Page 1.
Cords
Sample #1 - heavy white string
This was the first time I used the “B” foot with a distinct cord path under the foot. Tried to use the straw method of feeding the cord to and from the foot and needle with little success.
Thread - Signature 20 wt. 100% cotton – Purple Hope - variegated violet to red violet to tints of violet. Used free embroidery with a zigzag stitch with a 4.0 width. In the bobbin, I used a violet tint. I also reduced the foot tension to 1.5 – 2. I could have gone over the stitching a few more times to completely cover the cord.
Sample #2 and #3 - gold cord
Left Sample – used the “B” foot pressure of 1 and a zigzag width of 2. Same threads as sample #1
Right Sample - used the free motion foot with a zigzag stitch of a width 2 and a foot pressure of 1. Thread used was Premium Sulky – 100% cotton 30 wt. – a variegated threat with a tint of violet to red violet to violet .
In both cases, I could have gone back and forth with the zigzag to cover the background thread better. Although I do like the gold showing through.
Page 2
Sample #4 - blue satin rattail
Free motion foot using the zigzag stitch. Thread Studio – Carnivale – 100% rayon in variegated colours from yellow to orange to red to pink to blue.
Thread did bunch up in areas and there was lots of show throughs of the rattail.
Sample #5 - pink rattail
With this sample, I was trying metallics … all with a stitch width of 2.
a. sample on the right bottom - Thread Madeira – #2548 colour (gold, silver, black) – #18 - in the bobbin and tried cable stitch. Naturally this thread just laid on the bottom. I used a gold in cololur 100% polyester for the top thread!!
b. small sample in the middle at the top right hand side - For the top thread, I used Madeira W/S Wonderfil metallic gold #8858 . This sample looked better but the heavier thread was still on one side.
c. sample on the left - this time I put the Madeira Wonderfil in the bobbin as well as on the top. This sample worked the best!!!
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Sample #6 – False suede strip – flat and navy blue
Used free embroidery foot and free motion with a zigzag stitch of 2 and a foot pressure of 5. On this sample, I went back and forth. This worked well and covered the cord much better than the previous examples.
Thread Studio 100% rayon Barrier Reef in a variegated colour blue to blue green to green. Bobbin had a blue green thread.
Sample #7 - silk ribbon 1/2 inch wide hand died in variegated colours ranging from red violet to blue to violet.
I twisted the ribbon as I stitched. Did zigzag back and forth to cover the ribbon.This gave an irregular twist of the cord.
Thread – Mettler – 100% polyester - #9973 variegated colours from shocking pink to violet for the top thread and a medium pink in the bobbin. Stitch width – 3.
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Sample # 8 - White string with three samples of stitching
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This time, I wanted to cover all the string leaving no white spaces. For all three sections the width of the zigzag was 2.
a. sample on the left - bobbin thread - Wonderfil #8858 gold metallic. Two top threads (100% cotton) – Aurifil #2460 - wine red and Aurifil #5002 – rose pink. This sample left a layer of gold thread on the under side (not shown in the picture above).
b. sample in the middle – bobbin thread – Aurifil #2455 - shade of pink (100% cotton). Two top threads same as above (sample # a). Better all around coverage than the one above.
c. sample on the right - bobbin thread – same as sample # b. Two top threads – Aurifil #2460 – wine red and gold metallic Wonderfil #8858. This time there is only a bit of the gold showing through.
Sample # 9 - three strands of soft orange cotton knitting yarn.
This sample had the orange showing through but the variegated thread colours complement the final result.
Thread for both the bobbin and top - Thread Studio – 100% rayon – Secret Garden with tints of pink and lime green .
Cords can be used in all sorts of ways from wrapping around book covers, to edgings along the fronts of vests and jackets to loops for buttons, to cords for draw strings on pocket type bags, to edges of cushions.
