Altered photos and favorite places

For this project I decided to try a new (to me) technique.  It's called Momigami which is a Japanese method of kneading paper into a fabric. This seemed like an interesting idea to experiment with, and used items I easily found around the house.

The videos I watch suggested several different options for medium (I believe traditional Momigami uses a type of starch). I used grapeseed oil as I had an expired bottle sitting around.

 I also let my Momigami pieces dye on a rack for over a week before using. Not all videos I watched mentioned this and I think it is really important. Below is a photo of my Momigami pieces dying.

 

Basically you dip your fingers in the oil and you work it on the the paper; rubbing, crumbling, folding. un-folding, etcetera. until the paper is soft and drapes like a fabric.

The new fabric will be darker and smaller than the original paper.

I experimented with several types of paper; gift wrapping paper, tissue paper, paper napkins, sheet music, pages from children's book and brown paper lunch bags.

Below is a picture comparing before and after applying the oil.  My personal photos were printed on a on an ink jet printer with basic home copy printer paper.

Below are details of Momigami photos on the project with embellishments added.

Yes, you can sew on the new fabric, but you must be gentle.

For me the Momigami was fun and nice results: 

The colors are great.  The paper really does drape like fabric, and I did sew on it.

The thing I found problematic is even after a week the Momigami pieces are still very greasy. I would say you need to use with caution as that grease will transfer to your work. I ended up putting a coat of glue over the Momigami to seal it in hopes of containing the oil residue. It's possible the starch used in traditional Momigami would not be as greasy but I have no personal experience about that to know for sure.

A better use for Momigami may be something like art journals.

I would suggest anyone interested on this technique should check out some of the many videos on the subject.  Caterina Giglio has a channel with some great information.

Hope you are inspired to experiment with a new technique. If you have had any experience using Momigami please let me know how it went in the comment section. I'd love to hear from you.

Have a great day.

MaryEllen

I'm Back!

 

My machine is back from the repair shop after a much needed cleaning.  And boy am I more than ready to roll!  First up is finishing the details on the projects that were put on hold while my machine was gone.  After those are finished I'll be starting a wedding gift!  I hope you will be able to pop in and watch my progress. 

Below is a close up of the quilt on my sewing room wall. The  piece is called The Sewing Room. and is 32" X 34". I used a photo of my antique sewing machine as inspiration for this original design. I started by taking a photo of my machine, editing it to black and white and enlarging it. I then traced the shape I wanted and used that as my pattern.

The collage sewing machine is attached to a vintage tablecloth. The piece was then embellished with buttons and free motion quilting.
If you look close you can see I tried to run a thick thread as if the machine is threaded and ready to go.
I also added some 3D flowers for depth. If you are interested in more photos there is a post from October 2018 on my process  Just go to the search bar and type in collage and you should be directed right to it.

Have a wonderful day!

Enjoying a good book?

Hi everyone hope you are all having a wonderful start to 2021!

Does the start of your new year include enjoying a good book, like my little friend?

 I sure hope so!  

The little book is one I just finished from bits and pieces of ribbon, lace, beads, jewelry, buttons and lots of embroidery. Each page is 4" square.

-The doll is an porcelain piece I made in a class many years ago.

The grandmother's flower garden piece is something I'm currently still working on.-

I was inspired to make my book from following the works on several Facebook pages. In particular Stitch Meditation and Slow Stitch Books-Ellen's Legacy. Both of these sites are great and I encourage you to take a look. They both contain lots of interesting ideas from so many talented folks.

 

Hope you enjoyed looking inside at a few of the pages.

Have a wonderful day!

Pocket Full Of Fun

                              This was such a fun piece to do!
From the start my idea was to mix the bright colors of a bouquet of collage flowers with old denim jeans.
Photos of some old cowboy boots inspired me to design just what I wanted!


I designed the boots in this piece from a series of photos I took of a pair of old cowboy boots.  I needed to refine the images as I was working with a pair of men's boots and I wanted them a bit  slimmer for women's boots. Below is one of the many boot photos I took.  Next to that is a photo of the pattern pieces coming together.

  
Below is a photo of the start of the denim background.
I used two different pairs of jeans for the background.  Extra pockets were added later for interest and balance.
   Working on the scale.
Below are more detail photos---
I used the real boots to give me an idea of wear lines, I added the wear lines to my boots using machine stitching. I also tried to added some of  the same stitching details as on the boots.
Both of the boots on my piece are made using the same flowers.  I fussy cut these flowers from several different fabrics. However, I needed to I add dye and different shades of net to give the boots a variety of  highlights.  Notice how the boot in the back is darker than the front boot. This was done with a darker shade of netting over the flowers. Also, notice the small area at the top of the front boot, that area is the inside of the boot, here the flowers were dyed blue for more depth.
 
Below more details----
The lace was also dyed in shades depending on the placement on the boots and used to show depth.
The embellishments are old jewelry pieces.
The denim background has hand embroidery accents. It is finished with binding and various machine quilting designs. Quilting was done on my domestic sewing machine.
Finished piece is 26" X 32 !/2".
  

The Sewing Room. Vintage wallhanging.

I love trying new quilting techniques.  Recently my Bee decided to work on collage quilts.  We all brought floral fabrics from our stashes to share. Along with fabrics and tools we shared ideas and helpful hints. But, mostly we had a great time just encouraging each other to try something new!

My piece is called The Sewing Room. 32" X 34"
I used a photo of my antique sewing machine as inspiration for this original design.
I started by taking a photo of my machine, editing it to black and white and enlarging it. I then traced the shape I wanted and used that as my pattern.
The collage sewing machine is attached to a vintage tablecloth from my collection. It is embellished with buttons and free motion quilting.
If you look close you can see I tried to run thread as if the machine is threaded and ready to go.
I also added some 3D flowers for depth (they are a bit hard to see in photos).


  
       Photo of 3-D flower.
                                                      
I really love this piece and look forward to hanging it in my sewing room.
Cotton backing.
Machine quilting including the meandering design in the center and the free motion work around the flowers done on my domestic sewing machine