Tuesday 23 October 2007

Ben and me



Well this is going to be a reveal all post!!
Today my grandson was here for a half term visit and as usual he was very keen to get in on the act with my latest project, and as his passion at the moment is 'urban art' he was keen to show me the latest technique he has learnt.
Firstly he took a piece of yellow nylon sheer and rubbed it with an orange oil pastel that he had warmed in warm water first.
He then added charcoal in the same way, much to my disappointment; I quite liked the look of the orange.





Then the good bit started and we both set about the piece with the heat tool, and of course the matches, taking great care not to set the shed on fire. We did have a bowl of water handy in case of accidents! The effect was definitely urban!
I then decided to add some of the painted scrim that I'd prepared (shown in the first post). We did this using the soldering iron and using acrylic felt as a welding agent because the scrim wouldn't stick to the sheer.
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As a final couple of touches I added some erise film and welded it lightly with the soldering iron, just enough to attach it or it shrivels to nothing. I also added some tissutext that I’d used to take a rubbing off the sheet of Formica that I’d painted the scrim on, which wouldn’t come off when it dried without leaving half of it behind.
I was now left with a background that I could embroider, but I thought it would get caught under the machine foot so I made a net sandwich. We both decided this looked a bit solid, so Ben set about it with the soldering iron one more time and concentrated on crinkling up the edges.



By this time Ben was burnt out! (metaphorically of course) and ready to eat a horse, like any young lad, so we stopped for lunch.
After lunch I set about the piece with a variegated thread on the sewing machine.



I have no idea where this is going next, so here's hoping the experiment wasn't a waste of time. Ben and I had a great day and that's what really counts.

3 comments:

Karen said...

Experimenting is never a waste of time - especially when it looked like you and Ben were having good fun
K

Shirley Anne Sherris said...

I agree with Karen - nothing is a waste of time or a failure only a learning curve.
By the time you have finished embellishing, it will look totally different anyway.
My grandson will be here again in the morning and is sleeping over for a couple of nights. if the weather is Ok will be going to take more pics.
SAS

Helen said...

This is fantastic. I had to giggle (with him not at him) he must have had loads of fun... fancy being allowed to set things on fire on purpose too!! He looks very intent on the job at hand :)