Free Motion Embroidery Project

Since my last post I have had to put the silk quilt on hold due to birthday celebrations, guests and then the realisation that our Sunday Quilters meeting was imminent and we are going to do something with free motion machine embroidery.

So a project is in progress for that and here are the photos:

Supposing we are making a lap quilt or baby blanket from nine blocks and some are decorated with free machine embroidery while others are left with just a patterned fabric.

On the left are the materials needed.  Co-ordinating colours for the blocks, these are 12" square but the finished size will be about 9".  30" square of backing fabric and wadding.

A wooden 8" embroidery hoop to use with the free motion embroidery.

A basketful of offcuts for the applique which will be used with the embroidery.

Calico practice material not shown in this photo.



A worksheet is ready and describes how to set up the machine and gives some practice exercises.  The first exercise isn't shown here as it is just about getting used to stitching, how the tension can be adjusted and a general familiarisation exercise.

Exercise Two is shown here with examples of text, a wall, a flower and a grid.

The next exercise is about drawing with the needle and thread and colouring in.

This image also shows some more text.

Moving on to using applique shapes two methods for transferring the image to the fabric are used.

 Here a light box shines through the fabric and highlights the image underneath so that it can be drawn directly on to the fabric.

Another method is to use freezer paper.  Put the image under the freezer paper and copy it on to the dull side.  Iron the waxy side of the freezer paper to the back of the fabric and then cut around the shape before pulling off the freezer paper.

Once the appliques are cut out using either of these methods they can be auditioned on the fabric and placed where they will be stitched.

Can you see in the photo the small pieces of Steam-a-Seam attached to the back of the appliques.  It is just like Bondaweb and comes in a strip backed with paper,  Really useful for attaching small pieces or labels.

These were iron tacked on to the fabric put in the hoop and then free machine stitched as shown.

Once the blocks are embroidered using different images and shapes, according to how the lap quilt or baby blanket will be used, they will be joined together, backed with wadding and lining and finished off in the usual way.

The post for the making up stage will follow in due course.

Free Motion Quilting

The time had come to start quilting the background and although I had decided on the motifs and shapes I was nervous about starting to put stitches into the background as once into the silk any mistakes would be hard to rectify.  Silk shows pin marks and unpicking could result in damage to the silk surface.


Earlier I had decided on where to place the coloured bottles and had put pink tacking stitches at the top of each one from where the perfume vapour would emerge.  This also gave me an indication of where the blank spaces would be on the quilt and where I needed to quilt bottle outlines and more perfume vapour.

Having decided I needed three more bottles I set about creating the shapes as before using a wadding shape bonded to the silk, cut out with a 1/4" seam allowance and then folding the allowance over and tacking around the edges.  Here are two of those extra shapes.

The quilted bottle shapes need a steady hand and the perfume rising from the bottles some artistic flair and a steady hand.  Courageously I made a start and these were the preparations.  Silk is quite heavy and I had two layers plus some thin wadding.  I cleared a free space all around the machine and clipped my machine's table extension in place.  Free motion foot; a fine needle for the silk; polyester thread in the needle and the bobbin and the machine set for free motion stitching with tension at 1 and stitch length at 0. I brought the lower thread up to the top and pushed them both back from the needle and I put on my cotton quilting gloves which grip the surface to help move it around.

I wanted to sew perfect shapes but this was not easy.  Manipulating the whole quilt under and around the machine while at the same time pushing and moving the part being stitched into the shapes and patterns that I wanted was extremely demanding.  I had drawn faint bottle outlines to stitch around but then regretted this because I decided to stitch each bottle twice for emphasis and it being free motion getting the lines exactly repeated on top of each other was not easy so my drawn lines then were noticeable.  So I had to find a way of removing them and thankfully a soft clean rubber was successful.

