CHAPTER 4: DRAWING PATTERNS FROM ANIMAL MARKINGS

In this section I have selected a few photographs from those collected for each animal I mentioned in the introduction and then copied them in black and white to study further. Selected parts of the photos have been drawn, some after enlargement on the photocopier.

1. Budgerigar: A clear photograph of the bird is shown at the centre bottom of the page. Another view of the back is shown at the top right. The top of the back and the back of the neck have been enlarged and rephotocopied. The drawings show different aspects of these areas. These effects really remind me of pieces of shibori dyed fabric and I am keen to explore this further in Chapter 6.

2. Tiger: I decided to focus mainly on the heads of the tigers as I was intrigued by how the stripes merged into interesting shapes. Three selected photographs (column in the centre of the page) show enlargements of tiger heads from photographs from the Introduction.
The photograph at the bottom is an enlargement of one patterned area in the centre of the head. The drawings show these striped patterns as well as sections around the nose and upper jaw. I also drew the underside of one paw, simplifying the rounded blobs in the picture. Some of these shapes could be interesting to consider for dyeing or embroidery, especially if you wanted to create a bold effect.

3. Ulysses butterfly: Although these butterflies look beautiful in colour, I found them far less appealing as a subject in black and white. The shapes of the wing segments were interesting, but there was too great a contrast between the outer parts of the wings (black/brown) and the inner blue panels (very even, little shade variation) to create much interest in the drawings. In view of these observations I do not plan to take this subject further in the later design exercises because I think it is more suited to a colour project.


Frilled neck lizard: The photo at the top right of the first page shows the lizard in all its glory with its frill raised. This reveals a lot of interesting flecked contrast as well as the different texture on the head and legs of the animal. There were many intriguing sections to draw and lots of possibilities for translating these patterns into embroidery, such as the scales, the frill itself or the texture due to the arrangement of the scales on the head and legs. The second page shows an enlarged side view of the lizard's head, and above it, a further enlargement of the scales on the skin to the left of the jaw, showing their hexagonal shape. The scales around the mouth are distorted and become more like irregular rectangles so that they can pack into the area. The drawings attempt to show some of the different shapes. All of these have possibilities for further work.

CHAPTER 3: TONAL EFFECTS IN MACHINE STITCHERY

Note all stitch numbers refer to the Bernina Model aurora 430 machine.

3A: USING ORDINARY MACHINE STITCHING
Several samples were produced using standard machine stitches and standard tension, where tonal effects were created by varying the stitch length and width and the placement of the rows of stitching.




Sample 1: standard straight stitch with the position/direction of the rows of stitching varied to produce tonal variation.
Sample 2: zig-zag stitch with rows a similar distance apart, stitch width constant (5.1) and varying stitch length between 0.2 and 5.0.
Sample 3: : zig-zag stitch with rows a variable distance apart, stitch width constant (3.4) and varying stitch length between 0.5 and 3.5.
Sample 4: triple zig-zag with stitch length held constant and width varied along each row to change the tonal darkness. Some rows were overlapped for a darker tone at the top, but stopped part way along to further lighten the tone at the bottom of the sample.
Sample 5: decorative stitch No.100 with stitch length and width varied from the centre (smaller) to the outside (larger) to vary the tone.
Sample 6: Hemming stitch No.7, with stitch length and width changed as well as the spacing and direction of the rows to achieve a variation in tone.
Sample 7: zig-zag stitch with the position/direction of the rows of stitching varied to produce tonal variation.
Sample 8: Honeycomb decorative stitch #23 with stitch length reduced from 5.0 to 0.8, and rows gradually worked closer together from left to right, to produce a darker tone on the right.
Sample 9: Decorative stitch #54 similar to fly stitch with the position/direction of the rows of stitching varied to produce tonal variation.
Sample 10: Decorative stitch #139 with stitch length increasing from top to bottom and rows worked in pairs gradually moving further apart to produce a lighter tone at the bottom.
Sample 11: Decorative stitch #96 with stitch length decreasing from top to bottom and rows worked closer together, to produce a darker tone at the bottom.

