Certificate Module 3 Chapter 9 A Resolved Sample: a little bit of stitching

I sat down this afternoon to start making a series of little samples to explore stitching that I might add to the printed fabric for the outside surface of my scroll.  As Sian pointed out, I would need to be careful in choosing the colour and weight of the thread I used (and indeed, would need to consider whether stitching was needed at all).  With shibori-dyed fabric and printed ammonites on top, it would be easy to make the fabric too busy, so competing with the inside instead of being a quiet contrast to it.

The cotton fabric needed something to add stiffness and body to it.  This could be done with an iron-on stiffening, but I thought first I'd try making a sandwich with two layers of cotton with some felt in between.  I thought of wadding to start with, but I didn't want a quilted puffed up effect, just a bit of body added to the piece.  I decided to use free-machine embroidery in a toning thread to stitch along the spaces between the printed lines in each ammonite.  This was the idea I'd had in my head from the first.  I stitched one ammonite in this way.

3.9.AS 1 (The stitched ammonite is bottom right.)

I was very pleasantly surprised to find that this gave exactly the effect I had in mind, without adding too much to the busy-ness of the print.  It also gave a very slight 3-D effect without making it too puffy and quilted.

3.9.AS 2  a close up

Better still, it gave just the right stiffness to the fabric - enough to give it some body but leave it soft enough to roll easily.  (I'll have to be careful that the inside ammonites don't add too much to the stiffness.)

3.9.SA 3  the little sample rolled up

Now I have a dilemma.  Do I just go ahead with this, since I've been lucky enough to hit on just exactly what I have in my head, or do I go ahead with trying other ideas in case there is an absolutely stunning, fabulous, unbelievably wonderful idea just waiting to be discovered?  ...