Art of Stitch

Degree update

2011-03-20T10:18:00.001-07:00

If you are interested in seeing what I have been up to over the past few months with my latest work for Textiles 1: Exploring Ideas have a look here. Click in the side bar.

Happy Christmas ....

2010-12-24T07:47:00.001-08:00

and best wishes for a creative New Year.

I Passed...

2010-12-01T15:28:00.000-08:00

I got my C & G certificate in the post from Sian today. So I have officially passed Level 3 Certificate in Design and Craft - Stitched Textiles (Embroidery).

I'm slowly getting back in to studying but had to put back sending in my 1st assignment for OCA textiles until the end of January.

Thank You

2010-11-06T08:02:00.001-07:00

Thanks to everyone who left a comment on my last post the kind thoughts where very much appreciated at what has been a very difficult time for me.

My brother and I laid my Mum to rest with my Dad on Thursday. I know in my head that she is out of pain and at rest but there is such a large hole left in my life.

I don't have the enthusiasm to get back to my studies just yet but I know Mum wouldn't want me to give up on them.

Sad news...

2010-10-26T18:17:00.000-07:00

My beloved Mum passed away this morning.

1926-2010

The Dr's managed to treat the pneumonia but she had COPD and her lungs just gave up. I know it was a final journey she had to make but it was so hard for me. I didn't want her to be alone so I stayed with her and she went peacefully. God Bless Mum my best friend.

Textile Degree

2010-10-03T09:18:00.000-07:00

If you've been following my other blog over the past few years you will know I have been studying with the Open College of Arts

The OCA was recently confirmed as an approved degree provider by Student Finance England, SF Northern Ireland and hopefully SF Wales so now degree student on low incomes may qualify for Government funding.

As I got funding for my OU course I am pretty sure I qualify so early in September I applied. I got an email to say I would be officially enrolled on my degree course on 1st October and I should receive my 1st Module in the next week or two.

I am now officially a part time undergraduate studying for a degree in Textiles (when it is validated by their accrediting University).
Alongside the Textiles 1: A Creative Approach for which I received an A 76% I am planning to study

Textiles 1: Exploring Ideas
Understanding Art 1: Western Art
Textiles 2: Developing Creative Textiles
Textiles 2: Finding Your Style (should be ready by the time I need to do it)
Textiles 3: Advanced
Textiles 3: Your Own Portfolio

I hope anyone that is interested in joining me on my journey will follow my blog at OCA Creative Arts Journey

Spam

2010-08-28T03:59:00.000-07:00

You will notice I've turned on Comment moderation. I was tired of getting spam for dubious products, anyone that's had the same will know what I mean. Glad to see Blogger has done something about it though "We have enabled automatic spam detection for comments." Hopefully that will deal with it.

Phew

2010-08-26T07:16:00.000-07:00

I made it by the skin of my teeth. My C & G registration runs out on Saturday so I've been hard at work on my wall hanging (see last post) so I wouldn't have to pay another 3 years registration.

I've enjoyed my 3 years C & G and learnt a lot although I'm still not as adventurous as I could be but perhaps that is just my 'style'.

I could go on to do the Diploma but I've decided to go back to studying Textiles with The Open College of the Arts as each Module will be assessed and count towards their BA Hons Textiles degree when it is validated by their accrediting University which is Bucks New University hopefully some time next year.

I'll leave this blog up on the world wide web in case anyone stumbles across it and finds it interesting.

Composite Sheets

2010-08-24T14:54:00.000-07:00

A3 in size

Module 6 Documentation

2010-08-24T02:45:00.000-07:00

Chapter 12 Study three Artist

2010-08-24T02:40:00.000-07:00

Chapter 11 Making your Wall-Hanging

2010-08-24T01:59:00.000-07:00

I've finished my wall hanging at last. This is the design I went with .....

..... and this is how it turned out. I've had to put it on the floor to photograph it as I envisage it being hung from hooks on a wall. As my theme was the hose pipe ban in the North West of England I used a piece of hose pipe through the fabric loops which would then hang from the hooks.

I wanted to use spiral wires to suspend the blue parts so it looks as if they where floating over the background but when I came to hold it up they flopped so I had to stitch some beads occasionally to hold them on to the background but I still think it works.

top right

centre

bottom

I used hand dyed cotton in blues and greens then machine stitched blue organza on top. I cut the shapes out then used my soldering iron to cut away parts of the organza to show the fabric underneath before attaching to stiff adhesive backed fabric.

close up a

close up b

close up c

The background is hand dyed then I discharged spirals before machine stitching in the space in between. I was going to gather the fabric but it didn't work so I undid it.

close up of background

close up discharge pattern and stitching

Chapter 10 continued

2010-08-08T15:38:00.000-07:00

UPDATE

I played with this design in Photoshop

and using perspective I've come up with this version which I think will work quite nicely.

Sian suggests I use a bit more blue instead of the green in it. So using Photoshop again I changed the green to blue, but I think it needs to be a combination of both colours.

Now I've just got to convert this design into an embroidered Wall hanging.

I dyed cotton for the background. I'd hoped it would be more mottled than it turned out so I used some discharge paste to stamp the pattern I'd used on the coloured paper.

Samples for Background layer

Discharged sample as base for further samples

Sample 1 gathered

Sample 1 with soluble lace

Sample 2

Sample 2 with Soluble Lace

Perhaps machine stitch Sample 1 before gathering as well???

Samples for Top Layer

Sample 1 machine stitched organza over cotton (separate)

Sample 2 machine stitched organza over cotton (separate)

Sample 3 machine stitched organza over cotton

(stitched together)

Sample 3 with parts of organza melted away

I'm leaning towards Sample 3.

Chapter 10 Converting your design into Embroidery

2010-08-02T01:45:00.000-07:00

The finished Wall Hanging for this Module has to be A1 (24 x 34 inches approx) in size so I used Photoshop to enlarge my chosen design and printed it in black on A4 pieces of copy paper and glued them together to the size I wanted then roughly painted it with the colours of the original. I've put it up on a wall for a few days to look at each time I pass to make sure I've chosen the right one and to decide how I am going to translate it into embroidery.

