Skip to main content

Stitch, stitch and then stitch again.


Lots of stitching - I am not sure what this technique is called but I learnt this at NCEATA - Newcastle Creative Embroiderers and Textile Artists, where one of the members, Aileen  demonstrated how she creates such interesting fabric from scraps.

1. Small scraps of patterned and/or plain fabrics are placed side by side on some iron-on  interfacing.
2. Iron everything down to hold in place.
3.Then use a decorative  stitch  on your sewing machine. Use a matching colour of one piece of fabric, stitch over it, going off the edges over the adjoining pieces.
4. Change the thread colour and stitch again, choosing one of the adjoining pieces of fabric.
5. Then stitch again ... repeating the sequence over and over again.


The first project I made was a piece of fabric large enough to cover an A5 size note book.


Then I tried the technique out on smaller pieces for tags


I also tried a variation of the technique. Instead of  using bits of fabric, I coloured some white cotton with pencils and then stitched in the same fashion. I like the effect, but it doesn't have the texture of my previous samples. What do you think?




Labels:

Comments

  1. Daniela GlassopJune 20, 2015 at 1:59 PM

    Your work looks great Wilma and I love how you tried the technique on other items.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wilma Simmons (Empress Wu Designs)June 20, 2015 at 5:01 PM

      Thanks Daniela. This is such a a great technique - easy with good results. I think I am a bit addicted to it.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Thanks for reading my blog and please share your thoughts about my blog post by leaving a comment.Your comment won't appear immediately as comments are verified before publication in an effort to reduce the amount of spam appearing. Anonymous comments will not be published.

Popular posts from this blog

Stitched Faces

I   've always enjoyed that imperfect line of  "not quite in control' free motion machine stitching....  I think it really suits creating portraits , giving them some character and even a quirkiness that hints of personality plus.  These ones below are from my " Red Cheeks" series from a couple of years ago, and are amongst my favourite stitched portraits.  The current Stitch Club ( textileartist.org) workshop, by  Batool Showghi has inspired me to stitch more this week. Batool , of course, is in complete control of her machine stitching and her works are exquisite and they tell a moving story.  ... " Working with paper, print, paint and stitch, her textile art bears witness to displacement, silenced women and the damage that authoritarian regimes impose on ordinary lives. Batool’s mixed media wall pieces are incredibly striking, but her artist books truly set her apart. Printed imagery of family photographs, birth certificate documents and her o...
Post a Comment
Read more

#the100dayproject : Inspiring Women Days 1 - 4

#The100DayProject is a *free* global art project that takes place online 🎨 E very year, thousands of people all around the world commit to 100 days of creating. Anyone can participate . ​The idea is simple: choose a creative project, do it every single day for 100 days, and document and share the process online. 2026 is my 8th year of participating. I have stitched daily observations, painted my egg cup collection, collaged postcards and envelopes, written poems, explored colour palettes .... this year I am researching, sketching and stitching 100 inspiring women. Fortunately I purchased a piece of beautiful linen, with preprinted outlines of 100 women ... just one issue - the figures are tiny (height 6cm /2.5 ins) My first week started tentatively ... I thought I would start with Empress Wu, after whom I named my creative activity. This is when I discovered how difficult it is to applique and stitch on these very small figures - I used tweezers to put pieces of fabric down, tried t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks ....  The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and  message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or  my husband or from off cuts gifted to us  from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks.   Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt  or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as w...
3 comments
Read more