This was the intriguing title of our full day workshop with Josie Storey at Embroiderers’ Guild last Saturday, so armed with some very lush velvet and the usual sewing stuff I headed off without any real idea of what I was going to be doing!
The technique we were going to be playing with involved ironing prepainted bondaweb onto velvet and then using the stickiness to embellish with anything and everything to create a rich textured surface.
I started with some gorgeous Oliver Twists hand dyed velvet called ‘Stormy Seas’ and so I had to go for wave shapes,
with silk waste, carrier rod strippings
and scraps of painted melted plastic.
By this point I’d decided this was going to be the next piece in my travelling book, so when I got home I layered it up with wadding and calico and quilted round the wave shapes with my sewing machine. From this:
to this:
No hand embroidery – yet…
Under A Topaz Sky 
Interesting effects. Look forward to seeing how you embellish this.
What great techniques. These are beautiful and will be made even more so with your embellishments.
Like this idea. I’ve been thinking about how I might make “fabric” out of my orts. This may be just the ticket.
It does sound intriguing. I like that ” – yet” – it’s clear you have some ideas burbling away….
Sounds like terrific fun. I wonder what you are going to do ? 🙂
This piece will fit nicely into your travelling journal. Love the texture of your french knots piece & the upcycled jewellery is beautiful!
I suspect these have been titivated by now??? They are fascinating surfaces Alex and I also love Oliver Twists yarn and cloth. They sell so many rich colours, luscious.