Disolvable & Fibers, Art Fabric

At our January meeting, WE PLAYED with fibers, lots and lots of fibers. We had many types of yarns, threads, ribbon, cording, and trim, in a variety of colors. Vera brought a huge bunch, Amy a box and Corienne a big bag of thrums from her weaving.

Pat G. brought recycled blue plastic trays, which were perfect to work on, so your yarns did not escape, and we could transport everything home. We laid out a piece of disolvable material (like Sulvy) which Vera had gotten, as a recycled product. Then the fun began as we used an assortment of fibers to create layers of color and texture. Mixing and matching, and adding a bit of accent color or contrast. The sparkle fibers and metallics were in high demand!

Meredith had brought a sample of the finished product, that she had made previously. She used a lot of dyed cheesecloth and netting as a base. After stitching and dissolving the film, it held together well, creating an fiber art fabric.

Amy's fiber mix.

Pat G. fiber mix.

After fiber selection, you cover them with another layer of disolvable film, and try to contain them with pins or safety pins. At this point we cleaned up our messes and took the fibers home to do the stitching. The stitching was tricky to get started, with threads escaping out the side, and trying to stabilize with a few straight lines. After you had a grid stitched, it was easier to start free motion sewing. I used rayon threads for extra sparkle, and changed colors several times. Check out my blog for more details of the stitching. Click here.I also flipped the fiber sandwich, so I stitched different colors from each side. A few laps around the outside helped to create a stable edge. The next step is to soak the piece in water to remove the film, and hope you stitched enough to contain all the fibers and hold it together.

I believe it was Sue who was working in neutral colors.

Kay, Pat G. and Loraine looking too serious to be "playing."

Pat W. and Vera discussing the possibilities.

Nancy hard at play with her fiber mix. We all had lots of fun, and we are excited to see what each artist has done with her finished fiber art fabric.