I
have been working on one of my favourite things – feathers. I love the softness, the colours, of
feathers. A wall hanging I have just
made combines stitched feathers with real ones.
In the first picture, you can see a stitched semi-plume feather which is
one that has the central shaft (the rachis) and vanes with barbs, but no
barbules, which are the tiny hooks on the ends that zip the edges of the
feather together and keep the shape. So
it looks much like a little fluffy Christmas tree. You will notice how I have stitched this with
a few machine stitches to a shred of wool roving and the feather itself is in
variegated metallic thread.
The
next picture shows a couple of feathers stitched in bright yellow rayon thread.
I have combined these with yellow wool
roving and a real feather – that’s the white one.
I
have left lots of loose threads because I like the texture, and it helps to
give a slightly raised look, along with the feathers themselves being
malleable, as they are stitched on water-soluble film. Always do at least two lines over each other
before dissolving. The result if you
don’t is distinctly weird!
