Thread: Shisha embroidery advice, anyway?

Howdy everyone! Hope you stayed warm and cozy the past couple of weeks; our weather turned to poo! It's all of -1 degree (F). Bleah!

Anyhow, now that I found some little round mirrors at some craft store, I want to venture down the shisha embroidery road. I did find that nice the online tutorial with the good, clear photos, but I have further questions.

Must one embroider directly onto a garment?
Or can a person embroider onto something else and later applique that onto the garment?
If you can put it onto something else, what?
Must it be in an embroidery hoop as in the tutorial?
Denim maybe with the edge all Fraychecked?
Oh, and what size needles?

Any and all help is appreciated!

Embroidering the mirrors on pieces of felt would probably work... felt is sturdy enough. I use it as a backing for my appliqués. You could also put some interfacing on the back of the area of the fabric that you want to embroider on. That will keep from stressing the fabric too much if you want to sew directly on instead of doing an appliqué.

Last time I did this, I used embroidery floss on 100% wool felt. I like the embroidery needles.

Watch the edges on those craft mirrors! If they are sharp, they can chew through your embroidery thread.

If sewing directly onto the fabric, I'd edge the mirrors with a glue made for glass...I think Aleene's makes one, onto a piece of felt...then embroider around it.

Have fun!

Originally Posted by BernieV

Watch the edges on those craft mirrors! If they are sharp, they can chew through your embroidery thread.

I'm planning on using my man's stone file for the edges of the mirrors first. I've heard about the sharpness of the mirrors. Maybe both filing and glue, huh? To protect the floss. ??

Oh, is this the stuff you mean: Aleene's Glass & Bead Adhesive

Originally Posted by nadyasidhe

Howdy everyone! Hope you stayed warm and cozy the past couple of weeks; our weather turned to poo! It's all of -1 degree (F). Bleah!

Anyhow, now that I found some little round mirrors at some craft store, I want to venture down the shisha embroidery road. I did find that nice the online tutorial with the good, clear photos, but I have further questions.

Must one embroider directly onto a garment?
Or can a person embroider onto something else and later applique that onto the garment?
If you can put it onto something else, what?
Must it be in an embroidery hoop as in the tutorial?
Denim maybe with the edge all Fraychecked?
Oh, and what size needles?

Any and all help is appreciated!

I pmed you

Alrana

I meant to ask if anyone has used upholstery thread to put shisha on? It's quite strong ... plus I have some on hand and don't have any emb. floss. (heh)

Shisha:the condensed readers digest version:
The fabric has to be substantial to hold the weight of the embroidery and mirrors.
Fabrics not to use: anything with stretch,double knit,thin and sheer or synthetic like rayon
cotton,linen,wool,velvet, cotton/poly blends are ones usually used.

DMC brand 6 strand floss, sharp embroidery needles with a large enough eye not to bunch up and separate the threads.
mirrors: craft ones with painted backings are terrible to work with. I would use ones that are used for stained glass projects. Some craft mirrors do have unfinished edges.
when attaching mirror dab fabric glue(fabric-tac-that is what I use) so when stitching the beginning diamond or square stitch. Or a button-hole stitch its called. You can substitute mirrors with coins.(just a creative idea to throw at ya )
Also stitches should be as close to the mirrors edge as possible.
When stitching around the mirror go counterclockwise until you get to your starting point again. Then again you could do clockwise, I don't think it matters as long as you get to your starting point.

I just wish I had the time to do it. But the end result is so worth it. I hope this helps

Alrana

Originally Posted by nadyasidhe

I'm planning on using my man's stone file for the edges of the mirrors first. I've heard about the sharpness of the mirrors. Maybe both filing and glue, huh? To protect the floss. ??

Oh, is this the stuff you mean: Aleene's Glass & Bead Adhesive

Oh didn't know they had that stuff!

It's actually this: Aleenes Jewel It Embellishing Glue 2 OZ. $2.22 each / 3 for $1.50 ea.

I just make a puddle and set the mirror into it. If a tiny bit comes over the edge, that's ok...You'll embroider over it!

I agree with the other suggestions on here as well!!

Where did you find a good tutorial?

I wouldn't use round mirrors, but that's just me. I like that a square mirror is quick to "set" (those first stiches to fix the cornes). I suppose round is fine, but keeping the mirror in place while you do those first stiches might require glue as others have mentioned.

It wouldn't have occured to me to do shisha with rounds mirrors, always seen it/done it with square mirrors (round shape in then after all stiching is done), but you learn something new every day!

Here's the tutorial I had found.

Every time I see shisha, it's round, so using squares never occurred to me. ?? It would be cool to have a square embroidery and a round area showing ...

The woman who taught me , I remember telling me in her region they used round and square depending on what was available in the market place. Also, Each region also has different patterns so you can identify the origin, but the stitch and technique is the same. Mosaic/stained glass section in craft stores usually have the square ones.

These books may be out of print, but they are wealth of information, I know there's the internet, but sometimes I like old-fashioned book research out of the library.

Shisha Embroidery-A contemporary approach by Jean Simpson.
ISBN:0-442-27641-9
your local library may have it or an inter library loan. Or off chance ebay or a used book seller.
Other book I recommend is from Dover Publications (I liek this one because it has actual patterns you can iron-on and reusable.

Shisha Embroidery-Traditional Indian Mirror work with patterns
Nancy D Gross and Frank Fontana
ISBN:0-486-24043-6
This book may be out of print I found a copy at a yard sale

Alrana

Prior to sewing I apply a generous coating of rubber cement along the edges of the shisha mirrors. The stitches are protected and cover the glue. Prior to this technique I utilized an emery cloth to smooth the edges of the mirrors but the glass slivers were everywhere. I also tried clear nail polish but rubber cement is thicker and more effective.

I stitch without a hoop onto strips of sturdy cotton twill (doubled up). I did this with two strips, trimmed the pieces to 1/2" larger then the space they were filling, hemmed them and stitched them down on my bra. They are still there 4 years later. You can see it really well in this picture (I also added studs around the mirrors, which I bought in the leather working section at Joanns):

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3025/...292e545fa0.jpg

Originally Posted by showtime

Prior to sewing I apply a generous coating of rubber cement along the edges of the shisha mirrors. The stitches are protected and cover the glue. Prior to this technique I utilized an emery cloth to smooth the edges of the mirrors but the glass slivers were everywhere. I also tried clear nail polish but rubber cement is thicker and more effective.

I never thought of the rubber cement, I always do the emery board method. I'll have to try that technique.

Alrana

Allow me to apologize for the title of the thread. I meant to type "Shisa embroidery advice, anyone?" ... I got the "w" sound in there, anyone (giggle)

Since my hopes for getting to a city/store have been dashed, I just ordered some DMC black, blue and violet embroidery floss.

Originally Posted by nadyasidhe

Since my hopes for getting to a city/store have been dashed, I just ordered some DMC black, blue and violet embroidery floss.

It will be fun to see what you create!

About rubber cement - won't that disintegrate if the fabric is washed?