I felt disappointed when I realised perfection was not going to be an option but having started had to continue so I hoped that each bottle shape would improve as I went along. In the end I settled for less than perfection and concentrated on getting the bottles in the right place.  Once I stitched enough bottles it was quite a relief to start the perfume vapour patterns and I stitched these once only.  Although a couple went awry and had to be partly unpicked  the freeform nature of the pattern meant it was an easier task and I got into a rhythm making some small and some large according to the size of the bottle they were rising from.

The needle-turn applique was the next stage and for this I used clover applique needles which are smooth and strong with an easy to thread eye.

Needle-turn applique requires neat tiny stitches and the end of the needle is used to tuck under loose edges and threads as you work.  If you are right handed working from right to left with the edge being stitched farthest away from you.  A stitch into the background next to where the thread has emerged, two or three threads under on the wrong side then up through the very edge of the applique being sewn. 

This is work in progress and the next stage, after finishing appliqueing the bottles is to start making the bias strips for the stems of the myrtle bush and the leaves and 3d flowers which will weave across and around the bottles.

To be continued......

A Silk Quilt Challenge

Efforts on my silk quilt are all about tacking at present.  I have spent about four hours tacking the top layer of silk tiles to the wadding and the backing.

Starting from the centre I have tacked a grid with lines about four inches apart.  It doesn't show up very well in these photographs unfortunately.

Once the grid is done then it's important to tack all around the edges.  Silk does fray easily and I don't want to lose too much of it from fraying while I am quilting and sewing on the appliques so the tacking phase is really important although laborious and time consuming.




Previously over several days I have been tacking silk around the edges of the wadding and Bondaweb shapes.  I bonded the silk to the wadding then cut out the bottle shapes with a generous 1/4" seam allowance.


The seam allowance is finger pressed over the edge of the wadding with little folds where the shape curves outwards (convex) and snips into the seam allowance, but not too close to the fold, where the shape curves inwards (concave). Then pressed around the edges with a cool iron.

Having done this preparation the next step is to decide where the bottle shapes will be placed on the quilt so that I can decide on where and how to do the background quilting.

For my quilting designs I am going to sketch in an outline bottle shape with free machine embroidery.  This practice one in the photo has a crack down the side as my original designs many months ago were based on a cracked garden pot.  Not sure yet whether to include this in the quilted shapes or not.

The other quilting pattern will be of an imaginary curving twisting vapour rising from the top of the coloured applique bottles.

Once the background quilting is done I will start to add the bottle shapes using needle-turn hand applique.  After that I will be making stems, leaves and flowers for the winding Myrtle plant which will be partly machine applique and partly hand applique.  To be continued ...

Silk Needleturn Applique

As I have now reached the big milestone of making my final assessment piece - a silk quilt - I thought I would put certain aspects of it on here, particularly as some of you will have silk offcuts in pretty colours and may like to use them for applique.

My quilt design was approved some time ago but other demands have delayed me starting it until now.  Since the design was approved I have made some modifications to it, partly as a result of my tutor's suggestions and also because we have decorated a room in a lovely pale yellow and I want to put the finished quilt in there, so the original colour choices were not appropriate.

The idea is based on pots containing perfume in front of a tiled background and with Myrtle branches, leaves and flowers trailing across and in front.  It's a long story how this theme has come about but briefly it had to be based on earlier designs and drawings from the 'Line' module and mine was all about a cracked garden pot, which evolved through design work into pots and bottles that had an Eastern appearance and looked as though they may contain perfumes or spices.  The Myrtle plant come into it because Myrtle is a common ingredient in many perfumes.  The tiles were chosen as a background because the bottles and plant will be appliqued so I wanted a simple backdrop for this.

So far I have made the silk background in yellow and green and am now working on preparing the appliqued bottles.  The preparation for this is the subject for today.

The bottle shapes came from copying some of my own and the rest from a beautiful Kaffe Fassett book loaned to me by Pat (Cook).  He had a photo shoot in the V&A Museum and the bottles of exquisite colours and design were in many of the pictures of his work.

