Slate and silver brooch

I'm back!

I've reactivated this blog after a good long time of inaction! I've still been making -in fact I never stop playing with fabric and silver, I'm just hopeless at technology! So I'm trying again. I'll post pictures of various things I've made during this time. I'm currently back making silver jewellery and I'm starting a lampshade business, so lots of posts about that hopefully!

Polymer clay

Recently I've been playing around with polymer clay as I'm dying to try out porcelain. I don't have access to a kiln however and so polymer clay is my first step. It's actually a great product to use though I think people can be a bit sniffy about it as its actually plastic rather than proper ceramic. I use plastic and recycled stuff in my textile work anyway though, and its something I can work with quickly and easily at home and afford to try out and make mistakes with.

I wanted to created plain matt white textured pieces either for jewellery or textile work. These are the things I made with just a single packet of £1.25 fimo! I'm loving the effects. I want to stitch into textured pieces, and so far I've only tried colouring it with embedding pigmented lace in and peeling off once its baked. The brooch just below also has a sterling silver circle embedded in it. Lots more polymer clay experimentation to come!

Brooch. Polymer clay, sterling silver, pigment

This necklace below is made with soldered and hammered sterling silver links, polymer clay lace piece, green agate and freshwater pearl.

 

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Heat transfer continued!

Today I've been trying out my heat transfer paints and painted paper on some black out blind fabric I got from the amazing Cornwall Scrap Store, it takes the paint and also give a fray free edge and the substance needed to make bags and stuff. (In fact in got the blinds as innards for sail bags I'm making with one of my classes. But it was just sitting here and so I thought I'd give it a tr as I'd been heat transferring on to leather....and it worked! The colours are good and I like that I can cut it without having to worry about finishing the edges. So with my experimenting, I made a wallety bag thing, but then went on to think about what jewellery I could make. Here's what I did....

 

 

 

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Stitched jewellery

Here is some of my stitched textile jewellery. I use bits of fabric and recycled leather and thread. I'm planning to upload lots on to my etsy site very soon so some items will be available to buy! http://www.etsy.com/shop/rachelgrigg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Layers....fabric, plastic, heat and stitch

This week I've been experimenting with layering up stuff.one of the GCSE exam themes is 'Layers' and two students are exploring this theme. We've been talking and experimenting with layering up plastics and also sheer translucent fabrics to shade and layer to create interest.

I found some coloured acetate at the Scrap Store in St Austell, Cornwall (a secret treasure trove!) and I've been cutting it up and layering it and fusing it with the iron. Also we've been cutting shapes out of sheer chiffon and organza with the soldering iron. Seem of the nicest effects are just layering up what's to hand and not over thinking it too much. Anyway, here's some examples of what I've been doing.

 

 

Heat transfer on synthetic polyester, then chopped up with the soldering iron and pinned onto soluble fabric then stitched. I forgot to take a photo of it once the soluble was when away. I will upload next time. The last one with the black circles is dyed synthetics, layered up with heat transferred crystal organza and heat transferred scraps.

Solder cut black sheer fabric circles fused with blue heat transferred solder cut circles. I put these between baking paper and fused them together with the iron. I left the iron too long and they started to disintegrate! They did hold together anyway and I pinned it onto soluble fabric and stitched into it. It's still in the stitchy stage on soluble because I don't know what it's going to become!

The last orange and blue pic is heat transferred fabric with heat transferred plastic ( yes the heat transfer paints work on fused plastic too!!) stitched into on soluble.

 

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A creative Monday!

Today my lovely and very talented friend Emma Bray came round to play with heat transfer stuff and talk textiles. She is a textiles artist and photographer amongst other things and makes beautiful inspiring work. Anyway here are some of the samples I made.

This blue one is on cotton. Even though the heat transfer paints are intended for synthetics, I find they work very well on cotton too, though perhaps not so vibrant.

This is also on cotton. I think I might stitch into this.

This is a bit messy and you can see the iron mark at the top! A flat bottomed iron is best if you have one.

I was inspired to create something, and so used the same papers and hydrangea petal on leather with mesh. I've pinned these onto soluble fabric and will stitch then on and embellish them. Ill show more stages if it gets further than this!

 

Bondaweb.... We also played with bondaweb and I stitched into a sample with painted bondaweb. (I used what was out on the table, heat transfer paint and a bit of velvet dye). I overlayed heat transferred crystal organza and fused it on with the iron and stitched over. It's a messy forest!

Just with painted bondaweb and some gold strands ironed onto cotton.

Stitched on painted tyvek.

Here's the tyvek after ironing under baking paper.

And here's it stitched into with the organza treetops.

I think though I preferred it right at the start! Next time I'd just fuse on circles of organza and stitch around them. I don't tend to do 'scenes' so its better off being random and abstract for me.

Xx

 

 

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