Finishing

Velvet Revisited

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Introduction:
I have been looking at fabrics lying on my table and around that I’ve pulled out for possible scrolls. A few are coming together now after “marinating” awhile. Here are the results from my velvet pieces.

The previous version using this lovely little piece of velvet just never looked right. Now, the background is a piece of cotton I dyed with indigo. (I work at it to make my dyed things mottled.) Then, I pulled out the silk also dyed with indigo to check the color. (I often like to leave the wrinkles in just like I like the colors to be mottled.) When I threw it across the piece I knew that was it!


I adored this white velvet I brought back from Italy. It was exceptionally soft. What to do with a piece about 4” x 6”?? I decided to cut it into squares and mount them like a mosaic. I spent a lot of time working with the nap so the border would stand out from the center. Since the nap was so short, the pieces all look pretty much alike. The blue velvet that I cut up for the borders was about 6” x 3”. The nap is different on the top and bottom but doesn’t show up.


While fiddling with this piece, I noticed that the velvet was much lighter in a certain light.

Looking at it from another angle, the velvet turned dark. That’s what I had been working toward in the white and blue piece!

Make a Hem That’s Invisible on the Right Side

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Introduction:
RE: Filters for masks
3M 2200 best for virus protection

I’d been wondering about the so-called filters that were to go into the masks and finally Bob, my tech guy, did some research and found out that furnace and air conditioner filters could be cut up for inserting in the masks. I couldn’t imagine how that would be, especially when he bought one at the hardware store and brought it to me. So, I checked the web and found just what I needed: the package, how to open it, what to use and what to throw away. Then it showed how to cut out the pieces for the filters to insert. Here is the LINK to that YouTube video.


For the top of this white cotton piece I wanted a finished edge but I wanted the cloth to just stop or end without any sign of how.


In preparation for making the hem, I protected the last weft by pulling warps periodically back into the cloth just like in a previous post. (This prevents the raw edge from unravelling.)

I turned the hem to the wrong side and ironed only on the fold to make a crease there. Note that I didn’t iron the cut edge so as not to make an impression on the right side.


I used this iron-on adhesive rather than sewing the hem down. This type in the red package is meant to iron in place and make a permanent bond. It used to come by the yard but I’ve only seen it in these smaller packages lately. It is available from fabric stores and Amazon. Be sure the package says  Ultrahold” and not “Lite”. It was not in the interfacing area of the fabric store, but in an aisle where applique supplies were located.

This shows the adhesive ironed paper-side up in place inside where the hem is to be. Since you won’t be ironing on the raw edge, place the adhesive near the crease where the hem will be turned to the wrong side.

Peel off the paper in preparation for the final ironing.


Turn the hem under, enclosing the adhesive and iron. Remember to only iron on the fold –not on the edge of the hem to prevent an impression that would show on the right side.

Note that there is a purple package (Lite) that isn’t meant for ironing permanently but requires stitching down. The adhesive just holds a piece in place in preparation for stitching to hold it permanently in place. It comes by the yard or in packages with larger amount than the Ultrahold in the red package.

A Way to Deal With Fringe Other than the Usual Treatments

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Update: The masks are coming along. There is a pocket for a filter and a wire is stitched in so it fits over the nose and stays under eyeglasses.

ALERT!! MOTH HOLE TIP: Try using a Fuzz Buster or a soft brush to pick up stray fibers directly from your sweater—it doesn’t take much to patch a tiny moth hole and the color match is perfect.
From Diana Rollo


“The viewer must know that the last weft is secure.”…
Lillian Elliott

Sometimes I like how the fringe emerges from the structure of the woven cloth. Sometimes the warp yarn is so beautiful that I don’t want to twist it and hide its beauty or texture. This was the case with this silk satin piece I wove.

About every inch or so (or what seems needed) I work a warp thread back into the cloth. In this case the warp is so dense, the missing thread didn’t leave a space in the fringe. When it does show I practice a bit to decide what the intervals should be between the missing threads.

I didn’t want a hem at the cut end so I removed a couple of wefts and then used the same treatment. Since the warp threads were so short, I used a hook like a knitting machine needle. This one came from the notions department. (I bet Amazon has such thing, too). I grasped the thread with the hook open.

Then I wove the closed hook into a few wefts of the cloth and grasped the thread and the hook closed as I pulled it through.

How it looks on the right side.

Here is the finished piece—it’s not long 27inches. I’m thinking of mounting something on it, using it as a background.

Here are the tools I had on hand. The needle pillow I wove and its supply of tapestry needles was a big help. Sometimes I combed the fringes with the bigger ones.

I dyed the silk warp and weft yarns and cut up wool cloth into tiny pieces for the inside. Animal fiber inside won’t rust pins and needles I learned long ago in 4H. The hook with the jaw open is nearby. The seam ripper was used in another project.