will answer any and all questions you may have pertaining to
Silk Ribbon Embroidery and life in general.
and wisdom that SRE Brad will impart.
will answer before you have a chance to ask:
During the challenge series, ASKSREBrad will be giving a little background on each technique as well as offering links to patterns and offering his own wisdom.
November - Textured Fabric
by Hand or Machine
(Details about the Swap Here)
(Printable Version Here)
This month's Challenge Series Swap focuses on combining Textured Fabric with Silk Ribbon Embroidery. Many people shy away from textures when choosing fabric for the background of their silk ribbon embroidery, but SREBrad is here to tell you that well chosen texture can enhance your work. SREBrad is going to share with you several links this month that will hopefully educate and inspire you with the vast amount of types of fabrics that are out there and what artist create with them.
Before AskSREBrad lets you loose on the textured fabric world, sit down, boys and girls, and let us talk about 3 types of fabric that is often found sitting beneath silk ribbon embroidery.
First the mother of all fabrics, COTTON! Second only to China, the United
States is the leading country in cotton production. The cotton plant itself
is a relative of the hollyhock. In order for cotton to grow, it requires
six months of warm weather which makes the Southern part of the U.S. perfect
for cultivation. The seed pod of a cotton plant is call the cotton boll
(no not BALL, that's something for taking off your makeup) and within the
boll, cotton fibers can be 3/4" to 1 1/2" long.
Cotton has been spun for well over 7,000 years, even though it was not known in England until around 1350 when Sir John Mandeville sojourned to India. He returned excited claiming, "There grew there a wonderful tree which bore tiny lambs on the endes of its branches. These branches were so pliable that they bent down to allow the lambs to feed when they are hungrie". "Tree lambs" can be still found in the German word for Cotton, baumwolle, translated to mean "tree wool". Wool being the primary fiber in those days; by using the imagination, one can see why the explorers saw little lambs on the end of the cotton plants.
Cotton can be purchased in many ways, many companies and "boutique shops" will sell hand dyed cotton that is beautiful to behold. Many textures show up in cotton fabric and a search through any department store will show you the array as to which cotton can be manipulated.
We move on to silk, a fine choice among many practitioners of silk ribbon embroidery (what better fabric to put silk ribbon onto). Silk is surprisingly durable and the old silk one finds so deteriorated in antique shops had a few things going against it. One being that many quilters used silk that was not new, bought only for the quilt, but rather they often recycled their silk from old dresses, ties, or some such other family item. Because of this the silk had already been subjected to distress, perhaps even years of distress, before it was sewn into a new piece. Also in the height of the crazy quilt period, people were not creating a piece that was meant to last for generations, so the quilts were subjected to sunlight, dust, dirt and often thrown over a piano, a couch, or a chair. All of this led to the further deterioration. The final nail in the proverbial coffin for old silk was the practice of "weighting" silks excessively, sometimes known as "loading" or "dynamiting" To make a lightweight silk feel heavier various types of fillers were added to the fabric. Metallic salts were the most common choice which caused the fibers to dry out and crack. Today, weighting is very rare and if it is done to the fabric, the law requires that it be labeled as such.
Silk is produced through two types of silkworms today, the domesticated silkworm and the wild silkworm. The practice of producing silk is known as sericulture. Wild silkworms produce a much rougher silk (ahhh, texture) than the domesticated ones. The Bombyx Mori moth is the most popular species used in the domesticated production.
Tiny eggs are laid by the moth (40,000 eggs weigh around an ounce) and are kept in cold storage for six weeks. After being bathed gently in water they are transferred to an incubator and warmed for 30 days. After hatching, little white silkworms (1/16" to 1/4" long) begin to eat 10,000 times their weight in mulberry leaves (this produces the highest quality of silk, although cabbage and lettuce is also a dietary choice). Three to four weeks of eating and growing follow. Odors and loud noises offend the tiny worms, so workers are not allowed to eat garlic, smoke, or even wear makeup, to prevent them from stopping their feeding. Eventually the worm stops eating at around 3 - 3 1/2" in length and begins to spin its cocoon.
The worm spins for 3 to four days (even after disappearing within after about 24 hours) then turns into the chrysalis after about 8 days. The chrysalis must be destroyed (by warming or steaming the cocoon) or the moth emerging would break the filament of silk. (Home grown silk can save the chrysalis by leaving a small amount of filament and allowing the moth to emerge, but large scale production always destroys the chrysalis). Female cocoons weigh more than male cocoons, so by selecting the heavier cocoons, a few moths will be allowed to live to perpetuate the line. The female moth will only live for one week and has no ability to eat or drink during it short little life, only the ability to lay more eggs.
Six to seven cocoons are placed in hot water to soften the glue (serecin) and then unwound together onto a single bobbin. It takes approximately 110 cocoons for the silk in a tie and approximately 1500 for a dress. This puts the expense of silk into perspective.
Finally, we touch upon Rayon, developed to be Artificial Silk. SREBrad's article on Brazilian Embroidery talked in depth about the development of rayon, so SREBrad will not repeat himself here. A short review would be as follows. There are two types of Rayon, viscose and acetate and both are made from a cellulosic material (wood pulp is one). Viscose rayon is produced through an alkali process and acetate is produced through acetic acid. Both of these are then pushed through a small opening (a spinneret) and is extruded as a fiber. A burn test will tell you what type of Rayon you have; acetate will leave a charred residue and the viscose will produce an ash.
So now you know three types of fabric, there are others too numerous to mention. As a matter of fact did you ever want to know what someone means when they say they are using alepine or zibeline fabric? Well, go to, http://phrontistery.50megs.com/fabric.html and see nearly 250 names for different types of fabric.
Here are some more links to fabric info:
http://www.fabriclink.com/History.html, gives you a history of natural fibers and man made fibers, with some interesting folklore and facts. The parent site of that link, Fabric University gives you more information than you probably ever wanted to know about fabric.
Fabrics.net offers fabric info, monthly columns, and a Question and Answer section.
The Silkery lets you in on the different types, weights and names of silk.
Tyvek is being used more and more as a fabric in artquilts and fibre projects. You can see Tyvek Beads, read one persons experience, or pick up issue #7 of the Quilting Arts to learn more.
Want to learn more about cotton and its history? Here is a "A History of Cotton Mills and the Industrial Revolution" for you reading enjoyment.
Fibre artists abound on the internet. One of SREBrad's favorite dyers and fibre artists is Artfabrik which showcases the talent of Laura Wasilowski.
All Fiber Arts.com hosts a forum, links, and chat with Fiber artists around the world.
La Jolla Fiber Arts has amazing pictures of what you can do with fiber.
Fiber Art.com and Wallhangings provide further inspiration.
Want some supplies for your fiber arts adventure? Mielkes Farm and Heartstrings Fiberarts will give support and durable goods.
Ever wanted to Texturize in a Pressure Cooker? Well, now you know how.
Faux Chenille is all the rage. SREBrad did some himself:
Tim Harding takes it to new heights!
Want to make some yourself? Try here and here.
Finally some inspiration from individual Fiber Artist. Who knows which one might give you the nudge to start a new silk ribbon adventure.
The Quilt Art Gallery
Frieda L. Anderson
Ken Smith
Kaffe Fassett
Tristan Robin Blakeman
Caryl Breyer Fallert
Enjoy! Swap information can be found here!
Thus spoke SRE Brad.
Tune in next time for more wisdom.
Do you want to be dazzled by his intellect
and grasp of the silk ribbon embroidery language?
Just click on the SRE Brad below and ask away
SRE Brad can not guarantee he'll answer your question!
