It was hard work trying to post every day in September, but it helped to get me working more steadily and consistently. I think trying to do a little work most days and posting once a week will be sustainable.
I have managed to work on four more squares for my textile contrasts sampler and here they are.
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| 5.7.4 Points picked up and bound |
I liked this technique in 5.7.4 above, but found it shrank and distorted the fabric more than I expected. I might try it again, either starting with a larger piece of fabric, or by working each point separately and then applying it to a new piece of fabric. It also took me a few attempts to secure the stitching adequately and one or two of the points are already unravelling. A work in progress ...
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| 5.7.5 A collection of circles worked in different ways |
I had fun with 5.7.5, trying to devise different ways to form circles. In the first, I bound a pipe cleaner with strips of fabric and then coiled it into a spiral, securing it with stitching. Another was a ring of thin threads wound around about half a dozen times and then covered with detached buttonhole stitch. Third was a small Suffolk puff. Fourth was a ring of thickish shiny thread wound around as before and then couched down. Lastly was some tee shirt fabric gathered in a circle, stuffed with polyester stuffing and then slip stitched down.
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| 5.7.6 Strips of fabric woven and secured at intersections by a French knot |
5.7.6 was made of recycled cast offs. There was quite a bit of fabric left over from sample 5.7.1 and also the narrow hem that I'd cut off the recycled charity shop sheet which I'm using for these samples. I cut strips of the sample and wove them with the hem strips, securing each intersection with a French knot (one of my favourite stitches) worked in a thickish shiny thread.
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| 5.7.7 Whip stitch worked by hand with thickish thread and pulled tight |
I enjoyed working the whip stitch tightly by hand and hadn't realised that such a simple stitch could give such interesting textural results. It was described and beautifully illustrated in Jean Draper's book "Stitch and Structure". I think it would be interesting to experiment further with this stitch, trying it on thicker fabric and with a variety of thickness of threads, also working it in contrasting directions. I look forward to experimenting further. Jean Draper's book has been a constant source of inspiration and instruction for this chapter.
Finally, for now, here are all seven sample square laid down in one possible arrangement. More to come next week ...
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| 5.7.8 |
(Sorry, I photographed this on a plastic tablecloth on my worktable and I didn't realise that the faint pattern on the tablecloth would be so distracting. I'll find a plainer background next time.)