First I drew the shapes and then scanned them into the computer so that I could adjust the sizes as needed. Then I printed templates on to printer paper which was strong enough for me to draw around

In the photo are the items needed to create slightly padded appliques.  The initial sketch made larger, The sketch transferred on to Bondaweb, some wadding and some silk.

I printed the bottle shapes on to normal printer paper as I said but I also wanted one to use as a shape for quilting on the background so this one I backed with card and cut it out to make a firm template which could be used over and over again.  I plan to trace the bottle shape on to some of the square blocks as a basis for background quilting once I have decided on placement of the bottles themselves.


So how to create the silk appliques?  Well the method I have come up with is to bond wadding on to the back of the silk in the shape of the bottle and cut the silk out using a 1/4" seam allowance. 

First trace the shape on to Bondaweb in the usual way, iron this on to the wadding making sure that you use a cotton setting for several seconds so that the glue melts thoroughly (I discovered that a cooler iron or too short a time resulted in the glue pulling the wadding apart instead of separating easily from the paper.  If you try this method practice on some spare pieces first to get the iron settings correct).  Let the Bondaweb cool fully then cut out the shape and ease a pin between the wadding and the paper to start the release process.  Now press the piece of silk with a cool iron and using baking parchment iron the wadding shape to the wrong side of the silk.  Cut carefully around the shape leaving a 1/4" seam.


The next task is to turn the silk edges in and press around the wadding with a cool iron.  You will need to clip into the seam allowance on some curves but remember that silk frays easily so don't go in too close to where the fabric turns over the edge of the wadding.  Tack around the turned in edges ready to sew to the background.

The photos are on their side here and I should have turned them in Photoshop before inserting them as I can't turn them on the blog.  Sorry about that but wrong way up or not it tells the same story!


You may remember that when bonding shapes for applique we always make the point that they need to be reversed (if it matters).  I am pleased to tell you that with this method no reversal is necessary because the shape is reversed at the Bondaweb stage, then reversed again at the wadding stage so note in the image of the jug below that once the jug is appliqued to the background it will be the right way around.

 One other thing to mention today is about the background quilting.  I said that I had created a bottle template to be copied for that purpose.  But I also want to give the impression of perfume evaporating from the pretty bottles so I plan to quilt some curly wavy shapes arising from the top of the bottles and have practiced this on the sample below - something tells me this will need quite a lot of practice first!

 Finally, today, here is an image of a Myrtle plant and it has the most interesting flowers which I think may give me a few challenging moments as I try to work out how best to create them in fabric.

 I hope to continue this story soon with more on the chosen applique method - needle turn applique.

Everyday Bag

This bag is easy to make and a quite interesting design.

It was featured on the same pattern as the silk bag in two colours that some of us were making at the last Bredon Crafters.
 
I have made mine in cotton using three different prints.  Apart from the cotton fabric only a small piece of interfacing is needed.

I added buttons along the pointed edging to give it a little extra something, but also to give more stability as the folds on the top layer can bulge open when not being carried on the shoulder - the buttons stopped this happening.  Beads could be used as well or just some simple embroidery stitches on each of the prairie points.

There are only 3 pieces to this pattern and the main piece is cut out four times on single layer fabric right side up. 

First cut four pieces with the pattern right side up.  Then cut another four from contrast fabric with the pattern piece wrong side up.

You now have eight main pieces.

These pieces are then joined together giving four two-colour pieces of a triangular shape.

The pointed trims are made of a double layer and then added to each side edge of one of the triangular pieces.

The pointed strip is trimmed and clipped and pressed open before placing at the side edges.

One important thing about this pattern is to transfer all the markings i.e. notches and circles as they are used to get the placement correct which is important for this design.

A handle is double layer too and this is added to the top of the same triangular piece.

Next a second triangular piece is joined to the first, right sides together, by sewing around the sides and top and trapping the handle and trims between.  This is not shown here.

Now the other end of the handle is sewn to a third triangular piece (at the top) and the fourth triangle is then joined as before capturing the handle in between. (Again, not shown here).

