Silk necklace

[pamd]

Silk-necklace1 by pamd8, on Flickr


silk-necklace2 by pamd8, on Flickr

So, here is a necklace I made (not really finished yet. The catch is missing). I made it with the same silk technique and added wet felted beads. The picture is a little darker than the necklace is, but I took the pictures early this morning and I think that made a difference. I'll try again later, if I get a chance.

Basically after the silk dried and was stiff from the Solvy, I cut circles from it and rewetted the circles. They were then placed over forms (a plastic apple container that I saved from the last time I bought apples - kind of like an egg carton, but for apples and clear plastic) Once the circles were dry again and convex, I removed them from the plastic and turned them upside down. I sprayed the inside with Stiffin Stuff. When that was dry I sprayed them with a satin finish sealer (only the back sides). After that I beaded each circle and then painted the edges with gold.

I think I like the way I decided to make the beads and I'll share it, although I'm sure others may do something similar. I had a 1/16th inch stainless steel rod in my inventory of useless things. I laid out wool and silk and threads on my bubblewrap the length of the rod and rolled the rod up in the wool, then simply felted as usual - rolled and massaged, etc. Rinsed the soap out and laid it outside to dry. After drying I removed the wool from the rod and cut into appropriate length beads.

Stringing the necklace was a disaster from the beginning. I tried several different ways using different materials that didn't work very well. I then decided to go back to my threads and used 6 strands of different colored threads, metallics and silk and rayon, to match the colors on the silk and used that as my stringing material, doubled.

Too much information?

(I do have process photos I took when making the silk material, but now with all the copyright upset, I'm kind of concerned that I may be passing on information gained from the book and perhaps that's not right. What do you think?)

[lyn]

The necklace is a beauty! Must have taken you a long time to make.

It will be a talking point whenever you wear it - people will be very interested once they realise you made it.

This copyright thing is very tricky. Was the process the author's own invention or is she simply passing on knowledge? Is the process available in other books or on the internet or youtube?

[MTRuth]

Wonderful! I love how you combined a lot of techniques. I think you are taking the technique from the book and making it your own. The making of silk "paper" has been around for a long time and I don't think that author invented it.

[pamd]

Su, Ruth, am I making silk paper? I need to do research - lol.

[MTRuth]

That's what I've always heard it called. There are several books about it - I checked one out of the library, I think the author's name was Judy Pinell??

[pamd]

I looked the process up online and it seemed somewhat different than the process from the book. Wallpaper paste was used and it was painted on through netting or screens. No sewing, no Solvy (though that is a substitute for the paste.)

Maybe this picture will be better.


silk-necklace3 by pamd8, on Flickr

[MTRuth]

I know it seems different but to me it seems it is actually the same stuff. Silk with a glue used to hold it together. You can stitch the other afterward. But the Solvy thing with other materials sandwiched between is definitely not a new thing. It's like my felt scrap bowl tutorial just using silk instead.

[pamd]

So, you think I should put up the process pics? What's different - using hankies instead of caps, adding silk threads.....that's about it.

[Shepherdess]

It came out really nice. the beads look great on the silk. I never know quite what to do for beadwork. When i took a silk paper class it was a tacky glue and we put the silk on screens and then the glue. The screen was to keep it stable while it dried. I have heard it called silk felt too.

[MTRuth]

What ever you feel comfortable with Pam. I post process photos of things that I've learned from other people. I just try to acknowledge the source I learned from if possible.

[jufergu]

I really love the color and texture. Just beautiful.

[zed]

That's gorgeous, Pam
I completely agree with Ruth, I was thinking the same thing about her felt bowl technique.
Once you have information, especially if you paid for it, it's your to do what you like with. Give credit where you can if there's someone you learned from. We're obviously all creative people and I doubt any of us really do anything exactly the same as the source when we've learned something, we all make it our own. It's obvious in what you've made that you brought your own ideas to it.

[karen]

Thats really gorgeous Pam, i love how you try different things so i really think i need to come to your house lol

[pamd]

Come any time, Karen! And thank you.

So, you may be interested to hear that I took a couple of leftover circles from the silk, plus some smaller circles that I cut from the scraps and added them to a piece of felt today to see if they would felt in - and they did! I also added, interestingly enough, all the tiny pieces of thread from taking my purse apart to see how that would felt, and it felted in also! Just amazing felting is!

[zed]

I was wondering last week if the process you use would work with felting the way the other silk paper ones do

I'm like you, Pam, don't throw anything away, save it and see how it works in felting. The other day I felted a piece with all the threads that had come off my organza pieces and I'd saved
It worked really well, but being so sparkly/shiny was impossible to photograph!