painted satin & dyed lace

I have been wanting to make a little trinket box for some time but I just haven't found enough free hours in the day to make a start. 

 Last evening a business colleague called in for a meeting with my husband so I took advantage of the fact that I would not be missed and spent some time starting off this project.

It is to be a small square (cube) fabric and lace box suitable for the dressing table.  I started by cutting out a strip of card (acid free of course) for the main body of the box.

The fabric is some white satin from the stash and the lace is synthetic and I tried to dye it when I was with Linda years ago.  It is a very pale gold colour.

To create the colour on the fabric I dipped the satin in some lukewarm water and then used a brush to apply some lumiere paints to the damp fabric.  In order to spread it out a bit I rolled the fabric up and then rinsed it 
 

 under the cold tap.  I wasn't too bothered about making it even or consistent because I want it to show through the lace in a random way.

Once I was happy with the colour I placed the fabric on an old towel and ironed it till it was almost dry.

I had to wait till the morning to attach the lace to the satin.
Using mistyfuse I bonded the lace to one half of the fabric as I didn't want the lace on the inside of the box.

To give a bit more shape I have put some batting under the fabric on the inside and now just have to decide how much bling to add before making the base and the top.


So far I am quite happy with this little box.  It is quite pretty and the colours remind me of the sand and sea. 



 

ANOTHER NEEDLEBOOK

 This is my December needlebook.  It was very much a fun project.  I was given some scaps of fabric & ribbon by a fellow embroiderer: her project wasn't working out so out came the stitches.   I cannot waste such bits and pieces so they were added to my stash of similar scaps.

 I decided to create some fabric using my felting/embellishing machine.  I started with the scraps and ribbons and added some other fabrics and fibres.  Having done that I fused some more scraps and some chiffon from an old scarf to the base fabric: after that I applied the heat gun and then fused some tulle on top.  To break up the "neat" look I took to it with the soldering iron, just opening up a few areas to show 

 the original colours.  I also added a bit of gold foil to lighten it up . Then I stitched some green braid on each end:  I was going to line the inside but I realised the "wrong side" of the fabric looked really cool so I did some free machine stitching through the whole lot and 

then stitched in some felt
and here it is - my final needlecase for the year.

Oh I also stitched some soft braid trim to the upper and lower edge and then painted some liumiere metallic paint to seal it. 

It looks a bit dodgy but it actully feels really nice to use.  

A PROJECT COMPLETED

How amazing - I actually finished a project without becoming bored or distracted!!!!

This little flower covers over the magnetic clasp on my new project bag.

The fabric I had previously created really appealed to me - I finished it off with some metallic paint, then fused some tulle over the lot using mistyfuse which is so lovely and fine that it is ideal for this kind of project. 

http://www.mistyfuse.com/

Once it was finished I wondered how it would look as a little clutch bag.  Simple to make and I could finish it using the machine.

As you can see it is quite simple with the quilted effect on the inside giving it a soft feel. 

I had a metallic clip in the stash (of course I did) and so I attached that and then just the flower to finish it off.

The flower was made from the tab I cut off a nylon organza curtain (recycling), roughly cut and gathered with some green organza ribbon.  I had to seal the edge of the organza with a flame so used my candle lighter which is easier to use than the soldering iron and gives a softer finish to the edge.

This little bag will be ideal to take a sketch pad and pencil or some stitching whenever I go out. 

Most of the materials used can be bought from many suppliers but I particularly like dealing with The Thread Studio in Western Australia.   The people there are very helpful and the service is quick and good.  Of course I did not buy anything new for this little bag - all in the embarrassingly large stash. 

http://www.thethreadstudio.com/

This sort of quick technique would be good for a book cover or phone pouch too.

I don't have anything new to show today so I will see if there is anything interesting on the back up drive.  I have had a big clean up here this morning which was great - I also dropped a heavy piece of wood on my already painful sore thumb.  Lucky no one else was home so my comments on how I felt were not heard!!!!  I have since been to the doctor, he put something nasty and painful on the wound, ordered me to take better care, covered my thumb in a big bandage and prescribed antibiotics.  I am glad I finished drilling holes in the wall this morning - my husband has forbidden such activities for the foreseeable  future.  

I made this little casket some time ago with some of the goodies I received in a challenge held by the Embroiderers Guild UK forum, It is a pretty simple four sided box, with stitching and added fabrics for contrast.  the lining is painted fabric.

This little casket was inspired by an article in Stitch magazine.  It is made from hand dyed fabric, added some especially dyed lace and covered in lilac organza.  Blanket stitching finishes it off

This casket was made using some fabric I "created" as part of the 3creative studios monthly challenge earlier in the year.  The fabric was hand dyed when I visited Linda  some time ago.  The colour was just a bit too .......sweet... for my liking.  Anyway I painted it with some Lumiere metallic paint and then did some machine stitching.

