Hello friends! Today I wanted to show you a pendant I made featuring hand crocheted samples.
It began with this truly gorgeous bezel. John Bead donated these samples for me to work with and you can find more information about these here.
I have been collecting vintage crochet and hand sewn linens for a long time. What many of my pieces have in common are stains and yellowing. But I can't believe that anyone would throw away something embellished by hand. So I often cut away the best sections and try to preserve them.
When this blog is a little older I will have the opportunity to write longer posts about working with fabrics and fibers. It is a little more difficult than working with paper because fabrics are harder to seal. In other words if every single fiber isn't protected from the resin, it will act as a wick drawing the resin into itself and that fiber or section will look darker when the resin cures. Lots of people like this effect though! But if you are working with ivory or white, like I did for this project, sealing my crochet was very important. Environmental Technologies Inc, the makers of Envirotex Lite do make an amazing sealer: "Ultra Seal." This product is not sold everywhere :( but it is what professionals do use, especially those creating products featuring photos. You can read about Ultra Seal here.
I brushed Ultra Seal onto my crochet pieces three times allowing it to dry between applications. The crochet piece was very stiff when I was done and I was able to pop the sections into the bezel with ease.
Then I mixed up a small batch of Envirotex Lite resin and poured it into the bezel, right to the brim.
This resin pour requires a lot of babysitting! Tiny bubbles of air can be trapped under each fiber and you would be amazed at how many bubbles came to the surface 45 minutes to an hour after my resin pour. So I carefully watched and popped any bubbles that rose to the surface. (I will blog how to pop bubbles in an upcoming blog)
After six hours the resin is very thick, not yet fully cured, but it is in a state where if you bump your piece resin won't spill. At this point I placed my vintage button onto the surface. I pushed it into the resin just a little bit. I wanted it to adhere, but remain on the surface of the resin.
Success! It worked beautifully!
Hi there
ReplyDeleteI too am addicted to collecting antique fabrics and as I live in Provence, France - I take advantage of the local brocantes to help track down my materials....I have some beautiful antique silks which I would love to embed in resin (especially to preserve them) and found out the hard way that the silks discolour once adding resin (I'm using Cleopatre Crystal Glass) resin....I've tried Modge Podge but it too also heavily discoloured the fabrics making them barely recognisable....if you have any advice at all of how best to embed fabric in resin - sucessfully I would really appreciate it.
Do you think the Ultra Seal would be more effective than Modge Podge?
Appreciate any advice you have on the matter!
Many thanks
Ruth
Thank you for the useful information on using a sealant before applying resin to crochet work. I would like to turn crochet work, made using 100% cotton yarn, into fridge magnets. I can't put the crochet piece into a bezel, so do you have any suggestions for me?
ReplyDeleteNatasja, if you feel like experimenting. I have painted/brushed resin onto crochet work and let it dry on a non stick surface. It is like using 50 coats of a fabric stiffener spray..but so much better! Just remember that the crochet work may darken, so you really need to do some samples first.
ReplyDeleteI'll try and do a blog post about that in a day or two!
Hi.
ReplyDeleteAbout those yellow stains...I do a lot of fabric restoration for cotton, linen and lace.
The trick is as long as the entire piece is white, place it in a clear or white plastic container with a lid or cling film it, (like a 1 liter ice cream tub)cover with water and for every liter of water add 100ml of Peroxide.
Seal it up and leave, check it every day until the stain is gone.
Unlike bleach, peroxide will not damage the fibers of the fabric, so you can leave it in safely and it won't rip like bleached items do.
Thank you so much for telling me. I had not heard this before and have some linens ready to save that I can try this on!!
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