Blue-bird
The great thing with this ivory tape is that
you can dye, stamp or colour it to make your own ribbon design. So I
chose to tie-dye the ribbon and see what effects I could create.
A
quick note about tie and dye: It is a 'resist' form of dyeing, which
means that patterns are created by preventing dye reaching the cloth.
To block out the colour uptake, parts of the cloth are either tied
with thread/string, knotted or stitched and the thread pulled up
(tritik). Tied parts retain the original colour of the cloth; so if
for instance white cotton is then dyed blue, the pattern will appear
in white against a blue background. Further tying, untying and then
re-dyeing in a different colour(s) will give more elaborate patterns.
The essential things needed to tie-dye
are:
A water supply and a sink
A work surface covered with plastic
A waterproof apron and rubber gloves
Elastic bands – for tying cloth
Sewing threads
A pair of scissors
Dye powder and bottle
Ribbon
‒
pre-washed
Stay Clean and Safe when Using Dyes:
Dyes do stain. Cover your work
surface with plastic and protect floors with newspaper. Always wear
a waterproof apron. Dyes may irritate skin and eyes. Always wear
rubber gloves when handling dyes and safety glasses if using dye in
powder form. Always use dyes in well-ventilated areas. Avoid
inhaling dry dye powder over an extended period. Wear a mask, if
possible.
Cut several metre long lengths of
ribbon and stitch, tie and dye it, as follows:
Two rows of baste stitch applied
along a length of ribbon. Knot ends of sewing thread at one end.
Pull threads to gather ribbon and knot remaining ends of threads.
Spray ribbon with water to dampen it.
Add water to powder in dye bottle.
Replace cap. Shake bottle to dissolve dye.
Apply dye to ribbon. Do not over
saturate it. Apply additional colours, if required.
Wrap dyed ribbon in cling film and
let set for a minimum of 6-8 hours.
Rinse ribbon. Cut sewing threads and
let dry.
Concertina fold a length of ribbon.
Stitch to secure at 90ยบ to
selvedge. Repeat steps 2 to 6.
Join two lengths of ribbon using
fagoting stitch. Concertina fold and secure ribbon with elastic
bands. Repeat steps 2 to 5. Rinse ribbon, untie elastic bands and
let dry.
It
was interesting to see the final results of my tie-dye experiments. I
liked the striped effects on the second sample the best, although the
more subtle patterns obtained on the other samples were also
pleasing. The ribbon is good quality, which really helps when sewing
and tying it.
To assemble the blue-bird:
Cut
two bird shapes out of Pellon®
Peltex®
72F double-sided
fusible ultra firm interfacing.
Lay
sections of ribbon on one side of the interfacing. Place a small
amount of wool fibre to fill in the gaps. Cover with baking
parchment and iron (cotton setting) to fuse in place. Repeat for the
other bird shape.
Apply
free-machine embroidery to each bird shape.
Stitch
bird shapes WS together along the edge, leaving a small gap as
shown.
Insert
wadding to pad the bird. Slip stitch to close the gap.
Use
remaining lengths of ribbon to decorate the bird.
-
Lower
the feed dog teeth and use a red or cream embroidery thread as the
upper thread. Set stitch width and length to '0'. Stitch ribbon to
the film and remove pins.
Change
upper thread to a multi-coloured embroidery thread. Using
free-machine embroidery, stitch concentric circles of differing
sizes to follow the outline of the tree. Note: ensure the circles
overlap with the ribbon or each other, so that all stitching is
linked. Try a sample of stitching on water-soluble film and follow
step 5 to make sure your stitching is in one piece.
Trace
a simple outline of a tree onto a piece of water-soluble plastic
film, using a disappearing fabric pen. Stretch the film on an
embroidery hoop.
Open
a pack of black and white buttons from fantasticribbons.com You
get approximately 150 buttons in lots of different shapes and sizes
in this pack, so much design inspiration. So go on, get sewing to
give your bird a final bit of decoration! Enjoy your blue-bird.
