After discovering some artists that use real found objects from the natural world in their work, I also became interested in incorporating things I find in nature within my textile samples. I enjoy collecting plants and pressing them and have been doing so for a few years so I had some saved from last spring- now is the perfect opportunity to use them.
Immediately, the process of setting flowers resin came to mind but epoxy resin is quite toxic and bad for the environment so I began researching into more eco-friendly options. I came across a few options such as a brand called eco-poxy that creates products that do not contain any toxic chemicals or heavy metals. However, I faced a number of problems as these products seemed hard to get hold of; they were either not available anywhere near me, too long a shipping time, too expensive or only available in VERY LARGE quantities (around a couple of litres)…
I was also thinking about the practicality of using a material like resin in a garment- as resin is hard and textiles are soft a major issue would be in combining the two so that the resin is secure within the textile. There is also the issue of whether it could crack or be uncomfortable/sharp for the wearer.
I still wanted to try using real plants in my samples so for now I just set them in clear tape (I tried sticky back plastic but just made a mess because it kept sticking everywhere and left horrible bubbles). This seemed quite effective although as the tape was fairly thin it was a little tricky to sew into fabric and it did tear a few times. I was using embroidery thread and a thick needle so perhaps using a thinner needle will help with this.
an.andycaptures 