2016 #12 Fabric Vase {by Lucy Edmondson}

 2016 Topic 12: Fabric

Hi everyone Lucy from Lucy's True Colours here. Tonight I'd like to share with you a technique using Powertex to make fabric roses, with the transparent version enabling the gorgeous colours of Fresco paints and PaperArtsy stamp designs to show through. You may be pleased to hear, this is a no-sew project!

I'm still a novice with Powertex and the other similar brands, as I haven't attended any workshops and I hadn't used the transparent or the Ivory versions, only the Bronze one, until I started this project. I really loved using the Bronze to make a garden figurine and it's great how it covers and unifies what is underneath. I had in my mind, though, that it would be a completely different look, and would really be a chance to use stamp with paints if I used the transparent version. It's less forgiving in terms of your substrate but there are still plenty of possibilities. Here I've used a glass bubble bath bottle which has flat sides, and turned it into a vase, but a Mateus Rose bottle would also work well. I've used some Eclectica Ellen Vargo stamps, which, being abstract, were absolutely perfect, because I didn't have to worry about detail being lost or being 'wrong side up' when the fabric was draped.

Step One: I started off by making some roses. I made far too many as I didn't know how many petals I would want for each rose, or how many roses to decorate the final vase, but I tell myself it was worth having some extra for another project whilst I had the Powertex out! Using the larger splodge stamp from the Eclectica EEV06 set, apply a generous amount of Coral and Candy Floss to one piece of cut n dry foam and Wisteria and Lavender to another. Use both pieces to 'ink' up the stamp each time and stamp all over a piece of calico. Cut out the petals, keeping close to the paint lines rather than trying to achieve a circle.

 Eclectica EEV06

Step Two: Pour a puddle of transparent Powertex onto a non stick surface and massage into each petal with your fingers. Make a little pleat in each petal. At this stage I found it easier to leave them for about half an hour to go tacky before building up the roses. I rolled the centre petal and then arranged the other petals around it, using a little more Powertex at the base to hold everything together. It was very easy as you get a lot of open time where you can come back and manipulate the petals after another half an hour and put a bit more shape into them as they start to get a little firmer. Obviously you can have a tightly layered or a more open rose, and as many petals as you want. My final rose has eight petals and is about one and a half inches across. Leave the roses to harden completely on your non stick surface. You can leave them overnight or speed things up with a hairdryer.

Step Three:- Now for the bottle. Cut a piece of stockinette big enough to fit over the top like a jumper, as it is tubular, and to reach from the top to the bottom. It looks a bit small in the picture as it has curled up on itself. Soak it thoroughly in Ivory Powertex. I find it easier to use a throwaway container for this, like a foil dish. I put an opened out plastic bag on my worksurface to contain the drips. Rub it in with your hands then wring out the excess and pop it over the top of the bottle. Arrange it in lots of lovely folds and press it down around the contours of the bottle. It will be nice and tacky so it will stick to itself easily. Make sure it is pushed down right to the base but not covering the base so it will stand. [At the end of the project I drizzled Nougat into the inside of the bottle to cover the base to give a good finish when it was lifted up].

Step 4: Next I prepared the calico to wrap around the vase over the stockinette layer. It needs to be a rectangle big enough to almost meet when wrapped around at the widest point. I stamped it in exactly the same way as making the petals but using the smaller splodge stamp from the same set. I stamped both sides as I thought the reverse might show when I draped the piece around the vase.

Step Five: I made a clay butterfly from a mould and used the remaining paint on the cut n dry foam to colour it to match the project, lightly touching the raised areas of the wings with the Wisteria/Lavender foam for highlights. The stockinette was now dry so I used the Coral foam to go over the folds and raised areas of the bottle. You can see in the background of this photo I also made some clay faces as I had wondered about using these as an alternative to the butterfly as I often see this done with Powertex.

Step Six:- I soaked the stamped calico in transparent Powertex and wrapped it around the bottle like a cape, tying it below the neck but without knotting it, and fanning out the two loose ends. I pressed the material against the contours of the bottle and created folds as I did for the stockinette, making sure there were folds at the back as well. I spread a little Powertex onto the stockinette in some of the grooves and sprinkled with two sizes of the small balls you can purchase from Powertex stockists which add loads of lovely texture. I added some more Powertex where I wanted my butterfly and rose to be and pressed them into it to act as glue. To finish off, once everything was dry, I dry-brushed Coral on the folds and frayed edges of the calico, the edges of the rose petals, and the textured balls.

Here's a photo of the back of the bottle. My favourite part of the project is a silly little thing - the strands of the stockinette which I trained with the hairdryer to dry upright out of the top of the bottle!

I hope you've found my experiment useful. I do have a bit of a confession though. I had really wanted to make an art doll but we had already done that theme! It would be so cool to have a doll's dress made from Fresco stamped material, with a full skirt and puffed sleeves stiffened with Powertex, and lots of beautiful billows and folds, but with no sewing machine required! I think there are lots of possibilities left to explore and I hope I have given you some ideas to try.
Lucy

Blog Lucy's True Colours
Twitter @ CraftyLuce

Oh I love the shawl effect wrapped around the bottle, it is quite reminiscent of a Victorian look. The Powertex offers so many possibilities, giving more versatility to fabric than ever before. Fabric flowers are always pleasing to see, and ehre is another take on them. ~Darcy

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