Explorations Episode 16: Further Adventures of Poor Little Diane

 Explorations Episode 16:  Further Adventures of Poor Little Diane

Last week I was poor little Diane, sitting on a stool, trying to make transparent foam from a piece of tulle:

I had used iridescent thread to sew small circles into a strip of nylon tulle, representing the bubbles of water created as the rising tide rushes through the furrows in the sand ripples.

I sewed the tulle onto the felted background in such a way that it was suspended between the tops of the furrows.

I don't know whether you can see it in these photos, but I've achieved somewhat of a two-dimensional look.  The beads and iridescent thread-painting, which are worked into the felted background, serve as the bottom of the sand ripple. The nylon tulle, thread painted with the iridescent thread, stands in for the bubbles in the water running through the tiny trough.

Once all those watery embellishments were sewn into and onto the felted background, it became time to attach  the top embellishment, a piece of silk chiffon painted to resemble a band of sea foam. After being painted, this oversize piece of silk chiffon was then layered with Fabric Magic, steamed, and shrunk.  The construction of this chiffon overlay was a big deal, not only because it was time-consuming, but because it was my SECOND effort at this part.  My first effort, made of raw silk, did not reach to the edges in the upper right and lower left corners:

This is the felted background without the painted silk overlay.

 Below is the first piece of painted silk, a monumental effort that was nevertheless too small.  See how it doesn't reach all the way to the edge on the upper right or the lower left?  This entire work has to be 30 x 50, so if I can't cut off the edges of the felted substrate to match the size of the silk, I have to make the silk big enough to reach to the edges of the felt.

So here's my second effort, this time of silk chiffon, and way too big, but that's good.

Below you can see how much too big it is:

It extends a good 8 to 10 inches past the upper right edge of the felted background, but better too big than too small.

So here are the two pieces basted together: the felted background, with its beaded and embellished sand ripples, and the overlay of silk chiffon, representing a band of foam advancing over a tidal flat.

Poor Little Diane, sitting on a bench
Trying to show how rising tide flows into a trench.

Guess what I have to do next?  Beading.  I want to show the tiny bubbles in the foam.

It's gonna be fun!