Dislocation: technical issues!

I was right!

Getting the 4 panels joined together and hanging straight is going to be a challenge. I should have experimented before assembling the final piece.

I have got the hanging sleeve attached and I'm using an embroidered leaf to act as a spacer. It looks good but there is no stability to keep the panels rigid. I think I'm going to have to go to a DIY store tomorrow to buy some very small strips of wood to attach to the back of the panels. 

As I was wrestling with the problem this evening I was thinking about the batons that are used in the sails on yachts. On the mainsail the batons are inserted into little pockets along the leading edge of the sail so that the edge retains some rigidity (the mast and boom provide the rigidity for the other two sides of the triangular sail). 

But I'm not in a sailing area at the moment, and even if I was at home I'm not sure that the sail lofts in Gosport would be able to assist! In fact, as I type this, I can see the quizzical look that I would get if I was asking for sail battens to stiffen a quilt.

So, the DIY store and some small pieces of timber are going to have to be the answer. I can hide the timber behind little embroidered leaves. Just as an aside, I embroidered the leaves, which are made using a flimsy silk, by sandwiching them between two sheets of dissolvable film. The dissolvable film has two purposes. One is that it enables me to embroider flimsy bits of silk at all, and the other is that when it dissolves it does leave a residue which stiffens up the fabric, a bit like a starch. So my leaves have a bit of oomph to them.

But I am on target. I will finish this in time, skidding to the deadline as always!

Full photos will follow on the next post. But here's a couple of WIP to give you a flavour.

Oh, I've just had a brainwave! Rigolene! Stiffening for corsets!  If I can get some that might be the answer. John Lewis here I come.