Butterfly Appendages

[Elmsley Rose]

Hi :-)

 

 I put this message in the General Discussion Group, but I thought I'd add it here too since the Stumpworkers would know the most about these sort of wires.

 

 I've talked about making this butterfly in an earlier discussion. I've attached an image of the black and white drawing again. Note that the butterfly has legs, antennae and thick tendrils. I may not do the tendrils.

 

Any suggestions for any wired threads (or anything else) to use for these three types of appendages would be much appreciated.

 

 I think that I need a variety of wired threads :

 The butterfly body is highly sculptured in felt, so the three legs on top will stick out. They need to be of a thin wire.

 The antenna could be of the same width, or thicker, and need to 'remember' one end being curled into a small circle to form the end of the antennae.

 The tendrils (if I do them - I've already done the back wing as a detached piece, so it's sticking up) need to be of a wire about 3 times as thick - and be able to hold their position up in space, over the butterfly.

 

 I've got some silk covered purl from Thistle Threads (another silk covered wire thread used for historical embroidery) but that's too limp.

 

The Gilt Sylke Twist is too limp as well.

 

 I've had a look at DMC memory wire, and they don't have a colour enough slightly close to what I could use, given the project is more than half done.

 

 Kreinik's hot wire - Chatreuse is a possibility, but I don't know how stiff it really is. Could someone that has some help me? Would it hold a curl at one end and a position in space?

 

Plastic coated beading wire? How stiff is that? There seems to be a good range of colours. Does it look 'cheap' (given I've got a lot of gold metal threads on the butterfly)

 

I could buttonhole stitch some florist's wire, but that would take forever......

 

Thanks so much,

Megan/Elmsley Rose

[0hnl7ir6h6ny7]

Hi Elmsley Rose  I will probably be of little help.  I only use one kind of wire for my stump work.  It is not covered.  I cover the wire with whatever I am using for the rest of the piece.  For legs etc I cover the wire by wrapping with the thread I am using  -  most often stranded cotton, occasionally with a fine metallic, and a touch of glue at the end to keep in place.  The same for antenna.   Peggy

[Elmsley Rose]

Peggy,

You say that you 'cover' the wire.  Could you please expand on "cover"? I've read of covering wire using buttonhole stitch. Do you do this, or just wrap it around and around, or something else? Using how many strands of thread? (I'm using DMC)

 

:-)

Megan

[Emily]

Hi,

I've been playing a lot with wires lately.  I always use the paper covered wires (or pipe cleaners for thicker) because the threads don't slip around so much, although the wire does end up being a little thicker because of the paper.  It will hold it's shape though.  You don't need to do button-hole all around the wire, just wrap it with 1 strand of thread.  You can use a thicker thread if you want the result to be thicker.  Usually I wrap near the edge of the wire and then bend it over and wrap over the bent tip and on down.  This does make a little knob at the end.  I have used just a tiny dab of glue to hold the thread in place at the tip so you don't need to fold over the end.  Be sure to use enough glue so the the thread doesn't slide off though, and let the glue dry before you start wrapping.  If you want your wire to have tight curls, you can wrap it around a needle or something like that.  For making leaves and flower petals and such, I always use a tweezers to gently bend the wire around the shape.  It works great and I don't get little sharp angles in the wire where I don't want them.  And finally the paper colored wire is great because you can color it to match your thread since it only comes in white and green.

[Carol-Anne]

Hi Megan

 

I was at a craft show on Sunday and on one of the bead stalls they were demonstrating making beads from wire.  I didn't take much notice so I don't know what it is called but it came in a variety of colours and (I think) different guages.  The heavier gauges certainly held their shape.

 

The silk covered purl would be too limp as it is but could you thread a stiffer wire through it to make it more rigid and bend it into curves?  I think it would be worth a go as the teendrils are lovely and would rather impressive in silk purl!

 

CA

 

[0hnl7ir6h6ny7]

Elmsley Rose said:

Peggy,

You say that you 'cover' the wire.  Could you please expand on "cover"? I've read of covering wire using buttonhole stitch. Do you do this, or just wrap it around and around, or something else? Using how many strands of thread? (I'm using DMC)

 

:-)

Megan

[0hnl7ir6h6ny7]

For legs and antenna, wrap the wire  -  round and round.  Usually one strand.  Can use two but separate strands in the usual way to be sure they are not twisted and keep the strands untwisted when wrapping.

 

For shapes ie. wings,  leaves, etc overcast the wire to the base fabric and then buttonhole over,  which you will have already done.       Peggy

[martha dillow]

Hi ER,

 

I'm surprised that you're saying the silk covered purl is too limp. . . is your intention to have those wire elements entirely (or almost entirely) free. . . with little or no couching?  In that case I would agree with you. . .   It also looks like you may NOT want all those coils???  I agree with other folks that making your own thread covered wire should work.

