I’ve been rethinking how I usually make my dragonflies for my quilt Great Blue. I picked up some new research books and I was struck how very transparent and translucent their wings were. How could I do that?
Dissolvable stabilizer really is transparent and has that look. But it’s made to dissolve if it gets wet. I can’t promise that won’t ever happen. Humidity itself might dissolve the stabilizer.
I’m pretty sure Saran Wrap would tear. Sure enough not to try it.
I I have used organza or lace. It’s a neat look and I like it. But I wanted a more integrated stitched effect. I wanted them to appear to be see-through.
So I thought about it in terms of thread choices. I love Madeira Supertwist. It’s my go-to metallic thread. There are several color ranges. One range is of solid metallic colors. But one of the color ranges is opalescent and crystal. It’s translucent in itself. So I used it in the transparent part of the wings, and the metallic parts in the exoskeleton of the dragonflies.
It doesn’t look transparent exactly. It looks reflective, like glass or water. Not quite what I had in mind, but I think it does the job.
Here’s the difference. This bug is out of solid metallic thread. It makes a bolder statement, more like an exoskeleton than like see-through wings.
All stitchery is a gigo proposition. Good things in, Good things out. When you use excellent threads and get excellent although sometimes unexpected results. I’m going to try these crystalline threads in other ways where I want a translucent look.
Most of my work centers around threads, so I fuss about them quite a bit. Most threads divide into their components: metallic, rayon, cotton, and polyester. Fs 2/20 is a bit different. It has a black core the metallics are wrapped around and when it’s used in zigzag embroidery looks like little beads.
Madeira Threads Metallic Thread Color Chart FS 2/20
These lizards were stitched as bobbin work, out of FS 2/20. The eyes are sliver.
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In contrast, these butterflies were all out of Supertwist Madiera metallic, with FS 2/20 bodies. Again, shiny Sliver eyes.
Why does all that matter? Because those three kinds of thread offer a totally separate look that makes the objects embroidered in them automatically different from each other. Your eye sorts for shiny first. That means that first, it sees the shiny eyes, then the supertwist butterflies, and finally the rich beaded looking lizards. Now, how cool is that?
FS 2/20 is not an easy thread to find. To my knowledge, you need to get it from Madeira. But I do think it’s one of the most beautiful threads I know of. They also have Poly Neon and Supertwist and a bevy of embroidery stabilizers.
It happened again. I was sewing along, in the groove, grooving it when I turned over my piece and found I had the wrong bobbin in.
Not just the wrong color. Metallic when I had intended my bird to be soft poly feathers.
There are several things to do at this point. Certainly one is to put your head in your hands and wail. I tried that and it didn’t shift anything. I got out my mustache trimmer, and really looked at it.
The thread was the Madiera bug body metallic (black core) that’s purple, red and green. If it sounds odd, it is. There’s nothing else quite like it. All three shades are the exact value, so you can actually shade with it. The red was a little much, but it added an iridescence to the bird I really liked. I stitched more of it in and decided it a happy accident.
with and without metallic
There are other answers. This would have taken a lot of ripping if it was irredeemable. Enter the mustache trimmer. This is a Wahl Half Pint Travel Trimmer, that is the no-tears-lather for removing zigzag stitching. It’s available at Walmart and Amazon.
Here’s how to use it
I chose not to rip this time. But I’m equipped when I need to. As You Sew so Shall You Rip is about evaluating when you really need to rip and when it’s optional.
The last two posts we did looked at bobbin work for thick thread. This time we’ll look at a whole other reason to work from the bobbin and a whole different result.
Everyone loves metallic thread. It’s beautiful. I’ve heard it described as candy. I concur. That is until you start to stitch with it. There are a number of things that make it “easier” to work with metallic thread. But no one ever says it’s easy.
Why? If you look at the construction of metallic thread, it’s pretty obvious. Metallic thread comes in a twisted flecked thread, a metallic colored lurex wrapped around a core, and a thin strand of lurex. Either way, it’s thread made to be shredded. It’s not one solid strand of one thing. It’s a combination that uncombines with ease.
