Here is something fun to make with strips of sheer fabric
and funky yarns. I came up with this
after numerous utterances of “what do I do with this?” from shoppers in my
quilt show/market booth. I sell packages
of assorted funky yarns, and many visitors to my booth love them, but get
stumped on using them. I also had to
find a way to use a stash of beautiful vintage rayon scarves that were a
surprise in a big box lot from a recent auction. The technique is an expansion of thread lace
from two sources: Fun with Sulky Blendables and Solid Color Cotton Threads,
(Joyce Drexler/Sulky of America, 2011) and Fabric Embellishing: The Basics
and Beyond (Ruth Chandler, Liz Kettle, Heather Thomas, Lauren Vleck,
Landauer Publishing, 2009)
Supplies:
2 pieces water soluble stabilizer (Sulky Solvy or Superior
Threads Dissolve 4X), cut both pieces same size.
HINT:
Start small for the first try, about 10x10”
Assorted fancy yarns
Vintage scarf (rayon, polyester or silk)
Machine sewing thread to complement your color scheme
Here’s what you do:
1. Thread your sewing machine, set for free motion quilting
2. Cut narrow strips of scarf, roughly 1” wide, doesn’t have
to be exact, vary the widths if desired
3. Place one piece of water soluble stabilizer on your work
surface
Place strips of scarf on top of stabilizer, some horizontal,
some vertical, some diagonal. You don’t
have to cover the entire surface, some gaps are OK. You are creating a rough grid pattern.
4. Add random cuts of yarns on the strips; straight lines,
curves lines, whatever looks good to you.
Add some more strips of scarf, but don’t completely cover
the yarns you just used.
5. When you are happy with your arrangement of strips and
yarns, place the second piece of stabilizer on top, matching it with the bottom
piece.
6. Carefully take the resulting “sandwich” to your sewing
machine. The fibers will shift as you
sew, so watch for areas that are bunching and thin them out as you go.
7. Start quilting in a straight line pattern to “baste” the
stabilizer sandwich, making your lines about 2”apart.
8. Once you get the basting lines done, you will now free
motion quilt the entire sandwich. Pick a
quilting pattern that will allow you to easily double back over your
design. The first one of these that I
made, I used the pebble design, and I simply stitched each pebble twice as I
went. The idea is to make sure the
stitching is absolutely secure. The
quilting could take a while, since you are essentially quilting twice. I also found that the stabilizer is difficult
to maneuver at first, but it gets better as you go along. I actually had to grab a fistful of one side
of my sandwich to help it along. Just be
exceptionally careful that you don’t jerk it and break the needle.
9. When you are done quilting, you get to soak away the
stabilizer. Follow the instructions for
the product you are using. Let it dry,
then you are ready to use it an embellishment, or attach to a piece of cotton
and piece it into your next project.
