Certificate Module 5, Chapter 7 continued

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.

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 ...

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.

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.

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 ...

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.)