Funny thing last night as I was trying to get to sleep some ideas came to me so I'll be doing some sample over the next few days.

A4 photocopy the larger version I printed as a draft is a lot lighter
so I could paint onto it with my chosen colours

Chapter 9 Decorative papers

2010-08-01T18:38:00.000-07:00

I painted papers in my chosen colours - blue, green and reddy brown.

I then used them to translate some of the black paper designs into A3 colour.

No 1

No 2 layer 1

No 2 layer 2

No 3

No 4

No 5

Chapter 8 Research for Conservation theme

2010-08-01T17:38:00.000-07:00

I was undecided what to study for my Conservation theme but today 20th July (this post may be published later) it hit me in the face or should I say rained on me.

In the North West of England we have had a hosepipe ban in place since 9th July but for most of today most of this area has been deluged by rain leading to flooding in many places.

Design Exercise - select some of the words Sian suggested as well as some that relate to my theme and using black paper cut, rip or manipulate the paper to reflect the meaning of the word.

No 1

No 2

No 3

No 4

No 5

No 6

No 7

No 8

No 9

No 10

No 11

No 12

No 13

Next I had to re-work some of the black designs using coloured papers.

No 15

No 16

No 17

No 18

No 19

No 20

No 21

No 22

Chapter 7 Use of Dissolvable 'Fabrics'

2010-07-31T18:45:00.000-07:00

'Lace' using Soluble Fabrics.

Chapter 6 Cutwork

2010-07-30T18:37:00.000-07:00

These are my cutwork samples using some of the designs from Chapter 2.

I've put the paper design with the cutwork sample.

Sample 1

cotton back with machine stitching - top layer dyed muslin

Sample 2

free machine stitched background - top layer fancy machine stitch

Sample 3

background dyed muslin - 2nd layer green/blue dyed muslin -

top layer machine stitched blue organza

Sample 4

background layer transfer printed cotton machine free stitched -

2nd layer free machine stitched cotton -

3rd layer white organza over few areas

Chapter 5 Free machine stitchery to interpret drawings

2010-07-30T17:37:00.000-07:00

I forgot to note which drawings each of these sample relate to, doh!!!!

Sample 1

Sample 2

Sample 3

Sample 4

Sample 5

Sample 6

Sample 7

Sample 8

Sample 9

Chapter 4 Fabrics and threads - colouring and bonding

2010-07-04T10:03:00.000-07:00

Fabrics mostly cotton with a few muslin - scrunched or shibori style with different colours added randomly.

Threads randomly dyed.

Chapter 3 Free machine stitchery

2010-07-03T08:07:00.000-07:00

Sample 1 - free machine stitching (straight stitch)

Sample 2 - Straight stitch whip stitch - thicker thread wound on bobbin and stitched from back so I didn't know what it looked like until I turned it over, some quite pleasing results in some blocks.

Sample 3 - Zig zag whip stitch - my machine won't cope with very thick threads unfortunately so only been able to use some of my dyed crochet cotton thread.

Chapter 2 Designing with shapes and layers

2010-07-02T08:35:00.000-07:00

I painted various papers to use in this chapter using the colours from my photos in the opening chapter.

Paper 1

Paper 1a

Paper 2

Paper 2a

Paper 3

Paper 3a

Paper 4

Paper 4a

Paper 5

Paper 5a

I used some of the previous papers to do more designs using more than one layer.

Paper 1 cut and reassembled in different order

Paper 2a cut and reassembled twice

Paper 3 cut and reassembled twice

(think this looks more like a landscape than water)

The following are using 2 different painted papers cut and reassembled a number of times

Paper 6

I only did this one twice as I liked the effect it gave.

Paper 7

This was done 3 times and started to take on different shape

Paper 8

This one was cut and reassembled 3 times as well.

Paper 9

Chapter 1 Drawing Methods

2010-06-30T08:59:00.000-07:00

Drawing Marks using various drawing implements.

page 1

page 2

page 3

Frottage using some Friskars Texture Plates that I got for £1 at Aintree in April.

page 4

page 5

page 6

page 7

page 8

page 9

Sgrafitto

page 10

Frottage and Sgrafitto

page 11

Resist - Brusho over Oil Pastel

page 12

Module 6

2010-06-30T08:55:00.000-07:00

The first set of photographs of water are some of my own taken in my local park.

The next set are from the Internet

(c) Ian Britton - FreeFoto.com

Module 5 Documentation

2010-06-27T15:15:00.000-07:00

Chapter 13 Study Three Artists

2010-06-27T14:36:00.000-07:00

Chapter 12 Resolved Sample

2010-06-27T08:36:00.000-07:00

Resolved Sample paper design.

Samples for Resolved Sample

Resolved sample 1st stage, hand dyed fabric and machine quilted.

2nd stage - organza stitched with twin needle

then stitched to quilted shapes and cut back in between.

Stage 3 - hand stitching around edge of organza shapes.

I wasn't going to stitch around but the organza started to fray

and the shapes started to come away from the background.

Stage 4 - fly stitch on some but not all organza shapes.

Final stage - wool pulled through space between organza embroidered pieces

to make it stand out from rest.

Finished sample 8 inch by 12 inch.

Back on track.......I hope!

2010-06-21T07:47:00.000-07:00

Firstly my Mum was released from Hospital on Monday 7th June. She has to have oxygen at home now because of her COPD (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) but she has improved a lot over the past 2 weeks. No sooner had my Mum come home than I was admitted to hospital for treatment for severe anaemia, luckily I was only in a few days.

Hopefully I am now back on track to finish C & G Certificate by the middle of August.

Chapter 11 Design from Landscape - Texture and Shape

2010-05-31T16:35:00.000-07:00

Part A - Use of Texture

Decorated papers paint over wax crayon rubbings

a, d, e, f, g manipulated paper

b, c, gesso

top left paint scraped with twig

top right filter in PS

bottom left walnut ink over wax crayon

bottom right charcoal pencil

Part B - Use of Shape

Grasses

Stage 2

Tree

Stage 2

What a difference a week makes

2010-05-27T03:37:00.001-07:00

This time last week I honestly thought I would be organizing a funeral. But thankfully I was so wrong. My Mum is well on the way to recovering. They moved her out of critical care on Monday afternoon. She's in a side room for now because she has an MRSA infection in her nose, it seems lots of us have this without knowing it. She's very unsteady on her feet but I suppose you can expect that after 5 days in bed but hopefully she will get her strength back soon.

