Silk paper and fibre films mehod 3b

OK, now to method 3b, which is basically the same as 3a, except that we use water soluble stabiliser and wash it away afterwards.

Here is silk top laid out on some water soluble stabiliser.  I like the non woven one rather than the plasticky ones, because the plasticky ones get sticky when the weather is damp.

I have added some waste threads on top of the silk.

folded over my stabiliser to form the top layer,

and stitched over the stabiliser - pebbling on the left and a simple grid on the right.  As with all stitching on water soluble, you need to make sure that the threads cross over each other and interlock.

Above are the front sides of the pieces after washing out the stabiliser and drying.  On this side, the scrap threads are very visible.

and the back sides, where the silk tops are more visible.  You can, obviously use whichever side suits your purpose best, but I actually love the sheen of the silk tops on the back..

Sometimes, these two methods can be referred to as cheat's silk paper, but I find that the addition of thread to the fibre film makes a more interesting fabric.

Make time to create today.

Silk paper and other fibre films method 3a

so here is the next installmentin my fibre films series.
Method 3a is entrapment.  It is 3a, because I also class using water soluble to entrap here as 3b.
Basically in this method, we trap whatever we like - silk tops, threads, yarn, fabrics, even paper between two layers of sheers and stitch the life out of it!

Some blue tulle ready to add the fibres

Lay out some silk tops, or wool rovings, or anything, really.

some slubby yarn.

some tape yarn.

Top layer of tulle added.  You can pin at this stage, however, I don't as i find pulling them out as I sew tedious!

The finished piece of fabric is pretty gorgeous.  For this one I used my normal sewing machine and did a very elongated three step zig zag, which most machines have got.  I sewed a grid in the two diagonal directions.
The whole sewing step took around five minutes, so this technique I wouls class as very easy and accessible to anyone.

Happy creating

Creating silk paper and other fibre films Method 2 - Glue method Part 5

In this blog, I will be using the glue or medium method to bond fabrics and fabric scraps.

Here, I am soaking some organza in a dilute soap solution.

Organza is laid out on some tulle.

Next I am adding leaves cut fom another fabric which have also been wet with dsoapy water then soaked in medium.

Here are all the leaves added.

I added some more tulle and painted with some 1:2 dilute medium.

Then I evenned out the medium with the brayer.

And here is the finished piece.  The edges did have a tendency to lift off.  I could have gone over with another layer of straight medium, but stitching solved the problem. I liked this effect, but I wanted a little more texture.
In the next sample, I added just a bit more.

In this sample, I also covered the leaves with a little tussah silk tops.  The method was the same as above.  There was one change and that was when the layers were wet and I had painted the medium on, I removed the top layer and softly brushed the silk.  The silk made thick and thin lines as you will see below, instead of a fine transparent layer on the top.  I really liked this effect and hope to repeat it with  blacks, greys and browns to make a rock texture.

I think you can see why I like this texture.

Creating silk paper and other fibre films Method 2 - Glue method Part 2

Creating silk paper and other fibre films   
Method 2 - Glue method

This method, with many variations is covered in the following references;
1, 2, 3, 4, to 14.  (Click on the "References I use" page at top right of blog)

Today's sample is going to be made from tussah silk tops in shades of green.

Here  is the bottom cloth laid out.  I used kitchen wipes.

Above shows the first layer of tops.  In this sample, I used shorter tufts.

I added some dried leaves and flowers from a boutique herb tea mix.

Then the top layer of tussah silk went on.

Then I laid the top cloth on top of that.

I added boiling water - just enough to wet all the layers.

Then burnished the layers with the back of a spoon to get an even distribution of the hot water.

I rolled up all the layers carefully.

Here, I addeddiluted medium to my tray and rolled the layers in it, but decided -

It was probably better to immerse the whole thing in a bowl of diluted medium.  (I used about 1 to 5 dilution)

After squeezing out all the excess medium, I straigtened and flattened the layers on my tray.

I peeled back the kitchen wipe to reveal the lovely glossy fibres!

I actually put this between somebaking paer and gave it a quick iron before drying further.

It did bot take too long to dry and the finished silk paper was beautiful.  The dried tea added just the right amount of texture and the paperfabric was very flexible and fabric like. This piece offers me lots of possibilities, I just have to decide which use it will be put to.  But I suppose I could just make some more!
In the next blog, I am going to look at some more experimental stuff with this method.

Creating silk paper and other fibre films Method 2 – Glue Method Part 1

Creating silk paper and other fibre films   
Method 2 - Glue method

This is actually a group of methods which are closely related because they all use a glue or bonding agent to bind the fibres together.  It is very commonly used, particularly because of the availability of silk rovings, bereft of their sericin, and the advent of a wide range of textile media, acrylic gloss media and other bonding agents.  It has also expanded the range of fibres which can be used to almost limitless possibilities.   This method, with many variations is covered in the following references;
1, 2, 3, 4, to 14.  (Click on the "References I use" page at top right of blog)

Today's sample is going to be made from hand dyed mulberry silk tops.

First, I have put down the bottom layer of tulle for this sample.  Newspaper is not neccessary for this method and you will see that I get rid of it in a few pictures.

My first layer of silk tops.  As you can see, itis much easier to align the fibres with tops, rather than some of the other fibres which have not been processed.

Here is the next layer, in the opposite direction.  You can add things either between two layers, or at this stage and then add more tops.  It all depends on how thick you want your silk paper to be.

Here I am laying down the top piece of tulle.

In this variation of the method, you need to moisten the layers.  I used a few drops of detergent in water and a brush and wet both sides of the silk paper, turning it over to do so.

Blot dry with paper towel or something else absorbent.  Remove as much water as you can.

Here are the two mediums I happen to have on hand.  I used Jo Sonja's Textile medium for this sample.  You can also use watered down PVA at a pinch and many references for this method use cellulose paste or wallpaper paste.  I put a little medium into a small container, undiluted and mixed with a paint brush.

Above, applying undiluted medium to both sides of the silk paper.

Place on an applique sheet and dry. After drying, remove the tulle.  You can remove it easier before drying, but this may disturb the fibres, while removing the tulle after drying must be done with care, since the undiluted medium will stick.  Even though the piece looks very open and fragile, you will find that it is actually quite strong.  The only difficulty is peeling off the wispy bits, and I will talk about that in my next blog.

The picture above is a high resolution of the finished paper.

Although I am happy with the silk paper, and like the openness of this piece particularly, I find the weave structure to be a bit overpowering.  I think this is because of the colour differences between the two opposite layers. 

I was struck with how much like water this sample appeared here, but when the medium dried the colours became more intense and the structure more open. However, I can see that if  I made one side thicker than the other, or used some undyed tops on the "back" so that you were not looking through the paper at an open structure, it might help.

Of course, I will find a way around this in future blogs, so stay tuned.  I am not sure how many parts we will have on this method, because I have so many ideas to show you!