5 replies to this topic

[believe]

Hi All,
Im coming to my finishing parts of my Alice in Wonderland gown and am starting to think about the embroidery on the lower part of the skirt.
Now- I dont really want to embroider for 3 reasons:
1. I have never done so
2. Can you actually hand embroider successfully on chiffon and what sort of stabiliser do you use?
3. It will take me hours upon hours, which I can see me giving up on.
So my question for help is, does anyone know of any other way I could get these pictures on. I have been thinking about using a fabric type pen or something and drawing them on, but if the gown gets washed, will that all come off, and two will the fabric pen work on chiffon, or will it bleed etc? Does anyone know?
Any other ideas??
Please Help

[poisonedkitty]

It' surprising how quick an emproidery design comes together and you can do a lot with a few different simple stitches. I learnt all this on doing my padme packing gown the second time around where I actually embroidered the front panel.

The first time, because I was in such a rush, I used dimensional fabric paint. You could give either this or standard fabric paint a go and they should not bleed too much, though to be honest I have never tried to use either on chiffon. The other option you can look into is some of the stamping and card-making products. You can get fabric pens. They are a double ended pen, one with a point the other an angle, and they will not wash out once dry.

I am actually looking at using fabric fabric paint to creat the snowflakes on the organza overskirt of my White Queen costume. I have had a good look around but can't find any christmas fabrics that would suit. If it comes down to it though, I will just use acrylic paint and never wash the skirt part.

The only other thing that I can think of is maybe applique, but it would depend on the size and how complex the design is.

Hope this helps.

Edited by poisonedkitty, 04 February 2010 - 04:28 PM.

[Lady Penelope]

and two will the fabric pen work on chiffon, or will it bleed etc?

I'm not sure if it will bleed, but I would suggest is try the pen on a sample piece, if it bleeds, no harm done to your major piece, even though it will be back to the drawing board, and you can use the pen another time.

Another idea, have you thought about stitching on a thin braid? You may have to do this by hand, but it would be quicker than embroidery.

[believe]

The design is quite fancy, its got birds, deer, flowers, rabbits. so I think I might go ahead and buy a fabric pen.
So if washed you think this will be permanent???
Ill try using it on a spare bit of chiffon first. My skirt is so full I just cant imagine embroidering it all.

[Cora]

You are making the Tim Burton one, Right?

If so, there is an LJ Group/person that is making it, and sharing her finds, in fact she just got some awesome facts in about it via a person who got the info from one of the actual stitcher's on the Gown...Here - http://alice-kingsley.livejournal.com/

Cora

[wenz]

The design is quite fancy, its got birds, deer, flowers, rabbits. so I think I might go ahead and buy a fabric pen.
So if washed you think this will be permanent???

Unless I'd tested your pen & your fabric I wouldn't say either way.

Another type of pen that quilters use - cos dry ironing sets it - is a gel ink pen. I'd be testing samples on scrap fabrics including using a press cloth n cool iron to fix the ink.

It'll take time to test different inks, but a lot less time than the LJ person who's hand embroidering all of it!