Experimental Embroidered Background Papers

Good morning. Happy Bank Holiday weekend for those of you living in Britain.

I have actually found some time to play and here is the outcome of my experiments.

I started off with approximately A5 size hand made paper which is made from 100% cotton rag waste. I thought this would be the best as I wanted to attack it with a sewing machine and I thought the rag fibres would hold the stitching better.

However, first I had to colour the paper. This was achieved in my own inimitable style by getting very messy with some water and inks. I admit I had to resort to rubber gloves for this one. The ink was a bit difficult to wash off skin!

Using a non-stick mat to protect everything, I sprayed the paper with a fine mist of water and then used ink from bottles that had dropper attachments to drip the ink onto the slightly soggy paper. It ran quite well by itself but I have to say that in some cases I did help the colours to mix a bit in some areas. Once satisfied with the colours I dried the paper over night. They dried quite a lot lighter than they looked yesterday.

So, this morning, I started playing with the sewing machine and these are my first results. I am pleased with the way they have worked out. See below for some close up shots.

Hopefully, by the end of the weekend, I will have some finished cards to show you so that you can see how they look when incorporated into finished product.