Guest Post: Subversive Mistakes
Kat Siddle, keeper of the clever and thrifty craft blog Junior Deluxe and intrepid Hoopla pattern designer, is the author of today’s guest post. Kat has kindly recounted her adventure of working with DMC glow-in-the-dark Effects for the first time.
Kat Siddle - modelling a recently completed knitting project
For my Hoopla project, I used glow-in-the-dark and regular six-strand embroidery floss to create a repeating design across the surface of my fabric. Since I wanted the glow-in-the-dark floss to show up, I used all six strands to create a scattering of simple star shapes. When I completed my first shapes, however, I realized that I had a problem: the shapes were so simple, and set so far apart, that I had nowhere to hide the ends of my threads!
If my project had been purely decorative, I could have left the ends hanging. But my project was meant to be worn, and I could easily imagine one of those big, fat glowing stitches snagging on something. I gritted my teeth and tied my loose ends together with a square knot.
I know. Knots are verboten. But so are projects that disintegrate upon the first wearing. I would never put up unraveling embroidery on a store-bought item, so I certainly wasn’t going to risk it on something hand-crafted!
As I continued embroidering, I noticed, with a horrible start, that the knots on my first repetition had come undone. I gently—but firmly—tied them up again. The next time I looked, the knots were untied.
I was tempted to blame ghosts, or unhelpful gnomes. But the sad truth was, the glow-in-the-dark thread was simply untying itself. Something about the glowing coating made it slick, slightly inflexible, and totally impervious to knots. So I did a terrible thing. I retied the knots. And I put textile glue on them. And then I taped the threads ends down so they couldn’t untie themselves.
Once the glue dried, the knots held. The front of the work looked great. The back was a crazy mess. The loose threads hanging out from the knots must have been annoyed with me, because they unraveled themselves into an unholy fuzz. I was suddenly very glad I had decided to line this particular item, so the back would be hidden between two layers of fabric.
I took extra care when I sewed it together (didn’t want any of that glow-in-the-dark fuzz getting sucked into my sewing machine!). And the amazing thing is, you can’t even tell! The designs really do glow, the motifs look great, and my ad-hoc abuse of the rules of embroidery is safely hidden behind a layer of fabric. Somehow, that seems completely appropriate for a book about subversive and untraditional needlework – and I didn’t even plan it that way.
While Kat’s project will remain a secret until Hoopla is released, you can follow up on her crafty adventures via her blog at Junior Deluxe.
More information on DMC Light Effects on the following websites:
A very informative review via Craft Critique
The creation of an inspiring undersea book via Sunny Sidey in which she discusses using this floss.
An example of glow in the dark stitching via Craft Assassins.
Have you worked with glow in the dark thread? I’d love to hear about what you have stitched with it.
My Books
Hoopla: The Art of Unexpected Embroidery
Available now from Arsenal Pulp Press.
ISBN-13: 9781551524061
Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti
Co-authored with Mandy Moore
Available through Arsenal Pulp Press and bookstores everywhere.
ISBN-13: 9781551522555
Read the Yarn Bombing blog
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