The bottom of the sewn pieces is tacked together and then the front edges with the trim attached are crossed over and joined at the bottom.  A little hand stitching of the loose edges inside the bag secures the shape.

Finally a binding is attached at the bottom and Hey Presto an unusually shaped bag.

As mentioned above I decided to add buttons to the pointed trims but this is not strictly necessary.

I will be writing up a proper worksheet with photos for those who may want to try this bag pattern.

It is a simple tote of medium size that carries very nicely on the shoulder.  It is shown below on the shoulder of my dressmaker's model. 


Quite fun to make and doesn't take too long.  Some of it is done by hand but mostly on the machine.

A strong needle is a good idea for the base as there are several layers of material joined at the bottom and I broke my needle by trying to be too clever and add some fancy stitching along the bottom.

Sashiko

Sashiko embroidery originated in Northern Japan in the early 18th century as a means to make, repair or strengthen the clothing of men doing manual work like farming or fishing.  The garments were constructed by sewing together two layers of indigo dyed cloth with running stitches using sturdy white thread.  In the latter part of the 18th century decorative stitching developed and Sashiko was used for a wider variety of things.  It is often used nowadays as a type of quilting.


There are many traditional patterns.  My example is the simplest called Bamboo Fence.  It is drawn here in pencil on graph paper.

Experts in Sashiko will work some very complicated and unusual patterns but I imagine these require a lot of experience and are time consuming.. 

Some textile artists use Sashiko in an innovative way and it looks particularly attractive as a background for bright and colourful applique. We may find this idea useful for our Journal Quilts as the dark blue background fabric can become the water with decorative Sashiko stitches and appliqued features like waves or fish creating a design that is beautiful.  Lovely examples can be seen in a book by Sylvia Pippin called Paradise Stitched - Sashiko & Applique Quilts.  I will bring it to Quilting Arts next time.

Plain coloured cloth is normally used with a contrasting thread but the well-known and traditional look of Sashiko is still mainly indigo fabric and white thread. Sashiko thread is made of loosely twisted long staple cotton and comes in various weights.  Alternative threads to use are Perle cotton nos. 8 and 5 or crochet thread and some embroidery threads. Fabrics to use are cotton or linen and other plant fibres, but not batik as the thread count is fine and the Sashiko thread would not go through it easily. The thread should be pulled through the fabric with the grain of the thread.  This can be found by gently pulling the thread through finger and thumb to feel the texture in each direction, the smoothest is the way of the grain.

There are different ways of transferring the design to the fabric and one method is to use dressmaker's carbon paper and a sharp implement to copy the lines of the pattern on to the surface of the fabric.  However I decided to use a thin fusible interfacing and draw the design on this, working from the back instead of the front.

I copied the pattern from the paper to the interfacing and then ironed it to the back of the fabric using our favourite - baking parchment.  I marked the perimeter of the design on the back as well since this had to be stitched for my sample.

A long sharp needle with a large eye is needed and I used a Milliner's needle but a darner would also be suitable. The long needle helps as you get used to making regular length stitches since you can get a lot of stitches on the needle in one go.

The stitches on the back of the work are about half the length of the ones on the front and the recommended number is between 5 to 7 stitches per inch.  Neat and even is the most important thing and keeping to the same number of stitches for each pattern repeat.

Another important feature of Sashiko embroidery is to avoid crossing or overlapping the stitches.  leaving a space between is the recommended way.


This is the back of the finished sample. there is no wadding or backing on it at this stage.

These days Sashiko is likely to be worked on the top layer as a type of embroidery, perhaps with applique added.

When the other layers are added regular quilting can be stitched around the patterns or around the borders. 

Sashiko is quite difficult at first but the more you do the easier and more enjoyable it gets. However I was only brave enough to try a really simple pattern and can only imagine the level of experience needed to tackle some of the complicated and challenging ones that can be seen in textile books and on the internet.

Lets hope my simple attempt satisfies my tutor as I want to move on to more interesting things now.

As before .. watch this space!