Soluble embroidery

Many fiber artists have captured dry, lacy leaves in quilts. They lend themselves so well to lustrous threads and machine embroidery. But, as anyone who has tried to create thread-only designs can tell you, patience and a good water-soluble stabilizer are absolute musts.

Meredith Woolnough is Australian visual artist who creates intricate embroidered tracings resembling the original art of nature. By using a domestic sewing machine and a fabric base that dissolves in water, the artist repeatedly stitches threads into dense structures that ultimately become embroidery sculptures.

Meredith Dale trading as Meredith Woolnough on Instagram: "This dissolvable material is water soluble fabric. It is a common machine embroidery stabiliser that is available from sewing stores or online. There are many companies that make it these days, and they may have their own ‘brand names’ (I’ll list a few of the most common ones below) but they are all selling essentially the same thing. I like the white ‘washable web’ variety of water soluble fabric myself. There is also a clear…

Meredith Dale trading as Meredith Woolnough on Instagram: "That first dip is always magic. Water soluble fabric is so fun to play with. If you would like to learn how to create sculptural embroideries using water soluble fabric, I have a range of online courses available including a free intro course which will have you up and running in no time. Link in bio. #watersolublefabric #sculpturalembroidery #freehandmachineembroidery #meredithwoolnough #floracollection"

When I first started doing freehand machine embroidery on water-soluble fabric I made a lot of mistakes. In this post I chat about one mistake in particular. The mistake relates to drawing on water soluble fabric, a troublesome issue for many. So if you are interested in learning what I used early on (with disastrous result) and what I use now (that I know better). check it out. www.meredithwoolnough.com.au/blog

Meredith Dale trading as Meredith Woolnough on Instagram: "A big dissolving day! 💦 What is happening here? I am washing away the backing fabric from my embroidered artwork. The backing fabric is water soluble and acts as a temporary surface for my stitched drawing. Check out my previous reel to watch me stitching one of these pieces freehand at the sewing machine. Water soluble fabric is a common machine embroidery stabiliser that you will find at most good sewing stores. As you can…

Meredith Woolnough is a renowned textile artist specializing in freehand machine embroidery on water-soluble fabrics to create sculptural artworks.

While it looks quite complex, working with thread and water soluble stabilizer is really quite easy and a lot of fun, and is one of my favorite methods of making thread art. This tutorial shows you…