Creating silk paper and other fibre films Method 2 - Glue method Part 6

Making Fabric Paper.

Another way to use Method 2 (Glue method) is to use fabric as a base and add to it.  In these samples, I used different foundations and added paper scraps to them.  This creates a useful foundation for stitch, but also a firm, durable paper for collage.

For all the samples, I used torn and scrunched papers.  Torn edges will bond better and look better.  I scrunch up my papers to put texture in them and to make them more pliable and allow the medium to absorb easier.  The papers range from wrapping paper, to rice paper, to coloured scraps of printer paper, to handmade papers, and all will give different effects.

For the first sample I used a heavy weight scrim, or cheessecloth.

I painted it with medium.  You can iron the fabric prior to using it, but I find that when you paint the medium on, you can brush the creases out.

Start adding the paper scraps.  I painted each scrap individually with a 1 to 1 dilution of medium.  You will know when you have painted them properly, because they will sit flat on the base, instead of wrinkled.  This is important.  Each scrap needs to be wet all the way through with medium in order to bond properly.  After a while, you will gain experience with this, but some papers, such as wrapping paper have a cellulose gloss added to them, which takes a lot of wetting and manipulating with the brush before it is soaked right through.  Generally the colour of a scrap will be darker when it is soaked through.

Here all the scraps have been added.  I like to overlap them and not leave spaces, but you can if you want to.

At this stage, I lay on another layer of medium, to make sure the surface is wet for the next step.

Add ripped up pieces of tissue paper (the wrapping type, not the blowing type).  You can add different colours or not, depending on your taste.  You can also use pieces of sheer fabric - organza, chiffon and scrim, dyed or not here, but you will need to take care that the medium binds them down properly.  Another variation is to entrap pieces of foil, fibres, leaves, flowers etc by adding them before the tissue layer.

After adding the tissue and any other additions you might like, sponge on some diluted paint.  I used a metallic purple setacolour fabric paint - but use whatever you have got.

I also added some gold setacolor which I dabbed on with a brush.

 The fabric paper now needs to be dried.  Above is this piece after drying and a light press (on the fabric side) with the iron.  This paper has a lovely raised texture on the surface from the wrinkles in the tissue, which is highlighted by the gold paint.  It is firm, but easily manipulated and very easily stitched.

The next sample used thin cotton as a base.  I used the same technique, so I will not repeat the steps again.

Here is the cotton ready to start.  This fabric was from my scrap bag and has marks on it.  I chose it because of the imperfections, which will add to it's charm.

Adding the papers as I did previously.

After adding the tissue.  I added some pink tissue to this one.

And the final piece after drying and ironing.  This piece is slightly stiffer due to the cotton, but is still flexible and stitchable.  The cloloured tissue tended to blend the colours in the papers more than straight white, which was a nice effect.

In my final sample, I used a very lightweight scrim as the base.

Here is the scrim laid out.  This fabric will crinkle as you paint it with medium, and is very easily stretched, so take care at this step.

Above is the finished piece before drying and pressing.

And the finished piece.  This paper is extremely lightweight, but still has some stiffness. With this one, I liked the way some of the papers bled colour as it dried.  The other samples did not do this and I will have to experiment to find out how I did this, lol.

These fabric papers are a preliminary to making book covers.  The final papers will be stitched and embellished for this purpose. 
In order to remove some of the stiffness of these papers and use them in fabric collages, all that is needed is to scrunch them up and open them out flat several times - until you are happy with the texture.  You will find that they take on a more fabric-like feel as you do this.  The fabric and paper should not come apart.  If this happens, then I would guess that you did not totally saturate the scraps with medium in adding them to the base.  This is a very important step, and is why I add the pieces one by one.

Happy scrapping!

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 4

In this blog, I am continuing to look at bonding fibres with glue or medium.

These samples were made using scrap fibres from sewing.

 This first sample I made using just scrap threads.  

Here, I have layered them with tulle.

Next, painting medium on.  I used straight, undiluted liquitex medium.

I distributed the medium using a brayer.  This sample required two coats of medium to stay together.  After more experimentation, I found that plastic film worked better than tulle, because it allowed the medium to stay with the fibres, not leak out.  It made a film which was stiff, but easily stitched.

Above the dried film on plastic.

In my second sample, I used scrap fibres again, but used white merino tops as well.

Here are the scrap fibres laid out .

A layer of merino tops laid over the top.

More threads on top.

Rolling up prior to soaking in dilute soapy water.

Blotting most of the water.

Painting on the medium.  I used a 1:2 dilution of liquitex.

Distributing the medium with the brayer. I have found this to be much more successful than a spoon or fingers.

After taking off the top tulle.  Ready to dry.

The finished piece.  This made a lovely texture, milky because of the merino tops.  It reminded me of the colours in a raw opal.  It was lovely to stitch through and easy to manipulate and the fibres were enmeshed well.

Creating silk paper and other fibre films Method 2 - Glue method Part 3

Creating silk paper and other fibre films 

Method 2 - Glue method Part 3

In this blog, you will see that not all experiments are created equal, sometimes they don't work.  This is why they are called experiments.  This one certainly stretched my predicting ability and I changed tack several times.  But in the end, even if the piece is not worth continuing with, there is still something to learn, so enjoy watching me struggle!

 

Here I have laid a cloth down and am adding leaves from a previous project, made from various fabrics.

Here are all the leaves laid down.

Top cover added.

Soapy water added - oops, too much.

 

Used a towel, to blot up all the water.  Well and truly wet now!

Rolled up the layers, which moved quite a bit (now, I know this was because the fabrics were too thick for this method)

Squeezed in diluted medium several times, which only resulted in moving more of the fabric about, because diluted medium is not strong enough for these fabrics

So, mark 2, I put all of the leaves on baking paper and painted with undiluted medium.  You need to paint both sides of the fabric, so it will bond to those already there.  That is, you need to begin adding medium from the first scrap, piece by piece!

Then I made the mistake of being in a hurry.  I tried ironing between the baking paper, but this affected the Medium and it created a film on top of the leaves.  Next time I will know not to do this - unless of course I am looking for a milky film for some reason.

This what the final piece looked like

Nothing is ever a waste of time in my laboratory lol.  The fabric is stiff, but stitcable (just).  And in working through this experiment, I have devised a few other ways to achieve this type of fibre film with fabrics that are a little thick in places. And I have thought of a few more combinations for the medium method as well - lucky you!

So expect to see these leaf scraps again in another episode.  (Much later!)