Yesterday I was considering Lara’s comment that she prefers nonwoven fabrics for applique. I unfortunately couldn’t use either leather or ultrasuede, basically because I need the colors to match the coat and I don’t have the skills to dye leather. (I also wouldn’t be able to acquire the colors I need as quickly as I would need it.) I made a brief foray into needlefelting, but was unsuccessful.
Then I decided to see what a very light application of Fray Check would do. I used the tip of a pin to apply a tiny, tiny bead of Fray Check along the edges of a test piece. It came out beautifully, so I made an entire leaf using Fray Check and an overcast stitch. It’s the left-hand leaf in this photo:
I really like this leaf. The veining shows clearly without being overpowering, and is delicate enough to satisfy my taste for close-up detail. The edges are neat and the overcasting looks good – much, much better than in the purple leaf (center) which has hairy-looking edges and irregular overcasting. I will redo the purple leaf using Fray Check on the edges, and do the other three leaves using this method.
The Fray Check does stiffen the edges slightly, but for this application, that’s just fine – I want them stiffened anyway. I have not yet wired the edges of the leaf, but will leave that for the very last, when all five leaves are complete.
And, in other news, Prop 8 has been declared unconstitutional by the appeals court. Wahoo! Time to go dance in the streets, and hope that the Supreme Court agrees.
(Prop 8, if you don’t live in California, was an amendment to the California constitution that specifically prohibited gay marriage, reserving the term for a union between heterosexual couples. The appeals court, ruling 2-1, overturned it because it violated the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution – the Equal Protection Clause, which says you may not enact a law discriminating against a class of people without compelling reason. (It’s actually more complicated than that, but you can read the entire 66-page decision if you are interested. I read it already, it’s interesting reading!))
Tien, Thanks so much for adding the link to the Prop 8 decision. It _is_ interesting reading. I certainly wasn’t expecting to see a Groucho Marx one-liner in the midst of serious and sober legal arguments. But will the US Supreme Court take a similarly serious view of civil rights? I’m not ready to dance quite yet.
And yes, the orange leaf is beautiful.
Carla
The orange leaf is wonderful!
I haven’t read the entire decision on Prop 8 yet, but am super thrilled about it. It’s one step in a long battle, but an encouraging one, and thanks for the link. In my opinion, upholding the religious minorities objections to same sex marriage also violates the separation of church and politics. Hope the Supreme Court comes to its senses on this issue
The orange leaf looks fantastic. Very crisp. 🙂