Now that the design is printed, I’m working on the actual bas relief part - the depth.
Using my front door as a light box, I traced of the shapes of each figure.
The paper tracing is fused to felt, cut out, and checked for accuracy against the image.
Then working on the back of the cloth, the traced, fused image is cut into sections and lightly fused to the back of the cloth.
The trick is to use enough fusing to hold it all together without using so much fusing that it’s impossible to sew through. So after using a few pieces, I stop and baste them - big ugly stitches that will hold it all securely. They will be pulled out at the end.
Here’s a diagram, showing a side view of all this:
This part is fairly tedious, but crucial to the success of the piece. Once I get all the sections attached, then I can do the fun part - sewing it all down. Hey - we all have our own ideas of fun.
Hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving, whether with a big group or in quiet solitude.