Mrs S Online: More Playing with Wash Away Stabiliser

Working with Romeo stabiliser by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

More Romeo has now been obtained from The Thread Studio and I have continued to explore creating fabric from silk fibres. As well as buying the stabiliser I also bought a small booklet with lots of interesting ideas for using Romeo. The process I explain in this blog post was learnt from both the booklet and the videos that Dale, from the Thread Studio, generously shares online.

I am intrigued by the slight difference in thickness that I seem to feel with this purchase but it is still fun to play with. I am wondering if there are slight differences in older stock as the first piece that I found was the last section that the shop I found it in had.

I sandwiched layers of silk fibres between two layers of stabiliser and then used free motion stitching to create circles of thread all over the fibres. After covering the whole surface with small circles and adding a border of straight stitches to help add a stable edge I cut out some circles ready for some more embellishing.

Working with Romeo stabiliser 2 by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

The next step was to use small sections of stabiliser to continue adding stitching lines over the circular areas. I also added some of the small circles back in to the centre of the larger circles. I experimented with both rayon thread and Serafil in the bobbin and am still not sure which I prefer. Each gives a very different look to the underside of the free motion sewing.

Working with Romeo stabiliser front by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Working with Romeo stabiliser back by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

After all the stitching was done it was time to soak the stabiliser away. It is a cold water process that takes a little time to complete. I found that warm water cut down the time a little and that washing afterwards in a little warm water with detergent ensured all the stabiliser was washed away.

Working with Romeo stabiliser soaking stage by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

In the above image I have also created a flower by adding a circle cut from the large piece of work to another piece of stabiliser and then stitching the petals with a grid of lines stitched with more free motion sewing. I found that for these to be effective I need to have matching thread in the bobbin.

Silk Piece 1 by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Once out of the water my first piece was a bit rough but I found that a good press with an iron helped to flatten the silk pieces. It would be personal preference as to whether this was needed depending on what was being created. The final piece of "fabric" is very soft to touch and appears to be quite delicate. I tried out the same technique three times and improved my control of free motion sewing a little more each time. By the time I was working on the third piece I also added some tiny leaf shapes in amongst my circles.

Silk Pieces 1,2&3 by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

What to do with these creations became the next conundrum....

I had a shawl in my closet that I have owned for decades. It had been handprinted with leaves and ferns so I decided it could have a small make over. I added each panel to the shawl with a close zig zag stitch and then used my duckbill scissors to cut away the shawl under each section so that both sides of my silk fabric are able to be seen. I also added three of the flowers that I created with the circles cut from my silk fabric.

Silk Pieces 1,2&3 attached by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

The end result is something that I love looking at and have hanging over the back of my sewing chair so that I can glance at it when working away in my creating space. The colours are incredibly vibrant and add a little bit of sparkle to the shawl. What do you think? Below is an image of the back view. I used different coloured silk fibres for the back of each piece and a different thread in the bobbin and am still undecided about which is best to use. I guess it would also depend on the intended end point for each piece.