 

Another option would be to investigate alternative materials.  There are lots of wires out there that are not made for embroidery but can be used that way.   Our EGA chapter did a piece designed by our President that uses tendrils made from wire from a hardware store. (I'll post a picture on my blog as soon as I sign off here. . . stitchingwithkittens.blogspot.com )  If you need something a little heavier, that might be a good thing to try.  I've casually looked, and there are quite a few wires available in a variety of colors.  And they're much less expensive than craft supplies!

 

Martha

 

[Faith]

I don't know about what wires to use, but I think the tendrils would look lovely in a crocheted or buttonhole covered wire, with simply covered wires for the rest (as Peggy described). The plastic coated wired might be OK for the legs and maybe antennae, but not the tendrils.

[Elmsley Rose]

[Elmsley Rose]

Hi Martha :-)

Yes, the wire elements will be free, with no couching.

 

I don't care about whether the wired thread is coiled like a purl or not. All I want is something in the right colour, that sticks up and holds it's shape (but you can still move - I don't want it solid as a rock, but just stay where you put it, if the recipient of this piece wants to play with his antennae or other appendages)

Now to find a hardware store on-line, that shows the range of colours ...

Thankyou again

 

[Elmsley Rose]

Hi Faith :-)

Not the tendrils? Because there's too much plastic on show?

 

Yeah - I'm pretty committed on having the anntennae done in wrapped wire now.

 

I've got another couple of ideas, which I'm about to put in a general answer....

[Elmsley Rose]

I thought I'd add a couple of ideas - where my design thoughts are at, after this wonderful discussion - you've all been so helpful!

Antennae :

~~~~~~~~~

I'm pretty set on using wrapped wire (as Peggy and Emily have so kindly taught me) for the antennae.  Beading wire sounds ideal for the job but it's plastic.  After I've used proper Oes instead of sequins, it goes against my 'historical' instincts, even tho it sounds ideal for the job.I have the absolute minimum of plastic in my flat - I just don't like the stuff!

Faith commented it was unsuitable for tendrils - waiting for an answer on that one....

Legs :

~~~~~~~~~~

I was looking at my gold metal threads last night. I just have enough milliary wire to make the legs, and maybe try wrapping it with green gilt sylke twist....tho the length I have is barely long enough....a possibility.

Pearl purl is an alternative for those legs - especially if I stretch it and use the green GST with it. And stiffen it with florist's wire as well, as Carol-Anne suggested. Saves buying a spool of wire for 6cm of it! And it will provide an alternative texture to the antennae's wrapped wire, which I think will be nice.

 

Head :

~~~~~~~~~~~

 I'm going to use an Electra beetle wing for the head (well, try to - I've never steamed, cut to shape and then sewn one down before)

 

New question - attaching all these appendages :

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

I have a new question for y'all! :-)

The butterfly body will be sculpted from layers of felt.I'm thinking 3. That body is very small compared to the wings - and wasp waisted.

Attaching the 3 legs closest to the ground will be easy - just attach them (allowing a little extra length) on top of the first layer of felt so are a bit off the fabric ground, but low down.

But I'm a bit stuck on attaching the 3 legs that are on top, and the tendrils (If I go ahead with tendrils).

I plan to cover the felt with raised stem stitch band. I've considered other suitable filling stitches - I'll talk about why I chose stem stitch band on my blog, when I get up to that (my blog is currently really behind! I've done the detached back wing - 95% complete, I just need to couch some thick gold wire around the edge)

I don't know whether to attach the top 3 legs, and then stem stitch around them (A possible nuisance)or to attach them after covering the felt and how I would do that.

I hope I can attach them by sewing over and over the end of the leg end and do a buttonhole wheel on top to make it neat, and/or glue. Plunging won't work, because I won't be able to sew the underside (a mass of felt). I'm open to suggestions!

Is what I'm talking about, with 1 layer felt, 3 legs, then 2 layers felt, raised stem stitch band to colour the body, and 3 legs on top of that (at the bottom of the body, obviously). I want the nicest stem stitch band possible.

I'm thinking that attaching the legs to the second top most layer of felt, so the top layer doesn't have the connections on it is the best solution at the moment, but given I only plan to use 3 layers of felt, there won't be a lot of space between the legs on the bottom and the legs on the top. Maybe I should use an extra layer of felt, or use some padding material (that white stuff that is thinner than felt) to provide a smooth top after adding those top legs? I'm kind of thinking out loud at the moment, but would like to take advantage of any discussion, because it's great to talk about it, and see what you think of my approach, and which could be the best possible approach.....

To attach the antennae to the head, since the head will be part of a Electra beetle wing - well - I'll tell you how plunging a hand-wrapped wire goes! Any ideas here? I'd hate the thread to 'bunch' - I'd better make big plunging holes! Maybe cover the first couple of centimetres of the thread in glue to keep it stable, and put all of the glued part throughto the back?

I might plunge them before attaching the head, where the head will be placed, to hide any possible nastiness, and it will be neater, anyway.

 

I hope you've enjoyed (and followed!) my ramblings.......