Its an Angelina Kind of Day
Penny Muncaster-Jewell

I first discovered Angelina a couple of years ago and I was immediately attracted to it. I have always been attracted to shiny things, so it really was a match made in heaven. After playing and experimenting with it in small areas, to add glitz to some of my other wearables, the idea of creating an entire garment from it started to develop. At about that same time, the call for entries for the 2005 ASG/Simplicity’s annual wearable competition was announced. One of the proposed patterns was Simplicity’s 4748. This is an Asian Inspired pattern, with an asymmetrical jacket, pants and top and even a darling little purse. And so the experimenting began.

I played around with the Angelina, to get the color combination and the translucent effect I wanted. I used about a half ounce of 6 different Angelina colors to create enough fabric for the jacket, purse trim and samples. By lightly layering the different colors of Angelina, and then ironing (between parchment paper) to meld the fibers together, I created a delicate sheet of fabric that glistened delightfully, yet was still see-through or translucent. This layering is similar to working with wool or silk rovings when felting. I was totally fascinated by the idea of keeping the Angelina light and airy, but the challenge was how to keep it strong enough to make a garment and not have it fall apart. After some false starts, I eventually determined that if the fused Angelina sheets were supported by some organza, I could achieve the look I wanted.

I made several samples to determine which color of organza to use. I finally selected a rich dark gold crystal organza. The next stage was to work out how to join these together. At that time I had not discovered that the Angelina sheets, could be fused to the organza using a bonding agent (BO-NASH Bonding Agent 007), so that meant I had to stitch it to the organza. I needed a fairly light stitching so as not to interfere with the drape or translucent effect, but one that would provide enough coverage.

I eventually selected a continuous line quilting pattern from Golden Threads, (Earthlines by Julie Mullin, the Bamboo forest designs.) With their permission, I digitized the designs and then combined these to attach the Angelina to the organza. Using my embroidery machine and my alignment technique for creating large pieces of fabric, I created enough for the fronts, back and sleeves. I use an antique gold thread (Kingstar MG4) on the Angelina side (which almost disappeared into the Angelina) and Maderia variegated thread (#Polyneon, color 1604) in the bobbin. The result is a very subtle hand created original fabric. I also digitized a smaller version of the bamboo lattice and used this to enhance the collar and cuffs. Then I proceeded as normal to construct the jacket. Since the jacket was not lined, I used French seams throughout and used a “baby hem” to finish the jacket edges.

I must tell you about one major problem I had when creating the fabric. To hold the Angelina sheets and organza together while embroidering, I used a temporary adhesive spray. I did not want to hoop as I was afraid the Angelina fabric would crease or break. Unfortunately, because the Angelina and the polyester organza do not “breathe”, it took about 6 weeks for the temporary adhesive spray to dissipate. I tried washing it out, crying, praying and even beating myself with a wet noodle, but it took its own sweet time to eventually go away. In the meantime, it stuck to everything that touched it! As a result, I missed the deadline for the ASG/Simplicity competition! So be warned. I now just pin or baste the layers together.

 

Ulycees Blue Jacket and Purse
By Penny Muncaster-Jewell

While on vacation in Australia I visited the Butterfly Sanctuary just outside of Cairns in North Queensland. They had these magnificent native butterflies called Ulycees Butterflies which were just my favorite shade of blue! I fell in love and ever since I have wanted to create this design. So I did. In the meantime, I discovered this scrumptious fiber called Angelina. I used a very light layer of the turquoise Angelina, and the black silk organza muted it to the perfect color while still leaving a translucent effect I desired. I digitized the butterfly in my PE-Design software. It is basically an applique design. Using the programmable fill feature I was able to create the texture for the wings, and using the new stamp feature, I was able to create flat areas where the Swarovski® crystals were placed.

I created two different sized versions of the design, one large for the jacket back and purse, and a smaller one for the jacket front and sleeves. The result is a stunning elegant jacket. Although extra glitz was added with the crystals, I felt they were needed as without them the butterflies almost disappeared.

I used Louise Cutting’s By Popular Demand pattern for the jacket. These designs are available as kits from DesignbyDawn.

Peacock Shawl and Purse
Penny Muncaster-Jewell

Some Victorian purses, I saw at an exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum back in the seventies, inspired this little purse. This is my interpretation of them. Theirs used real peacock feathers, but I thought these are just as pretty!

I digitized the peacock feather and then used three different colors of Angelina fiber to enhance the peacock image. Onyx, Rose Gold, and Emerald were used to simulate the eye of the peacock. I took the design and used them to create a stunning shawl and purse. To create the stem for the feathers I used a braiding foot and 5 colors of YLI Candlelight thread (Gold, Lime Green, Midnight, Royal Blue, and Black) Using King Star M4 metallic thread and one of the fancy stitches on my sewing machine (the turkey foot pattern!) I stitched the stem down. The braiding foot has 5 holes, and each color is passed through a single hole. The foot keeps the threads flat.

I did some feathers with and some without the Angelina. The purse uses black synthetic suede and black silk organza, and has a pull tie closure. The shawl is done on black silk organza. Each panel was made separately and then joined together using beads at approximately 2 inch intervals. This was loosely based on the technique used in Kayla Kenningtons Seams and Shapes 918.

This is a great travel outfit as it takes no space and easily dresses up a plain black dress or pants and tops.