Page 5
Braids
Sample #1 - 3 step zigzag
For this example, I chose 4 different yarns - fine angora wool in a beige pink, shade of orange cotton knitting yarn, variegated roving wool in oranges, pinks and violets, and beige grey red orange with a gold thread intertwined. (quite a combination of threads!!!)
Thread – Thread Studio – 100% rayon Carnivale – orange red, orange, red, and blue. feed dogs were up.
Hard to see the stitching …. I liked the resulting braid and it held together quite nicely.
Sample #2 – another 3 step zigzag
4 yarns used – blue green silk ribbon cord, dark blue green wool roving cord, shade of orange knitting cotton yarn, and a variegated yarn with a boucle woven into the mixture in the colours of yellow, orange and red orange.
Thread – Thread Studio – 100% rayon - Barrier Reef – variegated green to blue green to green. The feed dogs were up. Again hard to see the 3 step zigzag! Liked this cord too!!
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Sample #4 - 3 step zigzag
knitting yarns used - shade of orange cotton (same as the ones above – must like it!!!), loopy yarn (as above), brown beige, red brown with gold thread (same as above).
Thread – Thread Studio – 100% rayon – Carnivale - variegated yellow, orange, red orange and red. Feed dogs down, “B” foot, foot tension at 2 - this combination seemed to work the best have several trial and errors.
Made three braids using the same yarns and stitched them all together using the 3 step zigzag.
The ribbon lay flat and looked really good.
Sample #5 – wide braid with an automatic stitch.
Yarns – different this time!! a. wine red with a shade of orange beige twisted together. b. red to wine red wool roving cord. c. red sari silk cord. d. wine red, pink, orange hairy variegated yarn (eyelash) (added a nice dimension to the braid) Created 3 sets of 3 using a combination of the 4 yarns above. Each set was stitched using a 3 step zigzag with a sewing 100% cotton in shades of red to red orange. Stitched the three sets together. Feed dogs were down, “B” foot used, foot pressure at 2.
Top stitched using Aurifil – 100% cotton – colour #5002 - pink orange. feed dogs up, used automatic stitch #17 (zigzag blocks) with a length if 0.4 and a 5 width. Stitched 2 rows. The result is a nice looking braid. Also I made it quite a bit longer than the others!!!
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Sample #6 - fabric braid using sari silk strips
A wide piece of sari silk with 2 rows of an automatic leaf pattern #24. Thread used was Aurifil – 100% cotton - colour # 2885 - dark green. The stitching bunched up quite a bit. Maybe using a dissolving stabilizer might have helped.
Sample #7 - 3 pieces of stitched sari silk braided together.
All pieces were stitched with Aurifil 100% cotton threads using the automatic leaf pattern stitch #24.
left piece of pink sari silk stitched with colour # 2460 – dark wine red.
middle piece of pale blue violet sari silk stitched with dark red violet
right piece of pale green sari silk stitched with colour # 2885 - dark green
Stitching without a stabilizer was not easy. These three pieces were braided into a rope shown below.
Page 8
Sample #8 - a braid using 3 stitched strips of unbleached cotton (calico)
All the strips were stitched with Thread Studio 100% rayon threads using 4 different variegated colours with the automatic flower pattern #22. Bobbin thread was a dark wine red. Threads were:
a. Indian Splendour – green, yellow, royal blue, red
b. Arabian nights – violet, green red, yellow
c. 2 rows on one strip - Middle Earth – green aqua AND no name red blue, red orange and violet.
Sample #9 - stitching on 2 pieces of cotton twill tape
Used used 3 automatic patterns with the same thread – (Thread Studio 100% rayon – Middle Earth – green to aqua) - the flower pattern #22 down the center of one tape and the leaf pattern #24 down the centre of the second tape. The two tapes were joined together with automatic pattern #8.
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Sample #10 - automatic stitching on felt
Thread - top - Thread Studio – 100% rayon – variegated blue, blue green, green. Bobbin – Aurifil 100% cotton – colour #4182 – blue green
2 automatic stitches. In the centre 2 rows of wavy pattern #14. I tried to have them in the same wave all the way down. I did not succeed. On the two outside edges, I used zigzag block pattern #17.
