These are my tonal columns using 4 different papers. I have occasionally shown the same image vertically and horizontally (marked as a, and b.), because I am fascinated by the difference to the eye and imagination this makes. Also some designs naturally lend themselves better to one format or the other and others conform well to both.
1. a, b.
Here I have used the same papers but arranged them in a different way.
2. a, b.
1.
1. Squares of fabric overlapped then sewn between seams, cut and frayed on the vertical line.
2.
2. The other side of sample 1 shows shorter ends that have been frayed along the horizontal edge.
3.
3. A strip of fabric has been loosely rolled up ad sewn between the seam.
4.
4. Trying to create 3D decoration, 2 layers of fabric strips were spaced and sewn in close to the edge of the seam.
5.
5. The other side of 4. I had more success with fabric standing up because of longer lengths and the support of the raw seams.
6.
6. Loops of tufty yarn have been sewn between two strips of fabric. The top fabric strip has been folded over and sewn down so that loops are held down by a broad strip of fabric. Contrasting fabric would look good here too.
7.
7.thin strips of the same fabric were sewn onto cloth in haphazard directions. The fabric has then ben cut in half and loose pieces sewn between the seams.
8.
8. Using contrasting materials here, fabric strips have been laid between seams before sewing together. The finished piece has then been cut into smaller strips and sewn together along the short sides. Strips were sewn down as they (mostly) naturally lay.
9.
9. White ribbon was placed ,folded between seams then stitched over so that the ribbon alternates down sides of seams. Lines of black thread were sewn over the rest of the fabric to add continuity to design and reduce the ‘glaring’ of white ribbon!
10.
10. Whorls of yarn were stitched between seams giving a 3D look.
11. This started life as my ‘aha’ sample mentioned in the previous publication. The idea was to put the twisted loops used in 12. below between the seams. However after lots of fiddling about, unpicking seams and never feeling happy with the look I put the loops to one side for another sample . I was not happy because the pattern on the fabric was light and delicate. I felt something lighter and lacier would work better so I crocheted the centre piece and added crocheted ‘tails’ to one side. I left the other side bare so that you can see the lines I have referred to. It started off reminding me of rippling water, now it reminds me of a skeleton rib cage!
12.
12. Was just playing around with the loops from 11. 1st two just tightly twirled, 2nd two had a strip of fluffy yarn twisted into them. 3rd pair started off the same as 2nd two but were then wrapped over in the fluffy yarn. They were sewn on the diagonal for a change. I added cotton threads above this which were cut short and rubbed to separate the threads. I was going to add another row of something which I had not really thought through at that point but quite liked the creases I had made in folding the fabric to see where I would cut it, so didn’t do anything else!
I started this chapter by skipping the seams part as I felt really lacking in inspiration or imagination.
However working through the trimmings etc helped me over this hump and it seems I can seam seams after all!
Each photograph shows a variety of samples which are each numbered according to the order in which they have been made. (I hope you can see the numbers well enough, I ran out of black pens, which seems incredible as I have a bit of an obsession for pens and mechanical pencils! A bit like shoes, I am always on the look out for the perfect fit!).
1. I layered strips of fabric using straight stitch horizontally, spaced about 1cm apart and leaving tails of thread at the end. There are many possibilities for variations of this simple sample e.g. adding more strips of white stitching, adding alternate coloured threads, using different kinds of thread or using wavy lines are a few that spring to mind.
2. Here I changed the bobbin to one filled with embroidery thread and using zigzag stitching both types of thread can be seen on the bottom edge.
3. Similar to 2., except the bobbin thread is on the front of the sample. The strands from the start of each line of stitching have been folded down and sewn over to hold in place. As an extension to this I could also have separated the strands of embroidery thread.
It does say in the notes to make ‘interesting’ samples. As my creative juices brewed with the help of the above samples (which are okay but not bursting with imagination!), I had one of those ‘aha’ moments and made the following two samples.
4. I layered lots of threads between pieces of bondaweb and ironed them together. I then pulled away at the treads and edges. I sewed a layer of this over the front of black cotton and another layer behind which hangs below the cotton.
5. I sewed the bondaweb sample over black cotton topped this with a strip of white cotton and sewed over everything using a free-motion foot and black quilting thread.
