Button Tidal Wave in Black

 

(Above:  Button Tidal Wave in Black.  Custom framed:  31" x 31".  Assorted buttons hand-stitched to a section of a vintage curtain.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

I truly adore this old fabric.  It was donated to me by a friend.  It was originally a curtain.  I'm not sure if it is the color, the pattern, the thickness, the way light reflects on its surface or just the sensation of yesteryear's luxury that draws me to it.  A small section became the substrata of a small Found Object Mandala. (Click HERE to see it.)  Stitching on it was as wonderful as my adoration.  I had to use more of it.  Button Tidal Wave in Black is the result.

(Above:  Detail of Button Tidal Wave in Black.)

Because of the dense stitching of buttons, I knew that the fabric would "shrink" a little in that area.  This always happens when there's lots of stitching in one section.  The manipulation of the weave, the pulling of the thread, and the very minute gathering just happens.  It isn't a problem ... except if there's a large area with no stitching.  That area will very slightly pucker.  It generally doesn't matter ... except with fabric that has a high sheen like this damask.  So combat it, I backstitched the outline of the pattern.  The gentle pulling of these stitches allowed the area to lay perfectly flat. 

 

(Above:  Detail of Button Tidal Wave in Black.)

I really like this piece and am amazed at the way light really does bounce off it.  Even the field of black buttons reflects a lot of light as can be seen in the image above.  These really are BLACK; the buttons look much more accurate in the other two shots.