You didn't say how big a piece, you want to work on. If you only have the thinnest Solvy sheets, then you will need more to stabilize the work area. Solvy sheets can be pressed with a 'dry' iron to fuse them together while you do your stitching. Ideally, a hoop would enable you use single sheets of Solvy for this technique, working one area at a time before moving on to the next - I have a 10" machine embroidery hoop which is big enough to not have to make frequent shifts of work area using free motion stitches. Without a hoop, you will need a thicker Solvy base to start the technique (2 sheets of Solvy) a layer of your silk threads, layer of Solvy, layer of more silk threads, layer of Solvy. Press the whole with a dry iron especially around the edges to help seal the Solvy layers - sew a sepentine grid to hold all the layers together (if you are going to free motion sew the piece) or a straight line grid (if you are going to use a regular stitch. Use a looser tension and a longer stitch length to make the grid. Remember that you need to have enough stitches in place when you think you are finished to hold the piece together when the Solvy is removed. If a hole appears anytime in the Solvy, it can be patched by sewing a piece of Solvy over the hole and continuing as before. The more decorative sewing that you do over the Solvy - there is less of it open to cause sticking to the machine bed. Use the same decorative thread in the bobbin as is used in the needle and have fun. Jennifer in Ottawa
---------- Sat, Sep 6, 2003, 12:20pm (EDT+4) From: snipped-for-privacy@aol.comcuckoo (Nurse=A0Ratched) Anyone have any experience with this stuff? Quite a while back, I read this fascinating article about taking silk fibers and scattering them between two layers of Solvy, then stitching wildly over them with decorative thread. Rinse away the Solvy and, voila!, you have this wonderful lacy thing. I finally dragged all of the supplies out last night, and had enormous difficulty with the Solvy. It dragged under the presser foot, so that everything tended to be stuck and bunched. Then I got the bright idea to sandwich everything between two layers of tissue paper because, after all, tissue paper is very light and will just dissolve away--right? Wrong. Although the sewing part went fabulously, the end result can serve as little more than a lesson in what NOT to do. I'm really hoping you'll have a hint to offer that won't involve using an embroidery hoop. I hate the stop-start-stop that comes with constantly having to move the hoop. If it matters, I think I bought the lightest-weight Solvy. Nurse Ratched (remove "cuckoo" from address to reply) We'll all get back to normal if we put our nation first, But the trouble with "normal" is, it always gets worse. ~Bruce Cockburn