Throughout Module 2 this is the chapter that I have been looking forward to the most. I find the idea of stitching on different surfaces and manipulating them very interesting and exciting.
Here are some examples of painted, printed and stitched khadi paper before they have been manipulated. I've recently been using acrylic paint mixed with pva glue as it seems to make a nice thick paint useful for creating an interesting texture. I used the print block and stencil from Chapter Two. I was impressed by it's longevity!
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| Painted and stitched khadi papers. I have used automatic stitching and cable stitches with presser foot on. I think the colours and stitching have a richness about them. |
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| Bowl interior |
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| Exterior ( a bit out of focus!) |
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The following construction came about because I loved the colours of the papers and stitching so much I couldn't bear to cut them up. I also love the idea of a scroll with something beautiful or interesting that might be revealed when opened up.
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| Reverse of below paper painted with and stamped with stencil in similar colour but unfortunately it doesn't show up too well |
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| Outside of paper rubbed with wax crayon and then painted with gouache. This has been stamped with the print block in gold but the photo doesn't make that clear. |
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| Two pieces of painted paper stitched together to make the band for the scroll |
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| Everything put together, it looks like two cigars in this picture, but it feels lovely to handle and I love opening it up to look inside. |
The fact that tissue paper can be stitched is truly amazing, I had no idea. So having bought by paper napkins I made my sandwich of black tissue paper, fusible webbing, calico, fusible webbing and finally placing my carefully peeled napkin layer I began to carefully stitch. I seem to have been in a careful frame of mind as I have not really added anything other than stitching (free machine stitching) around the outline of the napkin design. I think the reverse is more appealing though.
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| Right Side |
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| Reverse of napkin |
Acrylic Wax - Page 130
Here is my construction from a piece of khadi paper painted and printed and then acrylic wax applied. I think it adds a lovely feel to the paper and makes the design very glossy. However I forgot to photograph the paper before I cut it up, but here is the manipulated piece.
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| I call this weird bouquet number one! |
Wire Mesh - Page 131
I have had some difficulty getting hold of this. I managed to get some gold coloured wire mesh on the Internet, but other colours and types of mesh seem to have been out of stock or not available. I had no success in changing the colour of the mesh when heating it up, just a splodgey black mess. I tried a heat tool, candle flame and hairdryer to no avail.
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| Unheated mesh at top, heated mesh below |
Stitch and Cut - Page 133
Never mind I just stitched over the wire mesh as follows using presser foot down and automatic stitches.
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| right side |
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| Reverse side - as you can see I had a couple of bobbin/tension issues! |
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| Decided to cut a spiral |
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| Another piece of stitched mesh curled over to make Weird Bouquet Number Two! |
I used different colours of chiffon for both sides of the stitched piece, with various colours of chiffon with the mesh in the sandwich of chiffon and mesh. As soon as I had finished stitching I forgot to photograph it before cutting it up. So you cannot see the whole piece with the stitching. I used various automatic patterns with some free machine embroidery. I found that the automatic patterns behaved in a strange way, sometimes elongating themselves without me doing anything. Maybe it was the reaction of the chiffon against the needle. You can see on this first image how a yellow wavy pattern developed, when it should have been small circles. In fact most of the stitches seemed to elongate but that didn't matter I just ended up with some unusual stitches!
At first I really didn't know where to make my cuts in the mesh, but as I began to cut it just seemed to take on a life of it's own and rather like my piece of brown paper that looks like a cuttle fish, I think this has turned out to be a bit of an undiscovered sea creature!
