When to stop stitching is always a tricky one. For me there is an internal click and a sense of "that's it"
Sometimes, when you know something is not right - but you are not sure what - you can hold your work up to a mirror - it is much easier to see what is not working in the reflected view.
I decided the time had come to get rid of all the messy edges - as I could not see the wood for the trees with all the bits of masking tape, water soluble fabric and trails of organza dotted around.
Messy Edges
My first task was to get rid of the water soluble fabric. Normally - when working on water soluble fabric I put the whole piece in a sink full of water and let it dissolve away. However as this piece has so much tissue paper, ink jet prints, and variety of mixed media - I felt that would be a foolish move! So I laid the piece out and cut away as much of the water soluble as I could. Then, with a brush and water - I just wet the embroidery around the edges to remove the water soluble where I had machined off the edge of the fabric. The rest of it I have left in place - as it will not show on the back and wont do any harm.
The piece immediately looked better - so the next task was to burn away the organza around the edges to follow the contour of the piece. To do this I use an electric stencil cutter - rather like a soldering iron with a very fine tip. I slid a piece of metal under the organza to be cut away and ran the hot tool around.
(TIP - If you are burning away fabrics make sure you are in a well ventilated room, some of the synthetic fabrics can give off fumes).
(TIP If you are preparing papers for a piece of work - do twice as much as you think you need so;- if you want some for a background, the colour match is there).
The piece immediately looked better - so the next task was to burn away the organza around the edges to follow the contour of the piece. To do this I use an electric stencil cutter - rather like a soldering iron with a very fine tip. I slid a piece of metal under the organza to be cut away and ran the hot tool around.
(TIP - If you are burning away fabrics make sure you are in a well ventilated room, some of the synthetic fabrics can give off fumes).
Burnt Edges.
I have all ready prepared the background that the piece is going to sit on - when I painted and dyed the papers for the piece - I did enough to make the background. 
(TIP If you are preparing papers for a piece of work - do twice as much as you think you need so;- if you want some for a background, the colour match is there).
Background
The white space is where the work will sit against the background. I have put the embroidery away now - until tomorrow afternoon - when I will look at it with fresh eyes against the background - then decide what if anything needs tweaking
1 comment:
Well done karen. The piece is beautiful. You should be well pleased with it and your efforts.
an admirer of your work
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