Class 2
FABRIC ART WORKSHOP Margherita Allan
Square lay out – registration lines, glued corflute finish, art label
Registration lines for a square lay out
Lay out your backing piece of calico and use either the “square ruler” (looks like an L) or your cutting mat
to draw lines for placing your squares (registration lines). OR you can fold and crease the fabric as guide
lines.
If you have even No of squares layout eg 4 x 4 squares etc
- draw a + in the middle area of your size
Then glue 4 squares around the + so edges butt up to each other.
Use watered down PVA glue (usually 50 / 50)
Then keep placing squares along the line, below and above it.
Then butt up the rest of squares to these lines of squares
If you have an odd No of squares layout eg 3 x 4 or 5 x 7 etc
Either measure accurately or eyeball an approx placement of the lines (BUT must still draw the line
accurately)
1) Quickly lay the squares across one of the sides to get an approx idea of
where to draw or crease the line
2) Either - draw 2 of the outside border lines in an L shape,
Glue squares starting in the corner of the L and then work along 1 line
- OR make line between 2 squares eg in a 3 squares across layout - put the
L line between first and second square.
Glue squares either side of the line
Then butt up the rest of squares to the other squares and along the other edge
of the L line to align the next squares.
Glued Corflute finish.
Measure just the art area (don’t include any backing fabric) and cut the corflute slightly less than this eg ¼
cm allowance off each side SO take ½ cm off total side measurements eg if 30cm cut 29 ½ cm. This allows
for the backing fabric to slightly roll over the edge so that a clean line is seen.
Real estate signs are a very cheap way to get corflute.
Sold at the Recycle centre/ dump shop next to Palmers garden centre, Lincoln St.
Make corflute stronger or thicker or bigger
Stronger - Corflute has a grain (the hollow ribs)and bends along the grain reasonably easily. If you don’t
want the risk of a bend then glue 2 sheet together with grains going in opposite directions eg 1 grain across
2nd grain going lengthwise.
Thicker - Glue corflute sheets together to make them thicker, with grains going in opposite direction.
Bigger - Glue 2 layers together when patching smaller sheets together to make a larger piece. Stagger
the joins (like brickwork) __!__ (! is join) __ is corflute )) and grains going in opposite directions.
_!__!__
Use a 50/50 glue mix – unless you find it wont stick properly and you’ll need full strength glue.
–this happens if the fabric is very thick or the corflute is a bit slippery
You can glue the front of the corflute and lay the art on it IF you are sure the glue wont show thru the fabric
or the glue won’t cause anything to dissolve and run. Otherwise go straight to next step.
Mount and glue backing fabric to corflute
Lay the art face down and lay the corflute down on the tile area.
OR if there are guide lines on front of art eg a seam sewn around the edge
Place art face up on corflute
Push pins thru art into corflute to hold in place
Stand corflute upright and slightly stretch fabric to the back and push a pin from the back
thru corflute and art to the front.
Flip over, confirm art placement and start glue process.
Have damp cloths ready to wipe your hands as the next part is messy.
Have your container of glue and brush ready for adding more glue and scissors for cutting excess fabric.
Use 50/50 glue. Sometimes it wont stick properly if fabric is very thick or slippery – then use it full strength
Have container of “glue” pins and use plenty to keep fabric in place. As the fabric dries enough to hold the
fabric in place, remove them, few at a time. If fabric is completely dry before removing pins then
sometimes pliers are needed to remove them.
Keep these pins separate as they have a glue surface and wont work well with sewing fabric. Use
bent and rusted pins (but no rusted ones if pining the front of art.
Have grease proof paper and weights (phone book etc) if needed to keep fabric flat.
This part is a little tricky but by working back and forth between all the steps it will all come together. And if
you find a part won’t stick down just add more glue.
Confirm that the art is still in the correct placement of the corflute with the first couple of steps as it is very
easy to pull it off straight.
Images are for binding but show the steps for working with the corners of the backing well
http://www.thesplitstitch.com/2011/08/satisfied-sentiment-casual-dinner.html
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As you glue the back, also run glue around edge of the corflute.
Start in a corner and follow the cutting guide in #1
- Imagine the corflute is in the square area under her hand and you have folded the backing fabric
over the corner of the corflute and onto the back
- cut the fabric about 1 cm in from the corner edge on an angle
#2 shows what the fabric will look like when released
- fold the backing over the corflute again (#1) then fold the sides over too, you don’t need to fold
under as #3 shows. Make sure the folded fabric is right under to the edge of the corflute and you
will have a mitre corner (#3). You may have to cut surplus fabric away from the sides, to get a
good fit
Repeat for the other corners
Now move on to the sides – you may have to move side fabric around and re-adjust corners to keep it all
flat. Run glue along the back near the sides.
1) Start on 1 side, in the middle, gently pull some of the backing fabric over to the back and press
into the glue
– confirm the tile art is still in correct placement – it should just be showing where the
backing fabric has folded away from it.
2) Then pull over some fabric on the opposite side, confirming art placement
3) Then pull over some top fabric
4) Then pull over some bottom fabric
Repeat these 4 steps as you glue more of each sides fabric to the back
Let dry, weighed down if needed.
Art label
Labels can be just a vivid pen written details, on back of art IF you have enough batting etc layers or a hard
backing to prevent pen from bleeding thru.
Or you can print something on fabric by computer, cut out and fuse or sew to the back of art.
Or you can hand / machine stitch the details
Or you can buy readymade labels and fill in, from sewing or quilting shops.
Details should include – your first and last name and whoever else contributed eg if someone else quilted it,
month, year, name of the art, any other relevant details eg if you have copied the art - name the artist.