Sunday 7 March 2010

Spirograph I - materials

Before we go any further, here's the materials I'll be using:


Looking at the fabrics first, this is the same linen sheet as I used for Kate's Crow, which will be used to line the top fabric and give it support, and the silk matka that I'll be using as the top.


The matka manages to look two completely different colours in these photos, but it really is the same stuff! The colour in the second photo is probably closer to the real thing. It's actually paler and slightly pinkier in tone than I was expecting; I ordered it over the phone from Hansson of Guildford, though in fairness to them I should say that I was going from quite on old swatch and hadn't thought to get a newer one, which I'm sure would have shown the difference. Having said that, I actually like the new colour better, I think. It's lighter than the fabric I had before and a softer shade; it also should show the design transfer tacking stitches more clearly than the more yellow one that I was using for the test, so that has to be good!

Now for the threads:


A very limited range, as you can see, and in fact only one of them, the gold, will actually form the design. This is no. 8 Japanese gold passing thread, from Golden Threads. The terracotta sewing thread will be used to transfer the design from the back of the fabric to the front, and will be oversewn, while the horrible nylon 'invisible' thread will be used to couch down the gold passing thread, assuming I can stand it and don't give it up for something easier to work with.

2 comments:

  1. Yes, that invisible thread is a bit of a beast to work with, but tolerable. I use Kreinik finer guage metallics to couch golds etc with, say 'cords' or sometimes even blending filament.

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  2. What a good idea! I'll hunt through my goldwork box and see what I've got that matches.

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