How do we get around that? Sewers Aid (silicon treatment for thread) and a number 90 topstitching needle help. But the easy answer is to put it in the bobbin and work from behind.
I know. I know. I can hear you screaming “What????” at me through the computer screen. Sensibly enough. But any time my thread goes through the top of my machine, it goes through the needle 50 times. It gets pulled up through the bobbin once. Are you wondering why your thread broke? It’s so much easier to put the breakable thread in the bobbin.
Madeira Supertwist Metallic Thread
For this, I used #40 weight metallic thread. I really like Madeira’s Supertwist for it’s color and shine and the color range. So we don’t need an adjusted bobbin case. We can use the regular bobbin case. But we still want to match the needle thread color to the metallic thread color. You will see both threads on the right surface of the quilt.
I do these most often as appliques. Why? Because they really pucker up. The distortion on zigzag stitching is ferocious. I make the same sandwich as last week, my drawing on Totally Stable, Stitch and Tear, felt, and hand dyed fabric.
I’ve talked a lot in this blog about free motion zigzag stitching. What matters is the angle that the fabric goes through the machine. Straight through gets a thick clunky line. At an angle gets you a very nice outline. Going from side to side gets you a great shading stitch. All out of the same zigzag.
I started by zoning my piece so I know the areas where the color changes.
I began with a black out line zigzag. Then I built my colors in, first with an outline, then the shading and then that clunky line to smooth it out, one shade after another, starting from dark to light. The last color I put on will be the color I see the most.
Here’s the process shots for this frog.
spots
spots from back
outline
green shading
purple shading
turquois shading
medium green
lighter green
medium purple
lightest green
soft purple stomach
apricot shading
light yellow
finished frog
After I’ve stitched it completely, the stitching lay flat, but the area around it ruffled like a party dress. I cured the whole thing by simply cutting off the background.
To apply it to my quilt, I stitched it down with the same black thread outline, run through at an angle to make a great smooth edge.
What is the difference between thin thread and thick thread?
Thick Thread
Bobbin Case Only
Adjusted Bobbin Case
Always Abstracted by Stitching
Puckers Up Some
Thin Thread
Use in Needle or Bobbin Case
Regular Bobbin Case
Can Be More Detailed and Shaded
Puckers Up Mightily
The other major reason to use bobbin work with thin thread is because you can tie up the ends on the back. Every time you clip your threads from the front, there’s two thread ends poking up. For multiple layers of stitching, that can make the whole piece look fuzzy. I always prefer to work from the back and tie my ends up from behind, to keep them out of sight.This works just as well for poly/and or rayon threads as well. These moths were done upside down as well, but with poly threads only.
Don’t be afraid to work upside down! You’ll find all kinds of threads that have been fiends are now your best friends.
Thick metallic thread and pearl cotton bobbin work make up the heron
Do you like instant gratification? But of course! Using thick thread in the bobbin is showy, exciting and quick as machine embroidery goes. It’s one of my favorite techniques.
Bobbin work is the only way I know to free motion with thick threads. I’m defining thick threads as #3-8 threads. What those numbers mean is that if you put 8 threads side by side, they would make an inch. This is what thread count means.
adjusting a bobbin case
Thick threads can’t fit through the needle. They do fit easily in an adjusted or bypassed bobbin case. How do you know what kind of machine you have. If you open up your bobbin and it’s in a little silver housing that comes out of the machine, that’s a bobbin case. For thick thread, you loosen the bobbin case by turning the screw about 3/4 of a turn to the left. It’s best to have a separate bobbin case for the purposes. Bobbin cases get old, so it’s never a bad idea to buy a fresh one and make your new bobbin case your true bobbin case. Mark the old one with nail polish, and keep it just for thick thread.
If your bobbin just drops into a housing in your machine, it can be bypassed. You simply don’t put it into tension. No need to adjust anything.