We had a laugh though when she said the pysio was teaching her how to breath, as if she hasn't been for the past 84 years. But that was part of the problem I think she doesn't breath deeply enough into her lungs, it seems she doesn't breath out the carbon dioxide so it builds up in her lungs.

I hope they will let her home soon because this travelling up to the hospital each day is killing me. I keep forgetting to take my blood pressure medicine and I think I'm anaemic again because I have to keep stopping every few yards because I'm out of breath. I forgot to take my iron tablets for the past week so that hasn't helped.

Thanks everyone for you kind thoughts and prayers they are very much appreciated.

Not again

2010-05-21T13:47:00.000-07:00

My poor Mum is in hospital again with pneumonia. The past few days have been fraught. Her breathing had got so bad I had to call an ambulance on Wednesday night and to be honest I didn't think we would make it to the hospital she was so bad they had the lights and sirens going all the way. They took her straight into A & E but it was over half an hour before they could tell me how she was and of course I panicked when they took me into the relatives room I expected the worst. They said she was very ill and when they took me through to see her I knew she was in a bad way. The Dr from ICU said she had single organ shutdown and that if it spread to other organs they would only be able to make her comfortable. I freaked out when they asked what she would want doing if they had to resuscitate her. I had to phone my brother to come over from York because they didn't think she would last the night. They let us see here for a few minutes in ICU but there wasn't much we could do but go home, now I'm not an overly religious person but I did pray a lot that night. My brother is a born again Christian so he'd asked his friends from church to pray for her.

We phoned next morning and they said she was still critical but talking to the staff so we went up to the hospital and they let us see here again for a few minutes and I can't believe the difference she was so much better. They must have pumped her full of antibiotics to get the pneumonia under control. She's still in ICU because they are waiting for a bed in the chest ward for her. They've taken out all the needles that where stuck in her and reduced the oxygen she needs.

As my brother said earlier today 'The Power of Prayer', it is indeed miraculous.

Hopefully she is over the worst and on the mend, but I'll try to get some work done in between hospital visiting.

NB I've just looked up Aintree University Hospital (although we know it by its old name of Fazakerly Hospital) and the Critical Care Unit is state of the art and the Chest ward (one of 3) she'll be going to is one of the largest in the country and many of the consultants are national or international experts so she is getting the best treatment possible.

Chapter 10 Stitch to Translate

2010-05-15T16:35:00.000-07:00

Translate the rubbings of paper reliefs into stitching. Not sure these have worked very well so may try some more.

Sample 1

Sample 2

Sample 3

Chapter 9 Threads and Stitchery

2010-05-14T16:35:00.000-07:00

I stitched this sample of some of the different stitches available - flat - looped - chained - knotted and composite stitches.

a - darning

b - dot

c - stem

d - satin

e - herringbone

f - thorn

g - cross

h - chevron

i - arrowhead

j - buttonhole

k - fly

l - cretan

m - knotted cretan
n - knotted loop
o - double fly
p -braid
q - chain
r - open chain
s - wheat ear
t - feather
u - laced running
v - pekinese
w - interlaced running
x - rope
y - detached chain
z - basque
1 - bullion
2 - french knot
3 - whipped buttonhole

Next 2 samples of buttonhole and its variations.

a, b, d, e - variations on buttonhole stitch
g, h - up and down buttonhole
j, l - knotted buttonhole
k - crossed buttonhole

variations on buttonhole, up and down buttonhole and
crossed buttonhole

Finally rubbings of the relief surfaces

Sample 1

Sample 2

Sample 3

Sample 4

Sample 5

Sample 6

Sample 7

Chapter 8 Paper Relief into Fabric Relief

2010-05-12T16:34:00.000-07:00

Translate 5 of the paper relief surfaces from Chapter 3 in two different ways in fabric.

Sample 1 (from sample 7 in Chapter 3)

Left: scrim with wool top padding with hand stitching

Right: muslin wadding with machine stitching

Sample 2 (from sample 1 in Chapter 3)

Top: organza with twin machine stitching

Bottom: twin machine stitching then threaded with wool

Sample 3 (from sample 6 in Chapter 3)

Left: surprise outcome with this sample, organza twin needle pin tuck

Right: cotton twin needle pin tuck

Sample 4 (from sample 4 in Chapter 3)

Left: muslin with bondaweb on back to get tucks then hand stitched

Right: cotton machined tucks

Sample 5 (from sample 2 in Chapter 3)

Left: scrim gathered

Right: muslin with bondaweb to make tucks

Chapter 7 Textural Contrasts

2010-05-10T16:55:00.000-07:00

Sample of different textures using calico with the odd bit of scrim with a light coating of emulsion over the top

a twisted calico

b pleated calico

c crushed scrim

d woven calico

e knotted calico

f rolled calico

g knotted and wound calico

h rolled calico with thread wound round

i rolled calico on edge

j suffolk puffs

k beads wound with thread under calico

l pleated calico

m twisted calico

Chapter 6 Tucks, Pleats and Gathers

2010-05-10T16:34:00.000-07:00

Samples of tucks, pleats and gathers using 100% cotton, calico and scrim.

