The Meeting Went Smooth as Silk
Rainbow Dolls latest meeting was held on Thursday January 31st, at Rainbow Silks. I unfortunately, couldn't make the meeting but was given the full report by our own Mavis, pictured here with two of her dolls, created in a class with British designer Janet Clark (if I'm not mistaken).
The fantastic Jill treated everyone to her expertise in working with silk.
As you can see, Jill loves to use silk on her dolls and does so with great effect.
Having been absent, Mavis has authored this report of Jill's presentation. Read all about it:
Jill showed an impressive selection of silk fabrics, sourced from her world travels, which included Thailand. She described how silk can be made to drape crisply or in soft curves (using an interlining of domette or flannelette), and everyone had a hands-on opportunity to make a stitched rosette. These were made from a 6-inch circle of silk, gathered with a running stitch round the edge. The circle was then pinch-pleated all over, in a random way, to produce either a softly-gathered flower shape, or an intensely secured organic button. The rosettes can be further embellished with beads and/or other decorations, as desired.
Here Stella shows off her silk rosette.
And Karon works away on her rosette.
Jill’s recommendations for handling silk:
- It’s much easier to use than is generally expected.
- Some loosely-woven silks should be avoided.
- Diana’s wedding dress should have had weights in the hem, which would have removed all those terrible creases (!).
- Look at curtain books for suggestions of how to do swags, tails and drapes.
- See late 19th century costumes, especially those designed by Charles Frederick Worth around the 1880s.
For those of us who didn't make the meeting, check out this video on how to handle silk:
Mavis re-made our notice board for display at Rainbow Silks and created some leaflets about our illustrious group.
If you want more info on our club, you can e-mail me or join our Yahoo Group.
Stella also took votes for the theme for our upcoming challenge. We are still collecting votes from the Yahoo Group members who were not present to vote in person. All will be revealed in the fullness of time....
Our next meeting will be Thursday February 28th at 1:30pm at Rainbow Silks. Chris will be giving a demo on dying fabric. Don't know about you but I need all the help I can get!
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