The first method used in this chapter is the ‘Log Cabin ‘ method. Traditionally cloth was sewn around a square, usually but not always, in the centre.
I made a few of the samples shown on page 30 of the course notes. After many attempts at sample 7 (sample 8 in the unit notes) and much cutting and sticking I gave up on making a sample until I did a bit of research on how to do it! Eventually I came up with something. It is one of those things I can do without thinking about it but when I had to do it logically I couldn’t.
I have pinned a few samples of this one onto my Pinterest board ‘Things I’d like to make’ for future reference.
I went on to make the samples up in cloth. I am displaying the matching work together.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
I made a mistake on this fabric sample (although it could be an alternative take on the original plan). I’m not telling where it is though, perhaps you can spot it!
I enjoyed this ‘log cabin experience’ which has extended my knowledge of quilting techniques. Up until now I had only ever attempted a very basic block which I am currently turning into a quilt!
The dying process was quite long compared to the process of using acrylic paints however I think I prefer the marks made by dying. There is still merit in using acrylics though. I am a fan of mono-printing and this is what I used most of the time on these samples.
I haven’t done a lot of these as I ran out of cut samples and even worse, acrylic paint. I will continue when I get more paint.
I took some painting and printing tools out to my shed so that I could work without worrying about any mess.
I mixed some acrylic with an extender (specific names and photo!) before rolling it out onto the work surface.
I then brushed in some quick marks zigzag fashion but I was not very happy with these.
I wondered how I could alter them without wasting ink. That’s when I wondered what would happen if I altered the cloth instead. I rubbed over it with a clear oil bar I have and pressed it into the paint. The paint clung to the cloth, especially where the oil was. I later ironed this off onto grease proof paper.
This sample is the ghost of the previous one with thin scored lines, using a bamboo ink pen, made into the existing ink.
I was thinking about the various patterns I made on paper and the inspiration for them. I started making turtle rings into the paint using a stiff brush. The ink was thinner round the edges giving a faded effect to the outer sides.
Continuing with the above inspiration I took a different approach to this piece. I dabbed some spots on the paint surface, printed this onto the cloth then added the loops of paint using a thick brush. I think this might have been more effective if the spots had been more defined.
Keeping the pattern and technique simple I made these marks with the edge of the bamboo pen which scraped the paint away quite well. I was thinking about feathers at this point.
Rather than print I decided to paint onto this sample. I have a small fan-shaped brush which worked quite well when pressed onto the cloth. Although the marks look repetitive the painterly marks change over the sample in tone and shape.
This lead me to thinking about the shibori sample I did in ch.6.(Karamatsu Shibori). I folded the cloth and pressed the fan brush into the cloth so that the marks would show on the other side. This worked quite well at times and left paler areas at others. I had sprayed the cloth to make it damp so perhaps this had some influence on how the paint behaved.
The last sample was also inspired by shibori. I dampened and folded the cloth and made random marks on the cloth on the top and underside. These show as the darker areas on the left and right. I could probably have achieved better results through mono-printing or leaving the sample for longer before unfolding it.
I am moving on to chapter 7 now. It is great to feel like I am making some progress with this module and I am looking forward to doing some more sewing although I am having reservations about cutting up all these lovely samples.
The cat’s face says it all, I am so busy with shibori I have no time for him!
After completing the stitching, winding and tying I moved everything out to the summer house, where the dying was taking place.
For this part of chapter 6 I did a bit more research into dying the cotton. There seems to be a lot of different opinions on what is needed and how to mix each solution. Eventually I settled for ………………..Shibori p? (list ing, and process)but I missed out the urea. Further reading on the use of this would suggest for my purposes it was not really necessary.
I did not remove anything from the dye bucket until after the recommended 1 hour.
I had tied a sample piece to a bit of thread and looped it over the side so that I could take it out and see the depth of colour before removing anything else. I was really happy with the results so the exciting bit went ahead.
I took samples out in batches as this was easier to work with in the untying, rinsing and washing process. This meant that some samples were in longer than others but I can’t see that this had any impact on the colour so I have put these samples into technique groups rather than groups of batches of various techniques.
