So, you know how on Monday I said I liked that the fairies in Snow White And the Huntsman were genderless? Despite that, I couldn't help but make mine a girl. And the best way to do that, was to give her pink wings!
So I started by painting some lutradur pink and then cutting it out in wing shapes that would suit my fairy's body ...
And then pulled some mostly sheer scraps from my stash (and yes, those are some of the same scraps that I incorporated when I made my little yellow throated warbler for Spring.) You'll want to use sheer fabrics so that you get a light, feather-like, appearance at the end. If you use cotton, for instance, the wings will look to heavy to fly!
- Fuse the fabric using a paper-backed fusible
- peel off the paper and then cut out each "feather" individually. (I peel the paper off first because it's just WAY too hard to peel it off once they're cut; also, if you peel the paper off first, for some reason, it seems to reduce fraying of the fabric)
- place the feathers in a pleasing pattern on the wing base, keeping in mind that it's the first layer. Then do your second and third layers in the same way. And bob's your uncle, you've got some wings!
Finished fairy on Friday. See you then. :)
P.S. - It's Wednesday, so I'm joining up with The Needle and Thread Network for WIP Wednesday. Come and see what other Canadian fiber art bloggers are up to!
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I looked at these wings and my immediate reaction was that they might be a good subject for using dis-solvable fabric/film. You could try placing the lutrador and the tiny pieces of shiny fabrics in a sandwich between the dis-solvable fabric and stitching to hold down. That way you could, if you wanted, omit the lutrador and just have the shimmering shiny fabrics. You just have to make sure that you catch each tiny piece with a stitch to hold them together when you disolve the fabric/film away.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestion Hilary. :)
DeleteI chose this way because I wanted the pink-y sheen to the wings. Also, in my experiments with making wings, I haven't wanted them to be stitched in any way - these pieces are so tiny (less than a centimetre long and only 3 millimetres wide) that stitching of any kind is too heavy - and also, too time consuming! I prefer my fusible. ;)
Doesn't every female have secret fairy fantasies?
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see her!
I don't know if every female does, but I sure do. :) I even have a fairy necklace and earrings. :)
DeleteWow! That's a lot of clipping! Can't wait to see them in place! I did a similar thing with a postcard bird, and loved the effect.
ReplyDeleteSince you asked, here are my bird feathers (on a M U C H smaller scale) ;-). http://becky-beckysblabber.blogspot.com/2012/01/trial-and-error.html
Deletelol Becky, I think MINE are smaller, actually - each feather is only 3 mm wide and and 5 mm tall! :) But yours look great! :)
DeleteYou are one crazy lady, but those wings are gonna be beautiful when you put 'em together!
ReplyDeleteP.S. D'you suppose that's how The Creator does it: one feather at a time? :-)
Love the wings and I must say there is something magical about the words..."finished fairy on Friday"
ReplyDelete