Finished, now the written work.

Following on from the Tyvek and silk sample there came Lutrador and silk. 

Lutrador is constructed of spun polyester fibres, it comes in various weights and reacts really well to heat distressing, giving an interesting textural effect.

I rusted the Lutrador, but since I was using the lightweight Lutrador 30, the colouring was very faint, but just enough to knock back the original white colour.

I layered pelmet Vilene, patches of silk, silk noil, linen, scrim and cotton and then overlayed with the Lutrador. I then machine stitched the layers into place, using an angular design reflecting the architecture from my initial drawings.

Then the exciting bit. The heat gun. Lutrador doesn't need much heat before it starts reacting. I love watching the fibres curl and shrink back against the base fabric.

The collar is given structure by a layer of chicken wire and backed with Tyvek.

The layers are then hand stitched with crochet cotton, which I also coloured using the same rust method I used on the cotton and silk.

I would have loved to knit a white vest to rust, I thought it would have worked well for display purposes, but I just didn't have time. I made do with cotton Jersey from good old H&M instead.

It's finally finished, I can rest my poor tired gnarled hands, stitching through 3 and four layers of fabric and chicken wire takes its toll! Here are a few sneaky photos, full effect photos to come in a few weeks.