Fabric Bowl

Bowl Base with flash, bowl sides without flash!

Well, Christmas and New Year are over for another year. Bah Humbug.

This bowl was inspired by a blogsite I came across while following other links (as you do!).

I couldn't find instructions anywhere for making a round bowl, only square ones, so basically guessed. The templates were a small bowl and large dinner plate. I did find that once you start creating multiple layers, I had to trim the inside edge of the bowl sides, and the bowl bottom back by about 5cm in total. The inside fabric is a blue batik with gold "lightning" bolts, shading from light blue to purple. I put two layers of my heaviest fusible interfacing on the back, as I can't source the "Timtex" suggested on various sites (well, not at Spotlight, anyway!)

I then embellished with rust-dyed cotton, machine embroidery thread (two spools thru 1 needle); layered fibres, feathers, and bits and bobs under solvy, then free-motioned embroidered. The solvy came off pretty easily, so my "glue-pot" of solvy is filling fast. I've ordered some "Thermogauze", which hopefully will come soon, and see if that would work better.

I put another two layers of heavy fusible interfacing on the underside fabric, then put low loft batting and another couple of layers of newly purchased heavier interfacing. I then sewed the bowl into a circle with satin stitch - 2 shades of variegated blue inside, and red outside, then sewed branching lines from the outside to inside edge to stiffen it. Then hand-sewed the bottom to the inside, hand-sewed the bottom, interfacing and batting to the bottom, and satin-stitched the bottom of the bowl in.

The underside of the bowl is a totally insipid pale blue, I tried layering pieces of waste sari-silk and free-motion embroidery, but it's still yucky. Today I hope to attack it with dry-brush paint and change the colour to a darker blue, and try some stencilling on it - it's gotta be better than it is now.

FABRIC ART WORKBOOK: I'm going to start an online course working thru this book by Susan Stein in January, so have been making up a shopping list of required goodies - it would be nice if I could actually afford all the things I need, let alone want.

STOATS: Went up into the Waitakere's this morning and checked my stoatline. The Dam is overflowing with water - there was very heavy rain again last night for about 5 hours. 1 horribly dead squashed rat, and replaced 15 rotten eggs. Normally the smell of dead things doesn't bother me, but these eggs nearly made me loose it! At least 24deg up there, before midday.