Fiber Art Fabric

At our January meeting of the Fyber Cafe, textile group, we played with lots and lots of fibers. All colors & types of yarn, thread, trim, & ribbon. See more details here of all the fun we had.

I made layers of teal, purple, light pink, with some sparkle threads and metallics onto a base of disolvable film (like Solvy.) I even used a blue sequin strand, that proved difficult to stitch through, so I stitched around it. After building up enough fibers, you cover the whole mess with more film and pin everything in place with straight pins or safety pins.

Stitching the fiber sandwich all together is the next step. Use a large grid to start, and stabilize the mess, then free motion stitch to create a net effect, to interlock it all and make it into an art fabric.

I used several different colors of rayon thread to free motion quilt, I flipped the sandwich over to get different colors on both sides. I think I made my layers of fibers too thick, some of the other artists' were a lot lacier. It was difficult to decide when to stop, a few laps around the outside helped tie in stray threads, and create an edge.

A closeup photo of the stitching. I have not dissolved the the film yet, I have not decided if I want to use it as a fabric, or drape it over a bowl to make a shaped object. If shaping, only dissolve the film partway, and let it help glue the fibers in shape. You can also brush on diluted white glue to give it an extra firm hold. So stay tuned to see what I make with it.