Moon Test 1 is still in process
the hand of the suede and the fine stitches were mangled by the PVA glue and trying to stitch through it just made it worse so that gave me an excuse to play with more glue, adding some Japanese abaca paper and cutting out some tiny stars from a wonderful starry cloth Nancy of Pomegranate Trail gifted me awhile back, then the over the top piping and silk cord for the edge, a few blue glass beads and some Lapis Lazuli
sitting on the base of the old Starry Container to get an idea of how the form will look
stitching the 1.5 mm leather cord with Gütermann black linen thread and pressing each round over the mold to keep the curve even for the dark side of the Moon
Visited Birdsall Leather in Botany yesterday, bought 50m of 2mm black leather cord and a reel of Crawford no 18 4 cord black waxed linen thread for the big moon as although this test is working well it will need lining &/or reinforcing to be sturdy enough to hold the top
also popped in to see Rosemarie Jeffers-Palmer of Amazing Paper & Sydney Bookbinding to buy more paste & Kozo repair tissue. She confirmed that suede and paste are notoriously difficult to combine because pig skin is so porous but recommended making more tests. I will try rolling out the glue on a sheet of glass and pressing the leather onto it, using a few different mixes- 50:50 PVA to starch paste & 25:75 PVA to starch but feeling that stretching the leather over the papier maché mold with the interface glued into place will work best, like stretching a canvas for painting.
Moon Test 1 still in process
Posted: June 29, 2017 by Mo Crow in Braille for the Soul, It's Crow TimeTags: Once in a Blue Moon
Comments
It's Crow Time 
Thank you for all the detail, the angst, the blood…most people see a finished item and don’t realise how much of the artist is “in” the work – 🙂
(((Di))) photographing the stages and blogging combined with catching ideas on the fly in sketchbooks really helps me remember what goes into it all!
(I don’t dare to look …)
Good luck, Mo !!!!!!!
(((Els))) mustn’t be too hasty, will do as many tests as needed as I really don’t want to sacrifice the 250 hours of stitching that went into Once in a Blue Moon
Wow…what a process to work through! I had forgotten that I sent you cloth stars, glad they’ve become useful 🙂 Makes me curious what else I’ve sent you, or anyone and forgotten! haha
(((Nancy))) the beautiful cloth has lots of stars on a dark indigo print, you also sent some feathers, a stone, beads & red rose petals
Yes…I remember that cloth! I bet I even have more of it. lol I often take a quick photo of things I send off, to help me remember and so I can go back and reflect with the joy the giving brings me! xoNancy
I’d hate to have to rely on glue — am eager to see this come along.
have learned to love starch paste with bookbinding over the past 14 years, it’s strong dries clear and is archival but am discovering it is not a good mix with suede so will work out how to stretch the blue suede over the papier maché mold evenly with stitch with Test Moon 2 or 3 or even 4, thankfully I have time up my sleeve and talking of sleeves am busily dreaming up a project for our circle of cloth conjurors and that old wedding dress!
Oh the cloth conjuring sounds intriguing!
there’s a rough sketch in the next post
Your creative spirit and experimentation will find ways I know!
x fingers!