I tend to keep extra bobbins to hold and store thread I’ve wound off. One bobbin per thread. If I don’t use it for one project, I’m bound to use it for another.
Never wind a bobbin on top of thread on the bobbin. It messes terribly with your tension.
I usually stitch on a similar fabric to the background, or one that matches the color of the embroidery. Don’t fool yourself. IT WILL SHOW!
a different frog, zoned
Your image is always backwards. Think of it as a slide. You can see it through either side. I use Totally Stable as my patterns, drawn with marker. It irons on but the excess will tear away.
Stitching in a creature is like coloring with different crayons. I pick black as my outline, and then I zone my drawing. On this frog, there’s a tummy zone, a stripe zone, an eye zone, and the basic body.
I choose my darkest thread in that zone first, the color I want to be dominate. I add a shader color, usually purple, brown or a complement to the color. Then I go through a range of the color, dark to light, and add a shocker color, usually the complement right before the last lightest color.
eye colors in sliver
The eye is always done in sliver thread so it’s shiny and wet. I use black for the pupil, an iris color, and iridescent white for the spark.
Eye
Here’s a progression of stitching and thread on this frog
thread one green zone
thread two green zone
thread three green zone
thread four green zone
thread five green zone
thread one stripe zone
thread two striped zone
finished frog on background
Some basic things about thick thread bobbin work:
Only work with a straight stitch: Zigzag stitching tends to sew your piece to your needle plate and jam your machine.
When you fill in your stitching, remember that the thick thread fills up more space than the thinner thread on top. Leave a little space.
Pick a #40 weight embroidery thread for the top thread. I like polyester, for it’s strength. You should either match the color to your bobbin thread, or like the mix of them together. You will see both on the front of your piece.
New project, new needle! New day, new needle! I use #90 topstitching needles because they’re strong and have a large eye that reduces thread breakage.
Midnight Stroll
I could stitch directly into my top as well. It integrates better into the background, but it tends to distort things. If an image is under three inches square, I may well embroider right on the surface.
frog cut out and ready to go
But if it’s a big enough image, It’s better done on a separate sandwich of felt, Tear Away, Totally Stable and suitable hand dye to match. It can be appliqued onto the surface and will look like it belongs perfectly
Don’t be afraid to be upside down. Bobbin work makes the most impressive images quickly and easily.
What’s on my studio floor? Thread! I collect large wads of thread ends. It’s just what happens when you’re embroidering by machine. It’s everywhere, but it pools it places on the floor. It is pretty It seems like a waste, but like most things, it doesn’t have to be.
Threads
Let’s be clear about this. You can save all your thread ends, if you want. But they aren’t all the same. The threads you sewed your jeans with are probably not going to be pretty in an art quilt, unless you want a pretty rough looking texture. I save thread ends that are either poly or rayon, or more wonderfully thick#8 metallic like Candelight, Razzel Dazzel or Glamour. Or Sliver like threads. For me, this is all about the shine.
Nesting Ladies
What does that do for your quilt? It makes a floor of it’s own. Nature is messy. There’s all kinds of bits of things, on the forest floor, or at the bottom of a pond. A nice blob of thread looks a lot like that. It puts in a bottom without a hard line.
So you have this wonderful glob of thread. It’s pretty. You want it on your quilt. How are you going to stick it on?
Angelina moon
You can glue it. Steam a Seam will hold it down. You can trap in angelina fiber. It’s a beautiful addition to a moon.
You still have to stitch it down. If you try to just stitch it down with a darning foot, it will trap your foot and make you crazy. It makes me crazy.
My best answer is to put something over it. Some folk use tulle. It dulls the colors. I prefer using a corn starch film, like Aquafilm or Solvy. I pin it over the glob, and stitch it down. When you’re finished, spritz it with water until it disappears. Problem solved.
Hunters Moon 2
Globbing makes a beautiful addition to a quilt. And it uses up all that pretty thread.