Sample 1 Pleats

Sample 2 Box Pleats

Sample 3 Pin tucks

Sample 4 Pin tucks

Sample 5 Tapered Pleat

Sample 6

Sample 7

Sample 8 Tuck and Pin Tucks

Sample 9 Tucks

Sample 10 Tucks

Sample 11 Hand stitched Pin Tucks

Sample 12 Tuck with straw

Sample 13 Tuck with pipe cleaner

Sample 14 Stuffed and oversewn Tucks

Sample 15 Stuffed Tucks

Sample 16 Tucks with cut outs and frayed edges

Sample 17 Gathered with skewer

Sample 18 Straight Machine Gathering

Sample 19 Wave Machine Gathering

Sample 20 Gathered Tucks

Sample 21 Hand Gathered vertically and horizontally

Sample 22 Hand Gathered randomly

Sample 23 Pleating machine

Sample 24 Pleating machine

Sample 25 Pleating machine

Sample 26 Machine stitched gathers

Sample 27 Hand stitch Gathering

Sample 28 Linen scrim threads pulled to gather

Chapter 5 - Quilting, Padding and Stuffing

2010-05-09T16:33:00.001-07:00

Quilting experiments

Wadded Quilting

Sample 1

Organza top with loose threads as padding

Sample 2 Thin cotton top with wool padding

Sample 3 Scrim top with wool top padding

Shaped Quilting

Sample 1 polystyrene under scrim

Sample 2 straws under scrim

Sample 3 metal washers under muslin

Sample 4 pipe cleaner shape under cotton

Padded Quilting

Sample 1 Hand stitched and stuffed with dried out baby wipes (clean)

Sample 2 Machine stitched and stuffed with wool tops

Chapter 4 Fabric Investigation

2010-05-09T16:33:00.000-07:00

I've tried to find as many different fabrics as I can for this chapter without buying any so it mightn't be as comprehensive as it could be.

100% Fine Cotton

Crush Yes, Stretch slightly but more on bias, Fray yes but not on Bias, Melt No

100% Linen as above

100% Cotton as above

Linen Scrim as above

100% Cotton calico as above

Pelmet Vilene

Crush no, Stretch no, Fray no, Melt Yes

Polyester organza as above

Polyester satin as above

Polyester net as above

Interfacing as above

Chapter 3 Texture and Relief in Paper

2010-04-04T15:59:00.000-07:00

This chapter involves taking some of the photos of texture from an earlier chapter and interpreting them with paper.
Sample 1 - Strips of tissue paper to look like grasses.

Sample 2 - PVA glue and one piece of tissue manipulated.

Sample 3 - Tissue twisted and shaped.

UPDATE 1st May Sian thought the paper I used in this sample didn't convey the waxy leaves so I added some other paper on top.

Sample 4 - Tissue paper scrunched and shaped stuck down with PVA, bark of tree.

Sample 5 - Cotton wool covered with scrunched tissue stuck down with PVA, bark of tree.

Sample 6 - Scraps of thread stuck down with PVA then covered with tissue, branches of tree.

Sample 7 - Rolls of scrunched paper covered with tissue all stuck down with PVA, bark of tree.

Chapter 2: Exploring Textures with Papers

2010-02-18T07:53:00.000-08:00

I only had small pieces of black card to use (A6) so I put 2 tester pieces on each. Ripping and folding with different types of paper.

Sample 1

Sample 2

Sample 3

Sample 4

Sample 5

An A4 piece of card (or I should say 2 x A6 pieces taped together) for an experiment of scrunching paper down from A4 to fit in to a smaller section.

a - tissue paper

b - brown wrapping paper

c - tracing paper

d - drafting paper

e - newspaper

f - rice paper

g - kitchen roll

h - copy paper

A6 pieces of card with 'Manipulated tissue paper' samples.

Sample 1 - strips twisted and knotted

Sample 2 - holes punched then scrunched and holes glued around

Sample 3 - twisted strips then tissue glued over them

Sample 4 - piece of tissue put through a pleating machine

Sample 5 - pleated

Sample 6 - pleated, twisted and knotted

Sample 7 - pleated, twisted and knotted

Sample 8 - pleated, scrunched with holes

Sample 9 - twisted, scrunched with holes

Sample 10 - pleated, pleated with holes

Sample 11 - pleated

Sample 12 - pleated

Sample 13 - pleated and twisted

Sample 14 - pleated

Sample 15 - pleated, twisted and knotted

Sample 16 - scrunched, pleated and twisted

Sample 17 - pleated, twisted and knotted

I misread Sian's instructions - I should have combined 2 processes in the same piece of paper which I have done in some samples but in most of the them I combined 2 processes in a sample.

Module 5 'Touching Textures' Chapter 1 Textures in Landscape

2010-02-18T07:39:00.000-08:00

I've used photographs that I've taken in my local park of trees and plants for this module. I've converted to black and white and used Photoshop to add various filters.

No 1: Plant - original and with filter

No 2: Plant - original and with filter

No 3: Frosted leaves - original and with filter

Grasses original

No 4: Grasses with 2 different filters

No 5: Tree branches - original and with filter

No 6: Tree bark - original and with filter

Tree bark original

No 7: Tree bark - original and with filter

No 8: Tree bark - original and with filter

Tree bark original

No 9: Tree bark filters

NB added these on 17th May.

No 10: tree bark

No 11: back of ivy fallen from wall

No 12: grasses

Got a bit carried away with filters in Photoshop with the last photo

Authentication of work

2010-02-16T13:34:00.000-08:00

Module 4 Documentation

2010-02-15T04:19:00.000-08:00

Evaluation of completed work

The completed embroidered assessment piece for Module 4 is an 'Embroidered panel'

How do you feel about the resulting conclusion?

I am really pleased with how this has turned out.

Is it fit for its purpose - give reasons?

Yes - I wanted an unusual album for family photos.

If you were asked to make it again, what changes would you make to the way you designed it and the way made it?

I would perhaps print onto the paper I used for the 'star book' instead of leaving it plain.