1.
2.
1. Diagonal stitching was used here. Unfortunately there is a tear in the left hand side. I could kick myself, I should have been more careful.
2. This sheet was folded concertina fashion. I drew semi-circles on the folds and sewed around the lines. (p. 45, Karamatsu Shibori, Shibori for Textile Artists by Janice Gunner.)
I only did 2 tritik pieces. I should hang my head in shame but still I find the other methods more exciting! Perhaps I will go back and do more of these later. I do like the results you can get but I am lacking patience these days and the poor results from my experiments have put me off a little.(And to be fair there is a tiny bit of tritik in a sample still to come.)
3.
4.
5.
3. I used elastic bands, twine and thread to wind round sections of material. I also stitched some circles with thread. ( Tritik again!). I should have sewn more circles in different areas. Why do these things always occur to me when it is too late. I guess this is called ” learning from your mistakes!”
4. I used garden wire to secure different sized buttons into place. It was easy to wind round and tighten up securely and easier to remove than thread. I appreciate though that the resulting marks will be different.
5. Lots of elastic bands at about 1 cm apart, wound round bunched and twisted fabric created this delight.
6.
7.
6 and 7 have both been scrunched up into a ball. 6. was tied up with twine and 7. was held together with elastic bands. They are very similar but on closer inspection the lines on 7. are softer and on 6. they are finer and sharper.
8.
9.
I used little clamps on the folded edges of 8.
Although I did not use clamps on 9. I thought they looked similar enough to group together. I simply folded this the same way as 8. and tied it with garden wire to hold it together. I am delighted with the contrast of light and dark and the shapes in 8. but the softer quality of marks in 9. is easier on the eye and not quite so dramatic!
10.
10. I wondered (quite late at night!) what would happen if the material was braided, so I tore this A4 sheet of fabric into strips, braided, folded and tied up with elastic bands. It can only be described as very random and I am not sure how I feel about it apart from liking the lines on the top part!
11.
12.
13.
11. and 12. were on the same pole. However the material could not be pushed down far enough for all of it to be immersed in the dye so I poured the dye over 11. at intervals. If I had made the pole shorter I could have used the cat litter tray but I would still have needed to turn the pole or pour dye over it.
13. I found a cylindrical, wooden candle holder which has a larger diameter than the other pipe! It is also much shorter. I had a piece of cloth, I quickly wrapped it with bits of twine and thread I had lying around and pushed it into the bucket. It floated! I had to laugh, I thought I had found the answer to all my problems and it bobbed back up at me! However I had another candlestick which I wedged it down with. Revenge is sweet!
14.
15.
Just like 11. and 12. above, I4. and 15. were on the same pole and I had to go through the same process with 14. This one was held in place with elastic bands whereas 15 was wrapped with thread. I love the fine lines created by the thread, especially where the colour is at it’s deepest.
I had a few bits n bobs of calico, cotton and wool lying around so I threw them in the dye for a short while. I did not take the wrapper off the middle of the wool. I was surprised to see spaces where it had been given it was not tightly wrapped.
I thought it would be a good idea o cut the fat quarter of this hexagon material in half and throw part into the dye as it was.
I later began to think perhaps this was not such a good idea and when I removed it from the dye after a short time my fears were vindicated as it was completely black with no pattern showing at all! However after a good wash the pattern reappeared. Whew! The image shows the original cloth on the left and on the right top the right side and on the bottom the wrong side, after dying.
I am so much happier with these results compared to the first experiments. I would definitely use the same formula for mixing again, it was so easy to do and gave really satisfying results quite quickly. The only thing I would say is I would half the quantities for the amount of cloth I used here, as I could easily have dyed twice as much fabric.
I could think more about combining techniques, taking materials out earlier to get a greater range in shade and trying out other materials.
The cat is still waiting for attention but has moved behind me so that I am perched on the edge of my seat. Time for a little cat cuddle!
It has taken a while to gather all the bits n bobs for this chapter but I think I am now ready. I purchased a very good quality pair of pure cotton sheets for £5 which was a real bargain. I have cut some A4 size samples and a few smaller ones for practising techniques on. I don’t have much material which has a pattern except for the few pieces shown, however I think the hexagon one is exciting!
