Chapter 9 - Threads and Stitchery

Some of my threads used in this Chapter ranging from silk to coton and rayon threads bought for dyeing at Texere Yarns, knitting and embroidery threads......

Part 2

Informal effects with a stitch

9n: two fly stitches crossing each other, done with a ribbon knitting yarn

 9o: these variations of the fly stitch  were done with a single thread

9p: fly stitches of approximately the same size with one side of the stitch being slightly longer, the whole stitch was wrapped with buttonhole stitch done with a chenille thread

 9q: fly stitches done with a ribbon yarn and a fine thread on top of each other. The tail of the stitch is very short while the V-shape is kept loose

 9r: fly stitches done with a ribbon thread. These have no "tails", instead it was wrapped around the bottom of the V-shape

9s: a little experiment with a fluffy knitting yarn I recently bought. It was couched with fly stitch in a meandering movement

9t: only the "tail" of the fly stitch was wrapped with a buttonhole stitch, executed in thick silk thread

 9u: fly stitches done quite close to each other in a circular movement

The next 3 samples are variations of the fly stitch with a similar positioning. The only thing that changes is the thread the size and in sample 9w
the V-shape is very long and the tail tiny

 9V

 9w

9x

Chapter 9 - Threads and Stitchery

Part 1

I chose the fly stitch for my stitch samples as I think that it is a very versatile stitch which offers a lot of possibilities for variations as well as in the V-shape as in the "tail" of the stitch.

The following samples were worked  on a fine black linen fabric or on plain black coton

Formal Stitching Rythm

 9a: here a fine thread was used to stitch the single stitches in rows

 9b: the stitches were done with two fine threads in the needle. I changed the direction of the stitch blocks as well as the size

 9c: the stitches were done on the diagonal with a loose tension in the V-shape and a short tail

9d: two threads in one needle, the stitches were done on the diagonal with the V-shapes touching each other to form little squares

9e: two fine threads in the needle with variation in the spacing of the stitches showing a change of tone where the stitches overlap

9f: here a knitting ribbon was used to form the fly stitch and strips of coton tulle were pulled through

 9g: these stitches were done with woolen embroidery thread, the V-shapes are nested into each other and the "tails" were stitched into the previous ones

9h: this sample was done with a a knitting ribbon with large V-shapes, the size of the stitches makes the fabric rise a bit which adds to its tactile quality.

9i: done with perle embroidery yarn, these V-shapes touch each other to form a chevron pattern

9j: stitched on the diagonal in rows, then another set of stitches were done in the other direction 

9k: in this sample the tail of the fly stitch was replaced by a single chain stitch through which a thicker thread was woven

9l: a chunky ribbon yarn was used for this sample. The holes through which the yarn had to pass through was "pre-punched"

9m: here large fly stitches were wrapped with a button hole stitch with a silk thread

Chapter 8 - Paper Relief Into Fabric Relief

 8a: here fine coton fabric was first "fixed" to a prefelt background in circular movements, then it as the sample was wet felted to cause the prefelt to shrink and the coton to form ripples. The spaces between the shapes were then filled with long stitches done in ribbon yarn

8b: the circular shapes done in fine coton fabric doubled with wadding were appliquéd to the base fabric  with bold stitches, then the shapes were gathered with a running stitch. This process added more texture to this sample 

8c: polyester organza was stitched to the coton wadding with a running stitch, then holes were burned into it with a heat tool. The wadding was painted lightly with white acrylic

8d: a similar method than in 8c: here Tyvec was machine stitched to a coton wadding background and then burnt away with the heat gun, revealing the fabric underneath

 8e: for this sample resists were felted between 2 layers of prefelt the cut open and filled with coton scrim. The little squares were applied to a silk background with the embellisher and the spaces filled with cross stitch

8f: tiny strips of coton voile were fixed to the background with a single cross stitch. some knots were added with a thick knitting yarn

 8g: here several layers of different fabrics were stacked, the circular shapes were machine stitched, fixed in the middle with a single stitch before being cut back . The background was free machine stitched to keep it flat

 8h: this is one of my favourite techniques. I wanted to recreate the different lines of the paper sample. For the fabric one^several separate pieces of coton voile were gathered with the pleater, then folded and twisted and fixed to the background with small stitches hidden in the pleats

 8i: here strips of Tyvek were applied to the background with a hand stitch before being treated with the heat gun. This process caused the fabric  to ripple as the Tyvek shrunk. The spaces between the Tyvek strips were even more gathered with a running stitch

8j: a big silk yarn was "fixed" between 2 layers of polyester organza with a fly stitch, then holes were burnt to it with a heat tool to reveal the yarn and to add more texture to the  sample

8k: a painted net from a potato bag was first painted with white acrylic paint before being slightly melted between baking parchment to add texture. Tooth picks were pulled through the holes and were fixed to the coton wadding background with a blanket stitch

8l: crocheted "rings" were fixed to an open-weave fabric and painted with white acrylic paint. The surface was fixed to a background fabric and then "distressed" by cutting into the open-weave fabric

 8m: felted squares were "trapped" between two layers of light coton fabric, the spaces between the shapes were filled with stitches done with a ribbon yarn

8n: here little squares of fabric was first pleated with the pleater, then applied to a coton background before being padded. The whole sample was then applied to coton wadding  with a running stitch

8o: for this sample a light coton was first pleated with the pleater, then the pleats were gather more to form little rombus' that were padded 

8p: little polyester velvet squares were applied to coton wadding, cut out on the edges, then sliced into it and "filled" with a knotted yarn. The whole was then stitched onto a background fabric and partly cut back