Gummy Silk Paper

 As part of the embroiderers group I attend I made silk paper using the silk fibres which had not been washed to remove the sericin.

The fibres are teased apart and then laid out on baking parchment. They are sprayed with water and covered with baking parchment and ironed until dry.
 The water activates the seracin and they stick together to form paper.

Seeds and other fine things can be trapped within the fibres to make the paper more interesting.

Silk rods can be soaked and pulled apart and also combined with the fibres.

I made a piece of silk paper and combined thistle seeds and thought I would embroider a thistle over the top.

The silk paper needed strengthening with iron-on interfacing to support the stitching.

While I was using the silk rods I thought that if the silk rods were all included in a vertical pattern it would look like papyrus so decided to have a go at an Egyptian piece.

I made a base with the gummy fibres and attached the ironed silk rods vertically.

It was dampened and ironed until all was attached.

Ancient Egyptian geese were painted and then stitched over the top.

A stamp was used for the hieroglyphs

.Silk paper is fun to make and I am sure there are more things that can be done with it.