Skip to main content

The 100 Day Project Machine Stitching Diversion



Details of 17 &18 #100pinpoems

Days 17 and 18 of #The100DayProject , I decided to stitch the wearable  pins rather than collage them with paper and/or fabric.  I diverted a little from my original plan for the 100 days.... I free machine embroidered them on my sewing machine - a very simple, quick and easy technique of drawing with thread. The technique involves moving the fabric from side to side or up and down,  while the machine is stitching ( with the feed dogs lowered). While the needle and thread are making the marks on the cloth, it is the control of the movement which ensures the marks go where you want them to. You don't need a fancy machine - just straight stitch and a bit of practice. 
   Sometimes, I work from a photo I've taken but I have also been making very quick sketches and working from them.  They are only a guide to follow, so are not meant to be accurate or artistic. 
Sketch for 18 #100pinpoems 




Day 18 
'In eerie silence, 
Mounds of cut grass are bold guards- 
Abandoned playground. " 
Materials: cotton fabric, sewing thread, safety pin 
Technique: Free machine stitching/embroidery.


Day 17 In celebration of World Earth Day 
" While humans retreat, 
The world's renewal begins, 
Celebrate the Earth." 
Materials: calico, sewing thread, safety pin 
Technique: Free machine stitching/embroidery. 



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

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...

"Temari Or Not Temari?" Tutorial

 Background Information:  Temari (literally translated “hand ball”) is a Japanese folk craft that is alleged to have originated in China and was introduced to Japan five or six hundred years ago. Traditionally, the balls were constructed from wrapped kimono fabric remnants and silk threads. They were made by mothers and grandmothers for children to play with. Nowadays, decorative embroidered temari represent a highly valued and cherished gift symbolizing friendship and loyalty. Recently I've wondered if your don't use traditional techniques whether you should call what you create "temari". That is an ongoing debate but today I share what I do to make a "non-traditional temari".... 1.I start  with a polystrene ball ( traditionally the balls were wound  silk scraps or other organic materials) and begin to wrap with approx 4 ply wool, turning the ball as I wrap.  2. I then wrap another layer of wool in a similar fashion , this time a 3 or 2 ...

Fragments

 Some days are just your lucky days - today I was very fortunate and privileged to open the first ever Australian exhibition "Fragments" by  UK  Fibre Artist  Sue Hotchkis .  Here is a little about the techniques of this amazing textile artist from her own website  ...  Working intuitively with print and stitch, marks, textures and colours are exaggerated, intensified to reveal the detail and complexity within the images. Materials are deconstructed using modern methods, ripped, burnt and dyed. Time is invested in their reconstruction; pieces can take from a week to several months to create. Whilst being aesthetically pleasing the work can also act as a metaphor for deterioration and ruin, associated with urban decay and ultimately death and loss. They evolve organically, built up with layers of print, cloth, paper, and stitch into three-dimensional abstract forms that hover between object and image; to create a unique, visual and tactile lan...