After writing about this satin fabric the other day, using it as a ground for hand embroidery and mounting it on an embroidery frame, the inbox played host to many curious visitors who were excited to see a new project developing here on the website, with the champagne-colored satin as the ground fabric.
What’s it for?
I can’t wait to see this new project!
I love that fabric! Can’t wait to see the new project!
Are you using this for the silk version of the Secret Garden?
Where can I get that fabric? I want to stitch along with your next project!
Well, I would be excited, too, if that were the case, but … it isn’t.
To satisfy the curious out there, I’ll show you what happened with the satin fabric.
I’m afraid some of you might have to brace yourselves for a let-down, for which I apologize in advance!
This is one tiny little sample that went onto the frame. It’s two rows of tambour embroidery with #7 gold tambour thread, and a beetle wing attached using shisha stitches in the same thread.
The tambour embroidery on the satin, by the way, was not so easy. I ended up with a very tight tension (haven’t practiced in a while!), and the heavier tambour needle created some hairline splits in the fabric.
The frame was be-speckled with some nine or so other beetle wings, all cut the same size and spaced about two inches apart in all directions, and sewn on using a metallic thread (DMC Diamant, actually).
As it happened, once I got all the beetle wings attached, I realized that the metallic thread was just not a good choice, because it’s difficult to photograph metallics, even under the best conditions.
And so I took all the beetle wings off and re-attached them using Soie Perlee. And that was much better.
Then, I finished the stitching stages for each wing, taped all the needles and threads in place, wrapped the whole frame in bubble wrap, and shipped it off to a magazine, which is featuring an article on beetle wing embroidery later this year. We’ll talk about it when it’s closer to publication. I can’t wait to see what they (the sewing experts) do with beetle wings!
So now you know the sordid facts of the matter: the satin isn’t for you. I’m so sorry.
On the bright side, while I was stitching up the samples, my mind was overflowing with ideas, so it’s likely you’ll see something on this very same fabric in the future!
You can read more about beetle wing embroidery here, if you like, including articles with information on where to get wings, how to prepare wings, and some stitching examples with the wings.