Costing for Module 3

1/2 metre linen scrim = £1.50
1/4 metre scrim =50p
Embroidery threads = 50p
metal washers 10p
Cartridge paper = 80p
Photo paper = 50p
Printer ink = £1

Total = £4.90

Timing for accessory

Design work 6 hours
Hand embroidery 12 hours
Photograph scanning and printing 4 hours
Making star book 2 hours

Total time for Design work and embroidery 24 hours

Storage of work, materials, tools and equipment

Design work in progress - in A3 folder to keep it flat and away from sunlight
Completed design work - as above in separate folder
Papers for design work - as above
Ink and paints - separate plastic containers, inks upright with lids secure and in a cool place
Embroidery in progress - stored in plastic bag to keep clean
Completed embroidery - in acid free tissue paper
Fabrics - stored in stacker boxes on shelf unit
Thread - in various boxes according to type e.g. embroidery, sewing, and kept in drawer of storage unit

Health and safety rules observed

Paper Making

Take extra care when using a hand blender to make pulp. Never put fingers by the blades and unplug before cleaning.
Make sure blades are below the pulp so it doesn't spray everywhere
Dont use your blender for food preparation, keep it especially for textile/art work
If you spill pulp or water on the floor wipe up immediately so you don't slip on it. It doesn't matter on carpet, it will get soaked up but on wooden or tiled floors it can be dangerous

Hand stitching

Use a thimble to prevent top of needle piercing skin especially when sewing through thick fabric or hand made paper. If you are having difficulty sewing through the paper, piece through the back with needle first.
Take breaks frequently to ease shoulders when hand or machine sewing
When doing close work rest your eyes every half hour, look at middle distance then long distance so your eyes don't become strained.
You will need to replace needles frequently when sewing through paper as they will blunt easily.
Don't use your good scissors to cut paper, they will soon be ruined for cutting fabric

Miscellaneous

Have good lights when sewing especially close hand stitching to avoid eye strain
If you need reading glasses, make sure that you wear them when doing close work to avoid eye strain or headaches

Module 4 Composite Sheet

2010-02-15T04:07:00.000-08:00

I'm never sure if I've done these correctly???

Chapter 12 Study 3 Artists

2010-02-13T16:34:00.000-08:00

Chapter 11 embroidered panel revisited

2010-02-09T11:18:00.000-08:00

Sian thought my panels needed a bit more embroidery on them so I've add some cretan stitch loosely all over the previous stitching.

Close up of stitching.

I felt it still needed some more stitching so I wove thread through the top and bottom to finish it off.

Close up of woven stitching.

I've re-done the composite sheet as well.

Instead of using a black background I've put the different components on to a background of various family documents i.e. birth and marriage certificates. I'm not very good at this side of things so I hope this is the sort of thing you meant Sian.

Chapter 11 Embroidered Panel

2010-02-08T16:15:00.000-08:00

My Embroidered panels are the outside covers of a Star book that contain black and white family photographs.

I made 2 pieces of paper approximately 7 x 9 inches with a piece of drawn thread fabric embedded into it.

When dried I embroidered the strands left in the fabric in pink and green threads. Then I covered metal washers with the same threads and attached them down one side.

Front cover

Back cover

I coloured scrim in matching pink and green, cut it up into small strips and attached them to a piece of rug making canvas for the spine.

Rag rugged spine

Covers and spine before attaching to rest of star book

Covers and spine attached

Finished Star book

I scanned family photographs and printed them before attaching them with photograph corners to the first piece of cartridge paper. I cut windows out of the other two pieces of cartridge paper before making up the Star Book.

Chapter 10 Making Book or Portfolio structures

2010-01-16T07:37:00.000-08:00

I had so much fun making these book structures.

Book 1 - I started with a simple Accordian with tunnel A5 size

Book 2 - Next something I found on the Internet, a Victorian puzzle purse but made from paper. The idea is you write something in side then the recipient has to work out how it fold together again, easy once you know how.

Book 3 - A5 size

Book 4 - Origami book - made from A4 paper printed with lettering design from previous chapter and sprayed with walnut ink to give aged look. Cover is piece of painted nappy liner ironed to cotton fabric and machine stitched. Held together with machine made cord.

Book 5 - concertina book with signatures A5 size.

Book 6 - A6 size.

Book 7 - postcard size.

Book 8 - Piano hinge with skewers

Book 9 - Star book

I've included these Doodle books from Lynda Monks online workshop as they show how to sew signatures into an outer cover.

Doodle book 1

Doodle book 2 - I used watercolour paper for the signatures.

Chapter 9 Stitching into Papers

2010-01-12T07:37:00.000-08:00

I didn't colour the pulps with dye so the papers are very pale, just slightly pink from where the dye must have come out of some of the threads I used.

I've put the original first followed by the stitched sample.

Sample 1
thick thread embedded in pulp,
individual Basque stitch

Sample 2
drawn thread fabric with paper around edge,
cross stitch

Sample 3
pulp on back of drawn thread fabric,
paper shows through after hand stitching

Sample 4
drawn thread fabric with paper edge,
backed with green fabric then pink hand stitched

Sample 5
drawn thread fabric with paper edge
cross stitch and herringbone stich

Sample 6
thick thread grid embedded in pulp,
hand stitching in squares

Sample 7
Used the last of the pulp with thread grid,
Cretan stitch to attach it to background fabric

Hand embroidered stitch on edge of paper.

Machine stitch on edge of paper.

Chapter 8 Paper plus Grids

2010-01-08T07:37:00.000-08:00

I did these before Christmas while my Mum was in hospital for something to stop me worrying and I got a bit carried away. Still better to do too many than not enough.

Thick wool wrapped around frame, dunked in pulp then cut away from frame.

Hessian dunked in pulp.

Rug canvas dunked in pulp.

Orange net from fruit dunked in pulp.

Drawn thread fabric dunked in pulp.

Wire formed into grid then yes you've guessed it dunked in pulp.

Chapter 7 Wrapped Frames

2010-01-06T07:36:00.000-08:00

Sample 1
dyed dishcloth thread wrapped around frame,
zigzag machine stitched then ribbon threaded through

Samples 2 and 3
pink and green dishcloth thread wrapped around frame
then zig zag machine stitched in
alternate colour i.e, pink on green and green on pink

Sample 4
pink and green thread wrapped around frame,
zigzag green machine stitching,
pink close zigzag stitched

Sample 5
embroidery thread wrapped around frame
with pink zigzag machine stitching

Sample 6
pink and green thread wrapped frame
with pink zigzag machine stitching

Sample 7
plastic threads woven together,
zigzag machine stitching,
ribbon woven through

Another book

2009-12-28T03:15:00.001-08:00

Of course I then had to look if there where any more inspirational books and I found this.

Bucharbeiten / Book-Art from Wolfgang Schroeter on Vimeo.

Patience

2009-12-28T03:05:00.000-08:00

My fellow Calendar Girl Pat posted this and I just had to put it on here as inspiration, isn't it brilliant. As Pat says watch in full screen.

