Newbie on embellishing – help please!
Hello there. Im a newbie to sewing and have been mostly teaching myself through the internet. Im in love with embellishing fabrics/embellished clothing (mostly with sew on rhinestones/embellishments etc.). Here are some questions:
1. Why do people use tulle/mesh to embellish on before sewing it onto a fabric – rather than just sewing the embellishments straight onto the fabric? I want to start a project on embellishing a particular garment (lets just call it a skirt) but im not too sure whether i should sew the embellishments straight onto the fabric first or onto tulle/mesh first then onto the fabric?
2. If you embellish on tulle/mesh – how do you transfer it onto fabric? Is it as simple as just cutting around your embellished design and then sewing it onto the fabric? Is there a different technique? Because cutting around the design and sewing it onto a fabric looks a bit ugly to me?
3. I’ve purchased some tambour hooks to do some tambour beading but wanted to know if its a rule to bead on tulle/see-through material only? As all the vids ive seen seem to be beading on see-through fabric only?
4. Is there are rule for the types of fabric that should be used to be embellish on? Because i’m planning to use polyester fabric. Should i add lining in between the outer (embellished) and inner layer (i dont want the threads to show on the inside)? Anyone know a better technique to hide the threads after embellishing a fabric?
5. One last thing – does anyone know any good embellishment/rhinestone suppliers/manufacturers? I cant find any GOOD and affordable suppliers. I have only been purchasing my stock from Alibaba but the language barrier can be too overwhelming sometimes :-/
Thanks in advance!
Flo
Replies
I do a lot of embillishments, but possibly not as fancy as yours. I usually use good beads, fabric applique, and hand painting. I've never used tulle or mesh. I'm trying to learn to sew/embroider with silk and have used a water soluble backing which is working so far. (Knowing me, I'll probably find a way to screw it up before I'm through.) Although, I call mistakes "Learning experiences".
1. The reason why some people add tulle/mesh is because the embellishments, when attached first to the tulle/mesh acts like another layer, as opposed to directly sewing the embellishments onto the fabric itself.
2. Yes, it's as simple as just sewing it onto the fabric, you could however choose whether to include the whole tulle/mesh, or just cut the parts where you sew the embellishments. And as for the final product, it really depends on the person who does the sewing.
As for the other questions, Im sure that there are others who can help you. Cheers.
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