I love all things silk. I love the types and textures of silk fabric, from silk matka that looks like hessian yet feels like velvet, to slubby dupion and crisp swishy silk taffeta. Silk thread is my favourite to stitch with, especially Gloriana stranded silk which sits almost weightlessly in the hand, and I embroider tiny images on silk carrier rods for my upcycled jewellery. So it will come as no surprise to learn that I have a thing for silk cocoons too, but I tend not to use them as frequently and when I do, it's mostly as stylised flowers for upcycled pendants and earrings.
Time to have a bit of a play and create some samples for the silk cocoons workshop I taught at Stitch Zone last week. I was specifically looking at ways of adding stitching to the cocoons, attaching beaded 'stamens' without using a headpin and creating tassels. I started by making a couple of tassels, the first with a scrap of metallic rick rack braid stitched round the edge and the silk cocoon cut to echo the shape.
I used a whole skein of stranded cotton for the tassel and nearly lost the will to live separating all the individual strands out, but it does make the tassel look fuller and fluffier. It's extremely difficult to stitch the folded over tassel through the top of the cocoon and then work the needle back round it to secure it and make the buttonhole stitched loop, so I will confess that there are some strategically placed dabs of super glue to hold the threads securely where I simply couldn't fasten them off neatly enough.
For the second attempt I decided to use beading wire to tie the middle of the tassel threads and then bring it through the top of the cocoon and twist it to make a loop. I used beaded blanket stitch to decorate the edge this time.
And a bead cap just to strengthen the top of the cocoon. They are relatively robust but I've found from experience that repeated movement of a headpin or bail will start to wear the silk and enlarge the hole. Bead caps are a good way of preventing this.
The 'strawberry' started out as an attempt to use up the green cocoon which had been badly bashed. I cut some of the damaged areas away and found that steaming it gently over the kettle helped me to ease the rest back into shape.
I created some beaded 'stamens' for this one from odds and ends of seed and bugle beads. I threaded the bead sequences on Nymo thread. I go down as far as the end bead, which I use as a 'stop bead' and then take the thread back through all the beads a second time before tying the thread at the top and making another 'stamen'.
Once I'd threaded the stamen cluster through the top of the cocoon I added another bead cap to stop any wear. Then I stitched on a jump ring to act as a bail and again, resorted to a dab of super glue to secure the end of the thread.
I find that each time I make one I think of another variation - I'm hoping to add a needle lace edging to my next one. As we have another week working on this, watch this space for further variants!
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