I lined this box with heavy vilene, and added a tassel to the top and beaded feet to the base, some beads and charms finished it off and I think it worked out quite well. 

NEW BOOK COVER

I managed to turn my printed leaf into a book cover.

The lining fabric was some cotton print I had in my stash and matched the leaf perfectly.  

NEEDLE BOOK

This is the first needlebook I made this year in my attempt to make 12 needlebooks in 12 months.

It was an experimental piece of fabric suggested by a challenge on the 3 creative studios forum.  Painting and  stitching on batting resulted in this very interesting piece of fabric and so I decided to make a needlebook from it.

The inside features a pocket for a clover thread cutter.  The design is my own.


For some other needlebooks see    http://billabongs2bling.blogspot.com

A NEW ADVENTURE EVERY DAY

Today has been really strange.  Warm and windy this morning and now cold and raining with thunder and lightening.  Well that's Melbourne I guess.  

I went to a sale today at place that makes knitwear out of merino wool and possum fur.  Gorgeous warm jumpers and scarves and gloves and berets.  Yes I shopped.  Once winter sets in here it is very cold so I needed some new woolies.

I have taken a photo of some of the tyvek fairies I made some time ago.  The tyvek was painted with lumiere paints and then heated with the heat gun.  The faces are made of air dried clay and painted with lumiere metallic paints.  The hair is silk tops or wool fleece. 

Anzac Weekend

I have been fosicking about in my basket of ufos and found a piece I did a couple of years ago. It is a tulip embroidered on silk and just the right size for a needlebook.

Having come to the conclusion that it would work I then needed to find a suitable fabric for lining it. I wanted something with a bit of body to it as the embroidered fabric is quite flimsy and I wanted something interesting that would add to the piece rather than vie for attention.

Over the past few weeks I have received several parcels of goodies from friends so I thought I would look through that collection and see if anything worked well. Of course it did. A piece of painted fabric with a bit of a metallic look about it. It is quite stiff so is a perfect backing.

I stitched the two pieces together using some of the inbuilt stitches on my sewing machine and it turned out well.

I will just add a folded piece of felt for the "pages" and finish it of with a couple of charms or tassels.

STITCHING FRIENDS

The last week has been one of happy encounters and conversations with some surprises in the mail as well.

A few days ago I bumped into Bev Tully when I was out shopping. I have attended some classes with Bev and it was a real delight to see her again. Bev is off to do a tour of stately homes in the UK - it will be her pleasure to teach some needlework classes to the people on the tour. I am sure the classes will be great fun with lots to learn as well.

Yesterday I received a gorgeous Easter Card in the mail and along with it a gorgeous little fabric egg which contained a crystal charm. These treasures were sent to me as part of a swap conducted on the Embroiderers Guild UK Forum.

As if that wasn't enough I received a lovely parcel from a friend - it contained some hand dyed and painted fabrics and a lovely ATC which was made just for me.

There is something so special about the world of needlewomen - such kindness and generosity is just so lovely.

March - perserverence.

I have been playing around with painting lace and trying to make it look worthwhile.
The first step - using mistyfuse to bond the lace to the background. At this stage I added foil so that the parts of the mistyfuse not in contact with the lace would pick up the silver foil.
then the painting with lumiere. I tried to keep to the silvery theme but in the end it was just too much so I had to do something to change it.
Some lilac tulle and some organza ribbon was in the stash so I machine stitched and fused until it looked ok. Then I took to it with the heat gun and the soldering iron. Still not pleased I set it aside to see if it spoke to me. Eventually I settled on a few beads and stitches. cut away more of the ribbon to expose the lace.
Just lined it and turned it into a note book cover.

Perserverence pays.

Well, the days are just flying by and I am not stitching much.

My current project is a small piece of embroidery to be set into the top of a music box for my grand daughter.

I have used some calico which has blotches of colour in pinks/mauves. When I was painting batting recently I used this piece of calico to cover the batting as I ironed it dry and it picked up the excess paint and looks quite good.
I have used my Embroidery machine to put her name on the fabric as I am in a bit of a hurry and now I am just stitching some simple flowers in an informal way on the fabric.

By tomorrow it should be complete and set into the box.

Tuesday night & still not much happening

It is Tuesday night and I have managed to do a little stitching today. I started on another little knot garden which I designed some weeks ago. It is a lot more "free" than my usual regimented gardens. I was visiting my husband in hospital so had a few hours to sit and stitch quietly. I will post some pics of the progress tomorrow.

I have also been experimenting with metallic paints on fabric. This has been quite interesting but I am not sure it is a passion for me.