In a previous blog called Suffolk Puffs with Bondaweb, I made 5 varied sized Suffolk Puffs and they were the perfect size. So to create the Suffolk puffs for my final piece I am going to use the same objects to draw around. This will allow me to create exactly the same sized Suffolk Puffs.
I have chosen 3 different coloured fabrics to make the outer Suffolk Puffs from and 3 different fabrics for the innner circles.
I am going to cut out 21 outer circles, 21 inner circle and 21 bondaweb circles this will create 21 Suffolk puffs in total.
For the first fabric, I drew around 7 different sized circles using a black biro pen.
I drew around two sized 1 and sized 2 circles and then only one of sizes 3, 4 and 5 as they are larger circles.
I then did then followed the exact same process for my next two fabrics.
Once I had drawn around all of the outer circles, I moved onto drawing the inner circles using a template and a white dressmaking pencil. There are 4 inner circle templates size 1 and 2 have the same sized inner circle and size 3, 4 and 5 have slightly larger circles.
There are 2 grey and 1 brown fabrics, I used an old T-shirt and shirt as well as an old grey fabric. I used fabrics I already had rather than buying more just for a small circle of fabric.
I did the same for all three fabrics drawing seven circles on each.
I then used the inner circle templates to draw 21 circles using a black biro on the Bondaweb. There are 12 circles the size of the template 1 + 2 and for size 3, 4 and 5 3 circles of each size.
I then cut out all of the circles using dressmaking scissors, the outer circles, inner circles and Bondaweb circles.
Below are photos of all the circles cut out for each of the Suffolk puff sizes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.
I then ironed all of the outer circles to try and remove the creases.
These are one of the outer size Suffolk puffs once they had been ironed and there still are a few crease in the fabric from where the fabric was originally folded.
After I had ironed all of the outer circles of fabric, I got a tea towel and dampened it under the tap to use when fusing the Bondaweb to the fabric.
I started with getting one inner circle and one bondaweb circle and placing them on the ironing board side by side.
I then made sure that the inner circle fabric was laid with the inside facing up, I then placed the bondaweb on top with the rough webbed side touching the fabric.
I then placed my damp cloth on top of the circles and then placed the iron on top of the circle for 10-15 seconds to fuse the bonaweb to the fabric.
Once I had ironed it for 10-15 seconds, I removed the damp cloth from the circles and allowed the fabric to cool slightly.
When it was cool I got some scissors to remove the excess Bondaweb around the edges of the fabric, I then slowly and carefully peeled the paper off leaving the layer of glue fused to the fabric.
This is what the inner circle of fabric looked like once I had removed the paper.
I then got my larger circle of fabric with the inside facing up and laid it flat on the ironing board board before placing the inner circle with the side that has the adhesive on facing down.
By ironing the inner circle on the inside of the fabric this means that when you sew your Suffolk puff the pattern will be visible on the outside.
I then covered the circles with a damp cloth and ironed the circle for 10-15 seconds.
After that I took the damp cloth of the circle and left it to dry leaving the inner circle adhered to the larger circle.
I then repeated the Bondaweb process for the rest of the 20 Suffolk puff circles.
The photo below shows all 21 circles with the second fabric fused using Bondaweb in the centre. I layer them out in there sizes and colours. Size 1 is the smallest and Size 5 is the largest.
I then choose three different orange threads that matched the orange fabrics.
I then got my sewing needles and scissors to cut the thread.
I started by threading my needle with double thread of the matching colour and making a knot in the end. I then hand sewed a even running stitch all around the edge before carefully pulling the thread to gather the fabric. Next I evenly spaced the gathers before tying a knot in the thread and finishing the Suffolk Puff.
I then repeated the sewing process above 20 more times to sew all of the Suffolk puffs.
Below is a photo of all 21 fully finished Suffolk puffs.
I then got my partially constructed skirt with two separate front and back panel’s and pinned then to my mannequin before arranging and pining the Suffolk puffs on the skirt randomly where I wanted. I tried to make the amount of Suffolk puffs on the front and back even.
I only partially constructed the skirt before sewing on the Suffolk puffs as shown by the image below, there is a gap between the lining and the outer skirt. So if I sew them on now, you won’t see the hand stitches as they are on the inside of the skirt.
I then carefully hand sewed the Suffolk Puff to the front of the skirt, the stitches are on the inside of the Suffolk puff so they are not visible. The stitches in the right photo are on the inside of the skirt.
After I had sewn the Suffolk puffs onto the front of the skirt, I pinned the skirt onto the mannequin and I realised there was quite a big gap at the front at the bottom of the skirt that did not have a Suffolk puff on. So I took a small Suffolk puff of of the back panel, which I had not sewn yet and I pinned it on shown in the photo on the right.
I then sewed that one Suffolk puff onto the front panel of the skirt.
I then moved onto the back of the skirt and I sewed all the Suffolk puffs on and I then pinned it onto the mannequin to photograph.
Below is a photo of the Suffolk puffs sewn onto the front and back of my bubble/balloon skirt.
I am so happy with how the Suffolk puffs turned out and look on the skirt. I think they look really effective and looks how I envisioned it within my design drawings as the suffolk puffs represent the craters on the surface of Mars.
I then finished constructing my skirt in another blog called Constructing my Bubble/Balloon skirt – Final Piece.
Unpicking Fashion 