Fabric Collage under a Sheer

    This is one of my favourite layering techniques. All of the pieces in Faces, except for

the icons and brooches, are based on it. Sometimes, the design is improvised. I use

pieces of hand-painted and commercial black silk (pre-pressed). For stabilisation, they

might have been either triple-starched* or lined with Lanier* before cutting. In painting

terms, the sheer-covered collage becomes the under-painting or blocking-in.

    I compose the collage on a piece of fusible Pellon larger than the finished

dimensions of the piece (to allow for shrinkage and distortion in the embroidering).

I leave the edges unstuck so that, as I develop the design, I can slip other pieces under

them. After the Pellon has been covered with fabric, I might cut further pieces from silk

backed with fusible web. These will be firmly stuck in place.

    Sometimes, if the design has to be related to a specific shape or size - as with a

pattern piece or a piece in which the dimensions are fixed, as with Jack the Lad - I

will develop the major elements of the design on paper first. I do this on either layout

paper, which is semi-transparent, or on baking parchment (and much cheaper than

tracing paper in Australia).

    Both of the above designs were done in soft pencil on two A2 sheets of detail paper

held together with masking tape. The first is the original (to size) for Jack the Lad,

the second the final forms for the figure, the face, the table and the letter. If you

enlarge the second one, you can see that it is assembled from the background and

cut-out pieces. The resulting shapes then provide templates for executing the design.

The final version of Jack's face has undergone seven progressive stages of distortion

and development. I have left other details (borders, etc.) for later.

    Once the shape and the features of the face have been established, I transfer the

design to the back of a piece of flesh-coloured silk backed with thin fusible interfacing.

This is then stitched (from the back) with Serafil (a 120-thickness fine synthetic thread,

often used for interlocking/serging). Serafil is so fine that it is easy to obliterate with

subsequent embroidery.

    Then, leaving extra beyond the hairline so that the pieces for the hair will overlap

when added, I cut the shape out.

    The first of the two images here shows the baking parchment template for Jack's face.

Traced from the master, it is then reversed for transferring to the back of the interfaced

silk. The broken line indicates the extension of the face under the hair and the

cap - showing that the cut must be made there rather than on the design line! The

second shows a "two-face" teaching sample - the outline and details  have been

stitched on the two collage pieces. Each has been cut out and then stitched together,

ready for collaging.

    When a design is complete, a whole layer of sheer, which I pin* very carefully in

place, working from the centre out, is placed over the collage. Coverage needs to be

smooth and the grain straight.

    Then, again with Serafil, I stitch the main lines of the design through all layers. You

can see these on Jack's partly worked face (below left), and compare it with his finished

face (below right).

    Why cover the brilliant silks with a sheer? For two reasons. First, once the layers

have been stitched in place, first against the cut edge and then on the underlying piece,

fraying raw edges are not a concern. Second, the sheer (the sheerer and the darker the

better) acts in the same way as over-dyeing a number of patchwork fabrics with a

single tone in order to unify them visually. The sheer tones the colours down. Then, by

contrast, the colours of the embroidery threads become even richer. In places, it can be

cut back after embroidery, as on Jack's sleeve (the above image, lower-right corner).

The sheer on the second cushion cover (Faces) and Winnipeg (Layering) is silver nylon

crystal organza. You can see how it shows through the embroidery and gives a sparkle

to the pieces.

* Triple starching: cover the ironing board with a layer of unbleached calico/muslin.

Place your fabric on the ironing board and spray with starch till wet. When the bubbles

have subsided, turn the piece over. Iron dry. (If you have a shot-of-steam iron, press

shot-of-steam button before touching the fabric with the iron.) Repeat the above

process twice more. This will stabilise finer silk (e.g., 8m/m Habotai) for cutting for

collage pieces or for stitching shapes where you want stabilisation but not the

remaining bulk of an interfacing.

* Lanier: an interlining/interfacing used in tailoring. It is like a fusible fine cotton voile,

and comes in black and white in at least two weights. The glue is firm and it does not

bubble when washed. It makes a wonderfully soft interlining for the facings of silk

garments. I prefer it to the synthetic, knitted types. It won't melt if your iron is too hot,

and it feels pleasant.

* Pins: my preference is for stainless-steel small-headed pins, usually known as silk,

lace, or wedding-dress pins. They neither rust (unlike steel pins) nor tarnish (unlike

brass ones) and, with layered work and fusible backings, you don't have to pin through

all layers in order to hold the piece together - just enough to attach the movable layers.

The small head also means that it is possible to stitch across the pins (with care!), as

they will go under the machine foot. The usual pins are an inch long, but my especial

favourites are the Quilters Resource ones I was given in Toronto - 1.25"long.

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