I am using Procion MX Dye (150 Jet Black) and mixing my own fixative using soda crystals and salt solution.
When I am mixing the solutions I will be wearing rubber gloves, and an apron. I thought about a face mask but the quantities are so small I don’t think this should be an issue. I will also be preparing these solutions in a well ventilated area.
Would you believe I have never dyed anything before! Not even tie-dyed a t-shirt…even my husband has done this! I have painted on fabric though so I am not completely inexperienced for this chapter, just a little bamboozled!
I have been looking for piping to use. In both books I have on dying and shibori a 10cm diameter one was used. However I could not get one that size and I suspect it would be too big for my samples anyway. Instead I bought a 4 cm tube which was easy to cut down to size , lighter and cost less!
A while ago my old plastic potting table got caught up in a stormy wind and I found it broken into pieces the following day. Naturally I threw it out but now I am wishing I had kept the legs! They would have made great pipes!
At the moment I am preparing samples for the various kinds of Shibori.
Manipulating fabric in different ways before dying is popular in many parts of the world but especially Japan, Africa and India. The universal term for this is Shibori. The word Shiboru means to wring, squeeze and press. I hope am going to do some of this with cloth, not my hands!
I used a quarter of an A4 cotton sheet for all the above samples. I made Number 1 using straight stitching across the width of the sample. I used single strands of cotton thread for this. When pulled together an accordion effect happened.
Sample 2 above shows what zigzags look like when the threads are pulled together. For this and the next two samples I used a thicker cotton which was labelled ‘Mercer crochet’. I bought this as part of a job lot years ago and have never used it. It seems a good thickness for this material and technique although none of the threads were coated in wax. I wonder what difference this will make? I need to get some thread waxing done.
Sample 2
This is what sample 2 looked like before I pulled all the threads together.
For sample 3 I marked wavy lines on the material and sewed over these with straight stitches. Sample 3 below shows what this looked like before I pulled all the threads together.
Sample 3
Sample 1 and 4 do not have ‘before’ pictures. Sample 4 started off as concentric circles. The larger circles only covered parts of the material. Drawing the threads together created four separate points.
Next I moved on to folding and clamping small samples in different ways. The diagrams bellow explains the folds I made .
1. I found the centre of 1. and bound it from this point all the way down to the bottom in equal intervals using elastic bands.
2. I scrunched 2 into a ball and the raw edges were tucked in before holding everything in place with elastic bands.
3. I used twine here. The diagram shows how I folded this sample.
Sample 1 and 2 were worked on the same piece of A4 cloth.
Sample 1 was tied at 3cm intervals and pushed together.
Sample 2 is similar except I have used bands this time and the fabric has been slightly twisted as I pushed together.
3 shows fabric held in place with cotton thread. I folded the fabric concertina style and wrapped it diagonally on the pipe. I tried to bunch it up too, but this was tricky as the fabric was already quite thick.
Ok, that’s my initial group of samples completed. I need to sort the dye now. This was fun, the next part will be really exciting!
As you would expect I had a variety of successes. A few were paler than others because I had removed them from the dye in groups at different times. Some of the stitching was very tight because the cloth was damp making it a bit of a chore unpicking it all. However after all that dying, washing, unpicking, drying and ironing I was really happy with most of the results.
1 . Straight 2. Zigzag 3. Waves 4. Circles
I think this was the least successful group of samples. They were also the first batch to be removed from the dye, making them the palest samples. Perhaps a thicker or waxed thread would have produced better results.
1. 2. 3.
Small Clamps. Clasps.
The clamped and clasped samples worked really well except for number 4. Where is number 4? Good question! It has disappeared. Normally I would include work which did not turn out well which was the case here, but unfortunately I don’t seem to be able to find it. Most annoying!
1. Centred 2. Scrunched 3. Twined 4. Buttoned
These are great! Number 1. is delightful, I was really pleased with this one. Number 2. was always going to be s surprise and turned out to be a really pleasant one. The 3rd sample was not at all what I imagined it would be and I was puzzled how this came about to begin with, however now I have looked at it for a while it makes more sense because essentially what I was doing was tying the points into circle shapes. Lastly the buttoned one was okay too although I think the other 3 are more exciting!
