Faux chenille or layer and slash update

Faux chenille after washing and fluffing

It's that time again in the C&G course when I have to demonstrate faux chenille.  I really enjoyed trying it out last time, so was keen to make more samples this time.  You can see instructions on my blog from last time here.  Here I'm going to tell you what new things I discovered this time.

The stitched fabric before cutting

This time, I had some cheap polycotton sheets and used these for four layers.  I got out my scrap bag and put pieces of brighter colours in between the layers, especially under the top one.  

Cut fabric before washing - so much flatter than after washing

For the first sample, I tried using thick thread for the top stitching.  It did look good before I washed it, but to be honest, it was kind of lost when it was all fluffed up, so not worth the extra effort.  

Stitching with the thicker thread, front and back

For the bottom layer of fabric, I used black and the thread on the underside was a variegated one.  It looks good against the black.  On the second one, I used a grey thread for some of it on the bottom and it doesn't look as effective.

The Clover cutter

I timed myself making it, and the first one from start to finished slashing took 4 hours.  It is approximately 20in (50cm) square.  Some of my students were surprised at how long it took, until they tried for themselves!  There is an awful lot of stitching in it and cutting the layers with scissors was hard on the wrists.
After that, I decided I really needed to try a proper chenille cutter and my friend Marjory recommended the Clover one.  It is fabulous.  It just tears through the layers of fabric and it took me half the time.  Wish I had bought one years ago!
For fluffing up, as I still don't have a tumble drier, I used a clean kitchen non-stick scouring sponge.  It seemed to work well.

Clover Slasher in action

Eventually I want to make a quilt using lots of these squares, but given everything else I have to at the moment, it may be sometime.  I really want to try playing with the patterns you can make and not just running diagonally across each square.  So many ideas and so little time! At least with the second C&G Certificate group starting a few weeks ago, I will have the opportunity to demonstrate it again soon.

The second piece

How-to: Faux Chenille

One of the best bits of teaching City & Guilds Patchwork and Quilting is having to explore techniques and make samples.  I suppose you get to know what you like and it is easy to stick with it rather than experimenting with new ideas, so it is good to have a reason to play with techniques which are not part of my normal repertoire. 

And so it is with faux chenille.  I remember making (not very successful) samples when I did my City & Guilds Embroidery course and it is a technique I had thought about for my Unsung Muses series as it is very much about concealing and revealing.  But I don’t think I ever tried it.  So it was really good to have to research it to teach to the C&G Group at the Studio at Loch Lomond.   

Here is the step-by-step on how to make faux chenille:

What fabrics?

You can use any fabric that will fray.  Cotton generally works well, flannel is great.  Some manmade ones are good, others do not fray.  You need to experiment with what you have to see what will work. You will need somewhere between 4-7 layers of fabric.

Bright colours work well.  Remember that all the layers apart from the bottom one are going to be cut through, so it is a good way to use up old fabrics you no longer like or buy cheap ones specially for the task.

Getting started

1 Put your backing fabric face down.  This should be one of the nicer fabrics if you are intending the back of the work to be seen. Important: all fabrics should be placed on the grain – you need to be able to cut them on the bias, so place all fabrics square on to the grain.

2 A good tip I read was to place the next fabric also face down as the edges will curl round.

 

3 Layer up the rest of your fabrics all face up.

4 Turn the sandwich over and draw a diagonal line from corner to corner on the bias.

5 Pin the layers together to hold in place.

Stitching

1 Stitch along your marked line, using a smaller stitch size than normal and putting a few backstitches in at the start and end of the row.

2 Stitch a line parallel to the one you have just stitched, about 1/2in away – you can experiment with the distance between the lines.  For the first sample, use the edge of your presser foot again the line you have stitched as a guideline.

3 Keep stitching parallel lines until the fabric is covered.

Finishing

1 Cut between your lines of stitching but NOT through the bottom layer.

2 Throw the piece in the washing machine and then, if you have one, the tumble drier.

3 Fluff up with your fingers and leave to dry.

 

I got really excited making this group of samples and now have loads of ideas of how I could use this in patchwork and my artwork.  Apparently Asda sell good quality plain coloured cheap sheets, which would be fantastic for this.  I just need to get to the supermarket!

Here are some links that I found useful when I was researching.  Kim Thittichai seems to have used the technique with newspaper in one of her books and posts a beautiful piece inspired by her book on her blog.

Also I just loved the baby blanket made in such strong jewel colours on Dana Made It blog.

Have you made any faux chenille?