Patience from Glowing Heads on Vimeo.

Mum is home

2009-12-05T07:24:00.000-08:00

I'm glad to say my Mum is home from hospital after her bout of pneumonia. She was kept in longer than expected because they needed to get rid of the fluid on her lungs. She came home yesterday but luckily it was late afternoon because our landlord was fitting double glazing so she missed all the mess and noise.

I can get back to being creative now.

Mum is ill..........

2009-11-24T13:27:00.000-08:00

......I could be away for some time. My Mum was rushed into hospital in the early hours of Saturday morning with breathing problems that turned out to be pneumonia and today the chest specialist says she also has fluid on the lungs. I'll try to do some work when I have the time it keeps my mind occupied and from worrying.

Chapter 6 Drawn Thread Work Stitchery

2009-11-12T10:36:00.000-08:00

Sample 1 - I withdraw the threads from the middle to the sides then zig zag machined over the resulting grid. Finally I hand stitched the loose threads down.

Sample 2 - threads withdrawn then zig zag machined at various intervals then various hand stitching.

Sample 3 - threads withdrawn horizontally and vertically , zig zag machine vertical lines with hand stitching then ribbons threaded through horizontally.

Sample 4 - withdrawn threads horizontally and vertically, zig zag stitched then vertical hand stitch.

NB think I need to use a darker thread for the hand stitch, it doesn't show up.

Samples 5-7 - I think I need to add more machine or hand stitching to these samples, they are a bit plain????

NB I need to think more outside the box - these samples are very repetitive and symmetrical and apart from the 1st sample a bit plain.

Update I did some more stitching on to one of the plainer samples.

Chapter 5 Drawn Thread Work

2009-10-29T14:54:00.000-07:00

I bought some Linen scrim from Whaleys of Bradford and dyed it in the colous I'm using for this module Red and Green/Pink and Green.

Samples 1-5 threads removed in various amounts from 2 to 8 threads.

Sample 1

Sample 2

Sample 3

Sample 4

Sample 5

Sample 6
Threads pulled alternatively to displace colours

Sample 7
Threads pulled alternatively to displace colours
and some pulled from middle to loop

Sample 8

Sample 9

Sample 10
Threads removed then threaded back

Chapter 4 Papermaking

2009-10-28T18:30:00.000-07:00

My first try at Papermaking. They aren't very big mostly between 4-6 inches.

Threads embedded in pulp

End of pen pressed into pulp while damp

Negative letter in pulp

Rug canvas embedded in pulp

Rug canvas embedded in pulp then removed

Stamp pushed in to pulp

Spiral stamp pushed into pulp

Back of paper with spiral stamp gives different look

Flower stamp pushed into pulp

Back of paper with flower stamp gives different look

NB I'll make more samples once I make more pulp and try to be more experimental.

Chapter 3 Grids

2009-10-28T16:10:00.000-07:00

Various types of grids made from fabric, metal or plastic.

a - scrim
b + c - wireform
d - plastic canvas wrapped with thread
e - muslin
f - plastic fruit netting
g - aida
h - canvas
i - sinamay
j - net
k - plastic canvas
l - rug canvas

Chapter 2 Lettering Designs

2009-10-28T14:55:00.000-07:00

I chose the word 'nostalgia' for this module and using different drawing methods experimented with different styles.

Page 1
a - black ink with wide calligraphy nib
b to d - edge of cut up credit card to form letters
e - white wax crayon rubbed over grid placed under paper
then black ink painted over the top
f - black wax crayon rubbed over grid placed under paper

Page 2 - Scroll pen calligraphy - then folded paper

Page 3 -
black ink lettering with black and red sprayed over,
gold pen over lettering,
and silver, gold pen smaller lettering in between

Page 4 -
black ink with calligraphy pens then overpainted with red
(thought it dries more pink)

Page 5 -
watered down black ink then more lettering with black,
red ink in between lettering,
word written with pens in negative shapes between larger lettering

Page 6 -
serrated card letters then sprayed with walnut ink and red brusho

Page 7 -
Calligraph with various pens

Page 8 -
bleach on black ink background
Black Quink ink background lettering made with bleach

Page 9 -
Quink ink background letters in bleach,
gold paint sponged over

Page 10 -
Black Quink ink background - bleach letters using side of credit card

Page 11 -
Tissue paper with oil pastel rubbed over PVA glue lettering,
spayed with black ink, walnut ink and sponged with gold

Page 12 -
blue brusho sprayed onto white paper, tissue paper with oil pastel
rubbed over PVA glue lettering,
walnut ink, yellow brusho and blue brusho sprayed over top

Page 13 -
calligraphy lettering cut out and glued to background,
sequin waste stencil in red

Page 14 -
calligraphy lettering cut out and glued to background,
sequin waste stencil

Page 15 -
tissue paper with oil pastel rubbed over PVA glue lettering,
sprayed with brusho paints and more writing over top

Page 16 -
tissue paper with oil pastel rubbed over PVA glue lettering,
sprayed with brusho paints

Page 17 -
letters stamped on background,
tissue paper with oil pastel rubbed over PVA glue lettering,
sprayed with walnut ink

Lettering design in Photoshop.

Module 4 - Chapter 1 Media Research

2009-10-28T13:18:00.000-07:00

In the introduction Sian says to consider a personal theme within this topic so it's individual to me. I reached my 50th birthday earlier this year and I think you start to look back on what you've achieved or not achieved in your life.

I've also been trying to trace my family tree so my theme will be 'nostalgia'.

A few years ago my Mum and I went through a load of papers that had been accumulated over the years. I was amazed to find some bills from my Mum and Dad's wedding back in 1957 so I scanned them along with their wedding certificate and birth certificates for this 1st collection.

I knew all those stamps that I'd been saving would come in handy one day. I usually send them to charities that sell them on but I'd got quite a pile. I went through them and made two A4 pages of the fancy ones.

Alphabet made from various fonts. NB there are a few letters missing, I'll add them when I find suitable ones.

Different styles of lettering.

I used my word for this Module and tried a few of the 'typeface' that comes in Photoshop.