1. Pushed 3. Concertina’d
2. Twisted.
A wee reminder…1 and 2 are on the same piece of cloth. You can see the difference between the top half and the bottom part where the cloth was twisted as well as tied.
3. I think this is my favourite sample overall. I could not have predicted how wonderful the pattern and lines on this would be.
I am now thinking what animal markings do these remind me of? Lots spring to mind. Wrinkly elephant hide could be Arashi pushed and twisted. Birds feathers, zebra or turtle skin for Arashi Concetina’d and the random negative spaces in Tie & Dye Scrunched could be from a giraffe!
When I make larger samples I hope they work as well as these smaller ones. I need to leave the fabric in the dye for longer if I want the colour to be deeper and perhaps adding more dye powder to the solution would help.
When I taught art to primary children, I seemed to do a lot of mono printing! The children loved the surprise of seeing another image emerge and if things were not quite what they hoped for we had great discussions about the piece anyway, and went on to better things! This was always great fun for me too (although could get stressful with a class of 33!) and this is why I was looking forward to doing this part of chapter 5.
The tools of the Trade!
The images marked 1, 2, 3 etc, are made with black acrylic on white paper, a, b, c etc using white acrylic on black paper.
Bird marks
1. 2. 3. 4.
1. was created by lightly running a toothbrush horizontally then making curved marks over this. Some areas have a 3D look.
2.I used the short end of a small piece of wood. (It is very small, you can see it on the pale blue card, l.h.s, in the image above). I layered the diagonal strokes which, I think has given it a latticed look.
3. A more controlled pattern here using a rubber tip. (I think this tool is really meant for blending pastels.)
4. Similar marks to 2, but using a palette knife. I call this the ruffled feather look!
a. b.
a. I made these marks using folded card. It was then printed onto tissue paper.
b. I used white paper which had been painted with black ink from an earlier exercise here. I used folded card to make the marks. Read the rest of this entry »
Before starting this chapter I gathered all the materials I needed.
Black tissue paper
Gloves
Apron
Bleach
Metal container
Variety of applicators.
Cardboard and Plastic sheets to protect work surfaces.
I was working in a well ventilated area and used gloves and an apron to protect my hands and clothes.The cats were not allowed in the area I was working in despite Jasper’s objections!
I feel like an explorer ! I have never used bleach on black tissue paper before so this was a new venture for me. Like all things new I was not sure how well I would do here. The samples in the unit looked great, I felt a bit daunted which is silly, it’s only bleach and paper! Like all these things getting started is the big hurdle! I allowed myself a test piece which I thought had not worked until the bleach began to take effect and magic marks began to appear. I was hooked, it was like making your own magic painting book! ( I loved magic painting books! Do you still get them? I wish I had wee ones again!)
Gecko marks.
1. 2. 3. 4.
1. I used a piece of card and pressed the bleach into the paper making short lines and at intervals used the end of a cotton reel to imprint circles. For this one I was still finding and experimenting with materials and objects. As you can see the spots at the top are different this is because I tried the end of a shaped rubber.
2. I continued using the edge of the card to imprint lines, I was trying to keep the lines as thin as I could but with enough bleach to make a positive mark. It needed a lighter touch.
3. This one was made with a narrow piece of card, dragged over the paper followed by making horizontal lines over the 1st marks. I did this until the bleach was all used up so the lines are fairly thin and faint. I then took the end of a stick with more bleach and made spots here and there. The incidental lines caused by the bleach trailing from the stick, add to the overall effect. I love unplanned marks!
4. This time I was trying to create a variation in the thickness and tone of the marks which is also reflected in the patterns on the gecko’s skin.
I was really getting into the swing of things now! Read the rest of this entry »
I am studying embroidery with Distant Stitch and this is mainly what my blog is about at the moment!
My progress towards City & Guilds Level 3 Embroidery Certificate, with Distant Stitch
Textile Art Inspired by Central Asia
My progress through The Taster Module in Embroidery, with Distant Stitch
Finding art inspirations in the world around us
My embroidery and creative stitching experiences.
E.B's Blog...I'm in Stitches! 