It feels like ages since I did any real sewing – the creative sewing you do because you can’t not do it which is different from the sewing you do because you have to.
But I’ve had this idea in my head for a while now to design a fabric plate-like vessel – don’t ask me why, but I think I got inspired when I saw this beautiful ceramic plate by Kristen Kieffer, on Etsy. I just love the simple and elegant designs she uses to decorate her ceramics. It takes plates to a whole new level – art.
So sometimes an idea just gets stuck in your head and won’t go away until you’ve done something with it and I knew I had to at least make a start. I’ve made fabric bowls before so I know how they are constructed. But I really didn’t have a clue where to start with this project because I don’t have a pattern for shallow bowl that is more plate-like in shape rather than a deep bowl shape. Plus I wanted it very smooth and flat like a plate.
So I dug out some Peltex which is what I use to make my art bags and these fabric vessels, and which is one of my favorite base materials for creating three dimensional shapes.
I cut a circle and covered it in fabric and then made three curved slashes toward the center. I figured the curved slashes would give me a smoother shape than straight slashes which could end up looking a little distorted. And three curves would give a more balanced design than two.
To create a bowl shape it’s necessary to overlap the edges of the slashes. For a deep bowl shape, you would overlap the edges a lot.
But for a shallow plate, I found I only needed to overlap the edges a little.
Once I knew how much I needed to overlap, I cut away the excess …
.. and satin stitched the edges together.
So now I have a shape to work with. I’m really not sure where I’m going from here – this is very intuitive process – but getting the shape was the hard part and that’s done. Now for the really fun part. Stay tuned.
Next: There’s fabric bowls and then there’s …
