fractal
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Date: 5/11/12 5:59 AM Can anyone suggest how to remedy the bagginess in my wallhanging please? It seems that the middle panel stretches quite noticeably when hung, and it is now looking stretched when lying flat, although it looked perfectly OK yesterday lying on a table :(
Baggy wallhanging (vertical)
Baggy wallhanging (vertical, close-up)
Baggy wallhanging lying on table
I made the wallhanging from recycled silk ties appliqued to a lightweight wool coating fabric; each piece has lightweight interfacing fused to stop fraying. The middle border is pieced from silk ties (Seminole) and the other two borders and backing are gabardine which I chose for stability. As I wanted a flat panel rather than a 'quilted' effect, I have not used batting, but I have stitched-in-the-ditch around the inside border to attach the front and back together.
Is the wool stretching under the weight of the appliques? Or is it just not stabilised enough? Could I stabilise it by taking off the backing, steaming the wool to shrink it and then applying interfacing to the back of the whole wool panel?
I am a bit hesitant to do this as it will be irreversible, so any advice or suggestions will be gratefully received  |
Cat n Bull
 
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Date: 5/11/12 10:44 AM Quote: fractal Can anyone suggest how to remedy the bagginess in my wallhanging please? It seems that the middle panel stretches quite noticeably when hung, and it is now looking stretched when lying flat, although it looked perfectly OK yesterday lying on a table :(
Baggy wallhanging (vertical)
Baggy wallhanging (vertical, close-up)
Baggy wallhanging lying on table
I made the wallhanging from recycled silk ties appliqued to a lightweight wool coating fabric; each piece has lightweight interfacing fused to stop fraying. The middle border is pieced from silk ties (Seminole) and the other two borders and backing are gabardine which I chose for stability. As I wanted a flat panel rather than a 'quilted' effect, I have not used batting, but I have stitched-in-the-ditch around the inside border to attach the front and back together.
Is the wool stretching under the weight of the appliques? Or is it just not stabilised enough? Could I stabilise it by taking off the backing, steaming the wool to shrink it and then applying interfacing to the back of the whole wool panel?
I am a bit hesitant to do this as it will be irreversible, so any advice or suggestions will be gratefully received
My thoughts are that the wool is stretching under its own weight.
Wool is supposed to drape nicely on the body, not hang stiffly off it, so it's doing just what it's supposed to do!
I am not sure if interfacing will help, but I can't see how it would hurt, so I'd say it's worth a try.
It is a BEAUTIFUL wallhanging! What a great way to use silk ties!------
Cathryn |
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Date: 5/11/12 11:15 AM Sounds like a lot of work to fix this, but what do you want it to look like in the end? Still baggy when laying or hanging, or nice and neat looking? If you do not care, no problem. If you want nice and neat, then you have a lot of work ahead of you.
As I have not appliqued yet, I am guessing it could have some weight to it. Stablilzer is a good idea.
It is your decision on how much work you want to do. It is lovely, by the way. Too bad you could not make a frame to eiher hang it on to stablilize it or something to hold it in the correct place so it is not so baggy. ------
Quilting is relaxing to me. I love to play with fabrics, patterns and colors.
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PattiAnnJ
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 1 member likes this. It appears to need more quilting to hold the layers together. |
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Date: 5/11/12 11:35 AM I agree with you. I looked at the close up more and only around the pattern is anything to hold it together.
How do you suggest she proceed with more quilting of the wallhanging? ------
Quilting is relaxing to me. I love to play with fabrics, patterns and colors.
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fractal
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Date: 5/11/12 2:07 PM Thanks for all the useful comments and encouragement. I'm not sure that quilting would help as it stands as the backing seems to be waving with the wool. I chose the wool as I really liked the sheen of the ties against it, but it is turning out to be a real challenge!
Perhaps I could take off the backing and quilt the whole thing with Warm n Natural? It's not obvious where I could stitch (around the edge of the outer hexagons) and it would alter the appearance. I am having a hard time visualising if this would be a good thing for the design or not!
I do want it to look flat and neat as it's a gift for the Maths department where I teach, which is why I didn't put batting in originally.  The ties are recycled from members of the school community.
Someone on the web suggested using several horizontal dowels fixed to pockets on the back. I wonder if that would help?
Really I could do with 4 identical wallhangings so I can experiment with different fixes! |
Cat n Bull
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Date: 5/11/12 2:33 PM If you have to take it apart anyways, what about gluing/fusing the front to something like the super stuff interfacing or even something like cardboard? then it would stay thin and not quilted. ------
Cathryn |
sarah in nyc
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Date: 5/11/12 2:55 PM It seems to me that the face of the fabric is heavier than the backing.
often when we work with fabric the physical reality of the materials don't work with the idea we have in our heads. The front is heavier than the back.
if you attach the front to the back then they will function as one. you can stitch through all of the layers by machine. you can use the edges of the appliques as places where you stitch. you can also see this task as a way to add a whole lot of stitching that will either contrast or blend with the backgound material. either way, you will have a bit more textural interest than you have now.
You can also go hg wild and say do the stitching with beads.
to keep yourself from going crazy i would attach the layers and then bind the outzide edges. it's just a less fiddly way to work and the chances of being sucessful are far higher.
Iknow you went into this with a particular vision...but you need to just make this work without pulling out too much of your hair. I can't tell you how ofen i have had to chage direction midway because the sheer physics of the materials have forced me to. You may end up with a piece far better than what your original vision was. ------
sarah in nyc
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Clareew
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Date: 5/11/12 2:58 PM If you quilted the non tie bits, they would retain their shape and look sleek against the quilting. ------
Clare
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Sharon1952
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Date: 5/11/12 3:17 PM You definitely need to get the front tacked to the back, but it is the unequal stretching quality of the front and back fabrics that are causing the problem. Unless it is somehow tacked down the wool will continue to or at least stay stretched. You could stitch Sashiko style in the wool and mimic the shapes you have appliqued.
It is gorgeous so please do what you have to so it can hang for the world to see!  ------
Sewing: A creative mess is better than tidy idleness. ~Author Unknown
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