Lino cutting workshop

2009-10-01T15:14:00.000-07:00

One of the blogs I follow is an artist based in Australia who is running an online Lino cutting course. It only cost $30 about £18 for 3 lessons and from what I’ve read on other blogs Dijanne gives a good grounding in starting to learn Lino cutting so I signed up for it and started last week.

So I don't have to duplicate the post click here and here to see what I've done so far.

Chapter 13 - Study 3 Artist

2009-07-09T15:47:00.000-07:00

Please click on the photographs to read.

Module 3 documentation

2009-07-09T15:17:00.000-07:00

Evaluation of completed work

The completed embroidered assessment piece for Module 3 is an accessory based on 'spirals'.

How do you feel about the resulting conclusion?

I am really pleased with how this has turned out. I've had the idea for something like this for a long time and this was the perfect opportunity to make it.

Is it fit for its purpose - give reasons?

Yes, both my mum and I have tried it on and it is very light, you wouldn't know you were wearing a hat.

If you were asked to make it again, what changes would you make to the way you designed it and the way made it?

I would try to make it smaller so that it would be more like a 'fascinator'.
I would make it in 'synnamy' if I could get it.
I'd include a comb of some sort so that it could be attached to the head without having to use hat pins.

Costing for Module 3

1/2 metre buckram = £2.50
1/2 metre scrim = £1.50
Silk paints = 50p
Threads - Blue cotton = 85p
Orange cotton = 25p
Embroidery threads - Blue = 30p
Orange = 30p
1 metre of Millinery wire = £1

Total = £7.20

Timing for accessory

Design work 6 hours
Embroidery machine and hand stitching 8 hours
Hat base with lining and top fabric 6 hours

Total time for Design work and embroidery 20 hours

Storage of work, materials, tools and equipment

Design work in progress - in A3 folder to keep it flat and away from sunlight
Completed design work - as above in separate folder
Papers for design work - as above
Ink and paints - separate plastic containers, inks upright with lids secure and in a cool place
Embroidery in progress - stored in plastic bag to keep clean
Completed embroidery - in acid free tissue paper
Fabrics - stored in stacker boxes on shelf unit
Thread - in various boxes according to type e.g. embroidery, sewing, and kept in drawer of storage unit
Beads - various containers from multi space to individual pots
Sewing machine - on sewing table with cover on when not in use to keep free from dust
Other electrical equipment - iron on ironing board ready for use, with flex loosely coiled when not in use

Health and safety rules observed

Cutting Tools

Never pull the blade towards you when using a Rotary cutter
Change blades regularly to keep them sharp for ease of cutting
Even though it can be time consuming close up cutter between use
Keep scissors and rotary cutters out of reach of children

Iron

Unplug after use and never leave unattended when leaving the room
Use parchment paper to protect iron when needed
Store correctly when cool

Sewing machine

Switch off and unplug when not in use
Cover with machine cover when not in use for long periods to prevent dust getting in the works
Clean out dust from bobbin case regularly and oil if the machine requires it (mine doesn't)
Don't allow lead to trail over the floor to stop accidents
If the machine starts to sound clunky check switch on foot control hasn't been accidentally moved (mine can be altered to go slow or fast)

Fabric dyeing

Use breathing mask when mixing dye powders
Bend from knees if lifting a heavy bucket with wet fabric in it

Miscellaneous

Pick pins up from the floor immediately they are dropped so you don't step on them especially if you walk around bare foot
Have good lights when sewing especially close hand stitching to avoid eye strain
If you need reading glasses, make sure that you wear them when doing close work to avoid eye strain or headaches
When making a cord on the sewing machine remember to stop working every so often, look to middle distance then far distance to rest your eyes

Chapter 12 A Resolved Sample

2009-06-08T13:32:00.000-07:00

I made a stamp using some 'funky foam' cut to shape and stuck to a piece of polystyrene.

Ist layer - I used some orange fabric paint to stamp on to a piece of yellow fabric.

2nd Layer - embellishing machine to attach a piece of crystal organza to the stamped fabric.

3rd Layer - machine stitched spirals using blue thread on the bobbin and yellow on top, sewing from the back to get whip stitch on the front.

I then couched various thickness of threads - machine made cords, knotted cords to the background.

Finished resolved sample

Close ups of resolved sample.

Chapter 11 A Full Working Design Sheet

2009-06-04T11:32:00.000-07:00

I had to make a Design Sheet showing how the Hat and buttons evolved.

I painted 2 A3 sheets of card with orange which when put together make the Design Sheet A2 in size.

I think I've included enough to show how the buttons where made. I showed the progress of making the hat in the post covering Chapter 10.

Chapter 10 Make an Accessory

2009-06-03T10:33:00.000-07:00

I had this idea from the start of this module so I made a paper mock up to start with to see if it would work before I went any further.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the next stage but I made a template to cut a piece of buckram the shape I wanted. I rolled a piece of card in to a cone shape covered it with cling film then wet the buckram and wound it round the mold.

Once the buckram dried I removed it re-cut the ends to a more suitable shape and sewed millinery wire to the edge to stabilize it.

Next I covered the 'fascinator' with a lining of scrim.

I used some scrim I dyed in one of my chosen colours for the final layer. I decided to fray the edges at the top.

After a few false starts I finally used a machine made cord to couch a spiral decoration.

Buttons for decoration.

1.5 inch curtain ring covered with decorated fabric.

Dorset button made from 1 inch curtain ring.

Dorset button attached to fabric button.

Buttons attached to 'fascinator'.

Chapter 9 Design an Accessory

2009-05-02T13:33:00.000-07:00

This chapter involves creating an accessory based on spirals.

I drew a few basic waistcoat shapes with 1 - 4 buttons ranging from round to oblong and square.

I made a few paper samples of buttons that would be suitable for the garment shapes.

As we have been using 'Spirals' for this Module I decided to go with an idea that I have had in mind for quite a while., (see next post).

Chapter 8 Beads

2009-03-25T13:33:00.000-07:00

I thought I didn't have enough different types of beads but it's amazing what you can do with even with a limited assortment. I've discovered I prefer hand stitching beads too machine stitching them to the background. I suppose with practice I'd get better.

