bundling them in cloth and leaving them for a few weeks, a month, or longer until they have left their print on the fabric--or by steaming them.

    India Flint and her book about eco dyeing has done some unbelievable work with this technique.

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Good to hear from you!