Saturday 22 December 2018

texture with stitch



A little experiment with stitch.
Here fly stitch was done on wrinkled packaging paper that was backed with fusible interfacing for more stability. The whole was covered with encaustic wax before being treated with marble dust rubbed into the crevices

Sunday 7 October 2018

Module 5-Chapter 7-Tactile Contrasts

7 a and 7b: these first two samples were done using the same technique. As I had problems with the shirring elastic technique in the previous chapter, I used a wider elastic on the back of the fabric which I pulled while stitching causing the fabric to pucker. In sample 7a I used a coton fabric, the irregular creases in the fabric are very close and the sample feels a bit "stiff". In sample 7b a light silk fabric was used, the creases are softer and so is the general feel of the sample.


7c and 7d: The same technique was used for these two samples. For 7d the spiralling stitching was done on a silk velvet, whereas for 7 d a coton mule was used. Of course the bumps of 7c feel softer, while this technique caused spikes in the somewhat stiffer fabric. The creases are finer in 7d.

7e: this sample is not related to a companion sample. I used this method already in paper. Here the irregular shapes were cut out with the heat tool in a polyester sheer fabric and then stitched in couples of two tied with a little knot . The surface created here is very "light and feathery" to the touch.

It might be an idea to space the shapes and tie them off with a really chunky thread to create further texture

7f: the shapes and the textures created here are very defined and firmed. However, the seed stitches between the "pebbles" adds a second, different feel to this sample

7g: here strips of a sheer polyested fabric were knotted and then applied to a coton background. the strips were then cut back to practically only leave  the knots. The texture created here feels a little "bumpy", because of the stiff quality of the fabric however, the end of the strips add a second dimension to the feel


7h: knotted coton scrim strips were applied to a coton background with stitches that are barely visible (it would be an idea to use a thicker thread to add more texture). The surface feels soft because of the fabric used, but also firm because of the knots

 7i: here pin tucks were stitched with a twin needle and a coton thread inserted in the tunnel. Because of the narrow spacing of the tucks, the surface feels "geometric and regular"

 7j: a more organic sample because of the fabric used.Pipe cleaners were wrapped and applied to a background fabric. The surface feels soft and regular

7k: little wooden sticks were inserted in the pleats, then wrapped with stitching. Further stitching was added into the "valleys". In comparison to the previous sample, this one feels very hard and the texture is more defined.

7l: for this sample the surface was first crocheted with a merion yarn before being felted with the embellisher to a sheer fabric, the further wet felted. The surface created here is soft because of the quality of the wool, with very defined bumps and valleys.

It could be interesting to do more stitching into the little "holes"

Pleated fabric: samples 7m, 7n, 7o, 7r


 7m: hand pleated on a sheer polyester (curtain) fabric.  The hills and valleys created here are irregular, in general the fabric feels soft to the touch

7n: done on the pleater, this sample presents crisps and regular pleats and so does the general feel of it


7o: you can hardly recognize the pleats on this fabric (silk velvet). The valleys are very "deep", the general feel is of course a very soft one.

7r: another felt sample done with prefelt. The pleats were created with the embellisher. The surface created is soft and firm.

7p: one of my favourites: holes were cut in a regular grid into acrylic felt. The strips of coton scrim were pulled through these holes to create loops which were then wrapped. This created a very textural and soft sample

7q: here strips of acrylic velvet were pleated then applied to a background changing the direction of the pleats. The feel of the texture is not very distinct. I might try to apply paint to the edges to make them stiffer.

7s: one last felted sample: the prefelt was felted together with the embellisher the joined to form rombus which were then "filled" with coton scrim, also felted to fix them to the felt background. This is a very high relief sample with soft yet defined edges and with a softer feel (coton scrim)

This last sample wasn't done for this module. However I think it fits perfectly well into it. It was inspired by the pattern created by the sun in the swimming pool at the place where we spent our last holidays in September.

The fabric used here is a stiffer one with natural "flowing movement" which I emphasized with stitching, Then white acrylic paint was added to it.




