Extreme Texture--Getting Started

Remember this piece from my thickened dye painting experiments?  I thought it would make a nice base for my extreme texture experiment.  Texture is going to show up better on a background that is not too busy. On the other hand, it won't show up very well on a solid color.  I thought this piece fit both those criteria.  Also, the piece was 25 by 22 inches so it was a nice size to work with.  You will notice the difference between the finished size of 15 x 11 and the beginning size.  Yep, that is what happens when you create texture.

There are 3 basic techniques that I will cover: puffs, scrunching, and cording. So that I can show multiple process pictures I will post each technique in its own little tutorial.  A fourth post will cover some handstitching I did on the piece and the method I used to finish the piece.

The first technique  is making the little puffs.
Make as many or as few as you want.  Make them different sizes.  I tried to make the puffs in areas of the fabric where there were spots of different colors.  That really made the puffs stand out when finished.

1.  First iron the fabric because you want all the wrinkles in it to be intentional. 

 

2.  Then with a hand needle and thread make a  circle with a running stitch.  This will form the neck of the puff.  The thread is not intended to be seen so use a color that will blend with your fabric.  Doesn't have to match exactly because the puff will cover most of the stitching line.

 3.  On the wrong side of the fabric fill the circle with a tiny bit of stuffing.  You would be surprised how little stuffing you need. 

4.  Then pull the thread to close the circle.  Wrap the thread around the neck of the puff a couple of times and then take a couple of stitches in the neck to fasten.

 5.  On to the  next puff and the next and the next.

The second technique is the scrunching. We'll work on that tomorrow