Tuesday 14 May 2013

All That Glitters - Fabric Journal

Another fabric book finished, this one was made to use up some of my stash of metallic and glittery bits and bobs. All that glitters is definitely not gold in this case. I've attached a beaded tassel from the bottom and there are a few other dangly bits [earring parts and metal beads] along the spine.

On the front I've used a gold fabric, on top is some textured glittery fabric, punched metal, star and a recycled belt buckle attached with faux gold leather.
On the inside cover a piece of turquoise Sari fabric embroidered with metal threads and sequins. This has been stitched under a sheer glittery fabric and sections have been cut out to show some of the embroidery.
The book is 7 inches square and the inner pages are calico. I painted around the edges to try and stop them from fraying.
On this page I have stitched six metal squares of different textures with a piece of vintage embroidered goldwork on top.
The metal is from recycled tomato puree tubes and is very soft to work with. Cut both ends off, cut through the remainder to make a flat sheet, give it a good wash and you are ready to go. Be careful though, they can be very sharp as well as messy. I punched holes in one, gouged lines in two, put a piece thru a wavy paper crimper, bashed one with a hammer and also pressed a metal stamp into it [this doesn't show up very well]. Then they were painted with black acrylic paint then wiped to remove most of it.
This is the 'animal' page. The rodent at the top of the page is cut from some painted leather [still a bit furry] and a metal bead for an eye. The tortoise is made from gold leather with square sequins and a bead for an eye. The bird is made up of goldwork samples I did years ago for a City and Guilds Embroidery. here are also some insect beads and cute little mouse beads [love those].
Buttons - more metal from tomato puree tubes. I've been saving these for years! And they can be different shades which makes it more interesting. There is ribbon down the sides of the last two pages, they seemed smaller than the other pages so I put it on to make them the same size.


Click on the images to enlarge.

2 comments:

  1. I love all the different metal shades blending together, and the different textures. That piece of sari fabric is really lovely. What a special setting for such an gorgeous fragment of cloth.

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  2. You really are a fast worker - whenever I go to your blog there are new lovely things to be seen. And thank you for visiting my leaf and magnolia.

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