I used the welding tool to burn away the excess fabric The sample turned out well!! The photograph is a bit wonky. In real life it looked equal in width!!!
Sample # 11 – more automatic stitching on felt
Thread - top –Thread Studio – 100% rayon – Secret Garden - variegated tints from green to pink. Bobbin – white polyester.
Three automatic stitches: double zigzag down the middle stitch #19; either side of middle – zigzag block stitch #17; rows on the outside are double cross stitch #25.
Another interesting sample!!!
Sample #12 - another automatic stitching on felt
Thread – top – Wonderfil variegated colour # 8224 – variegated light green to dark green. Bobbin thread – pale green.
Two automatic stitches – flower stitch # 22 down the centre and scalloped edges on the outside using the mirror image for the opposite side. Again I tried to coordinate these two stitches to little avail. The excess fabric was burnt off!!!
Page 10 A bag with a tab!!
The fabric painted with wheat paste that had been stamped with rubber stamp that had a variety of circles . I used a piece of blue felt as a stabilizer attaching it to the painted fabric with wonder under.
Thread – Thread Studio – 100% rayon – Barrier Reef for the top thread and a Coats 37% cotton / 63% polyester – medium blue. It would have been better to have used the same thread for both the top and bobbin as the bobbin thread kept appearing. I did make a paper template to determine where the button holes were to go and how the tab would work!! A cute little bag!!!
Page 11 A bag with a paper bead!!
Using the same rubber stamp as above altering a piece of velvet by the discharge method.
Thread – Aurifil – 100% cotton colour #2225 – tint of red orange. Used a piece of felt in a coordinating colour. The fabric still stretched and so the zigzag stitching is a bit wobbly. The paper bead is described below.
Page 12 Beads and lots of them!!
Bead #1 - wheat pasted paper with lots of marks . the smaller bead is from the oblong triangle and the longer one is made from isosceles triangle.
Bead #2 - Made from a wheat pasted piece of cloth the shape of a rectangle. Had lots of trouble getting the glue to stick!!!
Sample # 3 - a bead from a piece of Japanese paper. No problems with gluing.
Sample # 4 - Another piece of Japanese paper
Page 13
Sample #5 and # 6 - These two beads were created from a piece of painted felt. The bead on the top was burnt with a hot air gun. The colour was intensified. The bottom bead was burnt with my Margaret Beal welding tool by poking holes into the felt. Before the burning processes the beads were the same size.
Sample # 7 - A triangle from another piece of hand painted felt burnt with the welding iron to seal the edges together.
Sample # 8 - This time I cut a triangle out of an already burnt organzas and bits of gold lame on felt background. Tired to burn the edges to make them stay but this was not a success. Looks unique though!!
Sample # 9 - A piece of dyed lutradour that was burnt with a hot air gun.
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Sample # 10 - rolled up several layers of red and gold organzas and used the hot air gun to melt the layers together to create all sorts of interesting patterns. I wanted to use the left sample with the hole for my velvet bag above but the bead was too fat and not long enough!!!
Sample # 11 - A dyed silk rod rolled up and glued.
Page 15 Felt buttons.
Felt Balls - This was not easy to do. These two were my first attempt and they were most unsuccessful.
My second attempt was more successful. I did look on line and perfected my technique.
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Flat felt buttons. Sample #1 - this example was created by hand and it was too thick and not the roundest of specimens. I did machine stitched using the double straight stitch. Not a great success!!
Samples #2, 3#, #4, and #5 - These buttons were created with my embellishing machine. For the top one, I tried too fold under the wispy bits giving a weird shaped button. It is interesting and would do!! For the others, I did trim off the excess and continued to embellish to give a neater edge.
I have finally finished and there is a lot more that I could have done but I thought I would never have finished this chapter. Thank you!!
