Mixed Techniques Cosmetic Bag

I've been having fun this week trying multiple techniques, the end result being this rather over the top cosmetic bag.  I honestly don't know if anyone would ever use it, but it was fun fiddling.

I started with a fat quarter of my own hand dyed green fabric, which I sprayed with what I thought was water.  I had forgotten that I had bleach in my spray bottle, and the colour immediately began to lighten!!!  Never mind, I pressed on.  Once I rinsed the bleach out, I over painted with some purple fabric paint, then allowed the fabric to dry before stamping with a crude home made stamp [nine nails hammered into a block of wood].  I then sprayed it with watered down gold drawing ink.  Finally I backed it with wool felt, covered it with a purple chiffon scarf and machine stitched lightly, finally burning away some of the chiffon scarf with the heat gun.  It was then cut into segments using my wedge ruler.  This is the rough draft, ie pieces embroidered and assembled ready to make up.

I cut some circles of fabric out and machine stitched little spider webs, adding tulle and gold fabric behind the stitching so I had  little 'windows'.  I had lots of time playing with some hand stitches that to date I'd avoided trying, ie up and down buttonhole and wheatear stitch.  Herringbone, chevron, and closed buttonhole stitches were also used, as well as an assortment of beading.  I also found quite a nice thick cord I had which was perfect under some machine couching.  I wanted this to have the look of crazy patchwork without the 'twee' factor, hence the use of thicker threads, and larger stitches.

The meandering machine stitching was an excellent guide for some of the hand stitching, something I hadn't planned on.  This was a really great way to use a lot of techniques in one project.  I also found the use of my large grooved piping foot to be of great benefit for the ladder stitch couching over the heavy cord.

This is the flip side of the bag.  I again only used threads, buttons, and beads from my stash.  This little bag has a type of dog-ear treatment at the bottom, making it look as though it has a gusset.   I left the bottom panel void of embellishment, as it would always be unseen.  I have another piece ready to do something similar, the same green without the bleaching........  Now that I have done this one as a trial, the green one might make a nice journal cover.