Top row: shisha glass, blue/yellow flower sequin with bead, yellow flower sequin with gold round sequin with bead, blue beads hand stitched.

2nd row: blue beads machine stitched, gold, bronze sequins with beads, blue sequins, gold beads machine stitched.

3rd row: beads under chiffon, blue bugle beads with blue round beads, orange bugle beads, washers and sequins under chiffon.

4th row: blue beads with sequin hanging, bronze beads, blue bugle and round beads, gold beads hanging.

5th row: blue beads, orange bugle with gold beads.

Various beads and sequins stitched into spiral shape.

Chapter 7 Simple Button making

2009-03-24T13:34:00.000-07:00

This chapter is concerned with making buttons from various 3d cores.

I used curtain rings in different sizes for my Dorset button samples and must admit I got a bit carried away doing them.

The sizes range from 2cm up to 4cm.

The composite buttons are made from bought 'easy cover buttons' to pieces of foam and yet another 'dorset button' made with fabric wound round large curtain ring and wool buttonhole stitched around a smaller one.

and finally my toggle samples made from straws, centre from cotton reels or wound fabric.

Chapter 6 Simple Tassels

2009-03-22T13:34:00.000-07:00

Loads of tassels from simple to a bit fancier.

curtain ring wound with cotton

washer wound with yellow with complimentary blue tassel

washers wound with 2 colours

tassels of various threads

left tassel - cotton reel would with thread
right tassel - needlelace decoration

three ring tassel made with plastic rings

machine made cords knotted into tassels

and finally a 'Super Tassel' ...........

..... close up of top of tassel. Large round curtain ring for top with spiral made of pipe cleaner wound with wool then gold over the top and beads handing between.

Close of middle, showing medium size curtain rings in orange with machine made braids hanging from them..........

........ to support small curtain rings and tassels.

Chapter 5 Cord Making

2009-03-21T13:34:00.000-07:00

1. yellow fabric machine stitched cord with blue machine made cord
2. Thick and thin machine made cord with beads threaded on
3. blue machine made cord and orange thread on blue wool cord
4. thick and thin machine made cord

1-6. twisted cords made of various thickness of threads
7-11. twisted cords made from machine made cords

1-9. various machine made cords plaited and knotted

1-7. various cords

1-5. knotted cords made from machine made cords and fabric cords

1-3. cords knotted at intervals

Chapter 4 Decorate with Stitchery

2009-03-20T13:35:00.000-07:00

Hand embroidered spiral samples

Sample 1
running stitch spirals on plain blue background

Sample 2
chain stitch spiral in 2 shades of blue and 2 shades of orange
on a orange monoprint on blue background

Sample 3
blue and orange on plain orange background

1 Chain stitch
2 Cable Chain stitch
3 Basque stitch
4 Scroll stitch
5 Berwick stitch
6 Scroll stitch
7 Basque stitch

Sample 4
blue monoprint on orange background

1 Alternating Barred Chain stitch
2 Reversed Buttonhole Bar
3 Palestrina stitch
4 Buttonhole stitch
5 Chain stitch
6 Cable Chain stitch
7

Sample 5
Couched orange dishcloth thread on monoprint background

Machine embroidered spiral samples

Sample 1

orange thread wound on bobbin and stitched with loose tension
on plain blue background

Sample 2

orange thread wound on bobbin and stitched with loose tension
I think it needs more stitching added to it ????

Sample 3

orange dishcloth thread machine couched
on to monoprint background

Sample 4

orange and blue dishcloth thread machine couched
on to monoprint background

Chapter 3 Fabric and Threads

2009-03-19T13:35:00.000-07:00

My chosen colour scheme for this Module - Blue and orange. Cotton fabric and threads dyed using Procion Mx dyes.

I left some plain and monoprinted the rest.

Chapter 2 Design work

2009-03-18T13:35:00.000-07:00

I chose 'orange and blue' complementary colours for this module but this could include turquoise and indigo or gold and reddy orange.

I started by painting papers in my chosen colours then monoprinting and stamping to decorate them.

The following 3D shapes where made from corrugated card.

The last part of this chapter was to use the computer to create spirals.

I used my newish graphics pad to draw the next 2 pages in Photoshop
and the final 2 pages where done in Word.

Chapter 1 Research for Man-made Spirals

2009-03-17T13:36:00.000-07:00

Module 3 uses 'Man-made Sprials' as the design source. I made simple drawings from the photographs without the clutter of the background to show the spiral shape in it's simplest form.

Research for accessory ideas:

Chapter 12 revisited again....

2008-11-13T13:57:00.000-08:00

After Sian had seen my last piece she suggested I have another go as it still wasn't large enough for an assessment piece. Hopefully this 3rd attempt will be suitable. It's 10 inches tall and about 8 inches from back to front, more of an oval shape than round and it stands up properly this time because I used buckram for the base and between the lining and outer decorated fabric.

Front view

I replaced the eyelets with buttons covered with some of the decorated fabric I had left over.

Side view

Back view

After a few attempts at finishing the ends of the cords I finally came up with these.

Module 3 Line & form in spirals

2008-10-07T16:18:00.000-07:00

I got Module 3 last week so I had it ready to start once I'd finished Module 2. I'll be glad to work with some colours after working with black and white for so long.

Chapter 12 Finished

2008-10-07T16:09:00.000-07:00

I've finally finished Module 2.

I used the camera bag as a practice piece and concentrated on a vessel for my final 3D Embroidered item.

I had to make a couple of new pieces of fabric

When I came to cut and piece them into a new piece of fabric it seemed to have a mind of its own and told me what shape of vessel to make with it......

so this is what I ended up with.

Chapter 12 continued

2008-09-22T13:30:00.000-07:00

I need a bag to protect my camera so I've started to make my design up even if I don't use it for my 3D embroidered item.

I've realised I didn't put measurements on my design drawings. My camera is what is known as a 'bridge' camera - in between a compact and a DSLR but it's considerably larger than a compact. I've put a ruler beside the bag to give an idea of size.

The base is a 6 sided shape but once it's been sewn into the sides the bag becomes rounded.