Sunday 16 September 2018

Module 5 - Chapter 6 - Pleats, Tucks and Gathers




Pin tuck 1: worked on a single layer of polyester organza with a coton thread inserted in the tunnel, resulting in a little sample with lots of movement and fine texture between the rows

 Pin tuck 2: here the tucks were created in a more less regular grid on a fine silk with a coton thread inserted in the channels
Pin tuck 3 : tucks placed randomly on a single layer of polyester organza, Here the stitching becomes more visible and the fabric distresses slightly near the stitching
 Pin tuck 4: a zigzag stitch on fine silk was used with the twin needle, no real texture was achieved here

 Pin tuck 5: here the coton fabric was first pleated before stitching the tucks in across the fabric


Pin tuck 6:this is a little experiment I did with a wool thread. It was inserted in the tunnels that were stitched very closely. Then I tried to felt the whole sample. Probably because of the character of the thread, no real felting happened. I might have to try this with felting wool




Monday 10 September 2018

module 5 - Chapter 6 - Tucks, Pleats and Gathers

6a: hand stitched regular straight tuck on fine coton fabric

6b: tucks hand stitched only at the edges to form triangles

6c: hand stitched high tucks to form triangles, these were then cut at the fold and slightly frayed

 6d: hand stitched on the bias on fine coton fabric
6e: various hand stitched pleats/tucks


6f: hand stitched coton organdie. because of the stiffer quality of the fabric the triangles form little "boxes". I particularly like the effect on the second pic

6g: machine stitched tucks on the edges of the fabric. The stitch used looks like a blanket stitch
6h: tucks formed by machine stitched curvy lines

 6i: here large holes were cut into the fabric and a big ribbon was pulled through to form the tucks

6j: the fabric was folded to form big tucks, then the triangles were stitched before being cut into shapes

6k: one of my favourites: inserted white cleaners that form tucks. This piece can be formed into a 3D shape
 6l: little randomly  placed hand stitched "X" tucks on fine coton fabric
same pic: here I tried to accentuate the shadows formed by the pleats
6m: fine machined stitched tucks on coton organdie

 6n: pleats hand stitched horizontally, then vertically on coton fabric
 6o: pleats stitched on the bias of coton organdie. These were ironed flat. Then pleats were stitched on the reverse
6p: same methos than above. This time the pleats were placed in several directions

GATHERING TECHNIQUES




samples 6q-6s: all these samples were gathered with machine stitching. Although different stitches were used, the difference is not very clear.

 6t: here the fabric is hand gathered on the bias and the pleats are ironed flat

6u: this sample is hand stitched (see diagram) and the pleats were ironed flat

 6v: hand stitched and then gathered. This time the pleats weren't ironed flat. In comparison to the previous sample the creases are less defined but seem deeper, the edges are of course less sharp

6w: here the fabric is gathered in circles with handstitching, the fabric forms little pockets


6x: the rusted fabric is gathered with hand stitched spirals. I especially like the flowing creases this method creates


 6y: a losely woven fabric was gathered, this time in circles after the "pockets" had been stuffed with brown felting wool. The tops was then cut open and the wool pulled out.


 6z: same method as above, except that the wool was just pulled through the openweave of the fabric



 6A: the fabric is gathered around a stiff plastic string. The plan was to let the fabric "twist" or spiral around, but the string was too short or too stiff for this.


6B: fabric gathered around wooden sticks.I just love the combination of the wood with the rusted fabric
6C: fabric gathered around copper wire. The pleats are finer. This sample could of course be bent

GATHERING WITH SHIRRING ELASTIC didn't prove very successful, not even with a fine flimsy fabric, no matter how I adjusted the bobbin tension and the upper thread tension.
In some cases it starts gathering and then, by magic, my sewing machine adjusts the tension to normal again.


PLAYING AROUND WITH THE PLEATER

I struggled a lot with my pleater and even broke a lot of needles when I tried to force rusted fabric through it. I finally ended up with using finer fabric like coton organdie, coton mulle or Turman coton.

Pleater 1: normal pleating on slightly rusted fabric, pleats on the straight grain of the fabric

 Pleater 2: this fabric ended up "a bit wonky", fabric used : coton organdie

Pleater 4: pleats done on the straight grain, folded edges emphasized with red oil paint and partly stitched together with red thread

Pleater 3: pleats done on the bias


Pleater 5: narrow strips of coton organdie passed through 1 needle of the pleater in a wavy movement

In the second version, the picture was manipulated in Pixlr



 Pleater 7: Turban coton pleated and then gathered with machine satin stitch
 Pleater 8: pleated, then gathered at the ends to form little fans

 Pleater 9: this little hand stitched pleated piece was done with rusted fabrics that was gathered with a chain stitch at one end. I love the organic character of this sample, it somehow reminds me of a mushroom.

 Pleater 10: here coton organdie was only gathered in the middle of the fabric that was then folded in two. Because of the stiffer character of the fabric, the creases remain
 Pleater 11 (and not 10): pleats on coton mulle, hand gathered to form a honeycomb pattern


Pleater 12: gathered only in the middle, then manipulated to form a "flower"