My machine layers have been cut from pelmet Vilene, painted and covered with dyed fabric. The piece here has had some painted Vleisofix ironed on, with the paper being removed just before it had gone fully cold. This has meant that some of the Vliesofix has pulled away from the surface giving a paint peeling effect (which I suppose it actually is!).
At this stage the surface colours still look quite bright but there are other processes to go through yet.
On the base layer I have stitched a dial which sits at the top right hand side of the machine.
Using one of the rust cog prints on dyed cotton I have cut and appliquéd it down. A large part of the machine focus is on the cogs and the circular shapes so there are others in the making which will sit nearby.
The cutout area in the main picture above is where there will be a window showing dimensional cogs within. I’ve built up the window frame with Vilene and foamcore. It has been covered with fabric which has had several treatments including using a stiffening agent, painting, using metallic waxes and varnish. I’m extremely pleased with the result. 
I needed a ‘wire’ mesh window so drew the pattern onto dissolvable fabric and stitched Perle 5 thread across in a grid. This worked very well but was a little floppy so I stiffened it using Paverpol. Unfortunately that caused a couple of problems as it didn’t dry quite as I wanted so some repair work had to be done.
This mesh was inserted into the window frame which was then attached to the front of the machine, once the silk fibre cogs I had previously made were stitched in place.
There are one or two more pieces to be worked on to finish this section before moving onto my sugary confections.
I’m enjoying making this piece. I’ve always loved making models and whilst this isn’t strictly classed as a sculpture or a scale model I’ve used a lot of the same processes: making stand alone templates of each section, trialling dimensional effects, layer construction and integration of components.
It’s getting the order of work correct that is the important thing. I’ve gone through the creation procedure in my mind several times and have made a checklist of what should be done when. This sounds pretty over the top to many, I know, but it is working for me.
All up it has been a long but extremely interesting process with some exciting outcomes.
TactualTextiles 