3B: USING WHIP STITCH
Whip stitch is produced by reducing the bobbin tension a little so that the thread slides through very freely and increasing the top tension to (e.g. between 5 and 7). The stitches are machined on the right side of the work. The bobbin threads are brought to the top surface of the fabric because of the changed tension. The photos below show firstly the right side of the work and secondly the underside.


Sample 1: White thread on top and black in bobbin. Top tension 5. Zig-zag stitch length varied between 0.5 and 4.0 to vary the tone.
Sample 2: White thread on top and black in bobbin. Top tension 7. Zig-zag stitch width varied between 0.5 and 4.5 to vary the tone. This produced a more subtle pattern effect than the variation sin sample 1.
Sample 3: 3 step zig-zag stitch (#25). Top tension 7. Stitch width varied from 5 to 2 (centre to sides) and rows placed wider apart, to vary the tone. This effect was more interesting and pleasing than the standard zig-zag.





Sample 4: decorative stitch #97 with stitch length and width increasing from top to bottom (length 2 to 5, width 2.7 to 5.5) and rows gradually moving further apart to produce a lighter tone at the bottom. This effect was quite reminiscent of animal spots.
Sample 5: decorative stitch #23, with stitch length decreasing from top to bottom to produce a darker effect at the bottom.

3C: USING CABLE STITCH
Cable stitch is a technique for creating effects with a wide range of “non conventional” machine threads on the fabric surface. The top spool is a standard machine thread and “non conventional” machine threads, such as wools, silks or embroidery threads of variable thickness are wound onto the bobbin. It is machined on the wrong side of the work, with very loose bobbin tension. The following samples were produced by experimenting with various threads and stitches to see what effects could be produced.


Sample 1 Straight stitch with black machine thread as the top spool and white Perle 5 thread wound onto the bobbin. The stitch length was varied between 1.5 and 4 and then reduced again.
Sample 2: This sample was produced to examine the effects that could be achieved with various decorative machine stitches, using white machine thread as the top spool and black tapestry wool wound onto the bobbin. It was concluded this technique did not suit “busy” stitches (e.g. nos 26 and 96) and it was more effective with simpler stitches which produced clearer lines and allowed more of the bobbin thread to show through (e.g. nos 101, 131).
Sample 3: Hemming stitch (#25) with black machine thread as the top spool and white Perle 5 thread wound onto the bobbin. Stitch width varied from 5 at the top to 1.5 at the bottom.
Sample 4: Decorative stitch #101 with white machine thread as the top spool and black tapestry wool wound onto the bobbin. Stitch length varied from 4 at the top to 0.8 at the bottom. The proportion of white which was visible increased as the stitch length decreased.




Sample 5: This sample was produced to examine the effects that could be achieved by varying the thickness of the threads used in the panel as well as the stitch length. White machine thread was used on the top spool and black tapestry wool, Perle 5 or Pearle 8 wound onto the bobbin. Stitch length was varied between 1 and 4.5, with the longest stitch lengths used for the thickest threads.
Sample 6: Decorative stitch #101 with white machine thread as the top spool and black Perle 5 thread wound onto the bobbin. Stitch length and row placement was varied from the outside to the centre of the sample to create a denser effect at the edges.
Sample 7: This sample was produced to create a pattern by varying the types of threads used in the bobbin. Three different threads were used: white Perle 8 thread, a bobbly wool and a silver thread unwound form a black and silver flecked wool (the whole wool strand was found to be too thick to machine properly even at the loosest tension). Black machine thread was used in the top spool. Straight stitch was used for the white wool and 3 step zig-zag for the other threads.
Sample 8: This sample was produced with plain white wool in the bobbin and black machine thread in the top spool. The stitch used was #64 and various stitch lengths and widths were tried for different rows. However the effect did not vary greatly and probably a single combination would have been just as good.



3D: SAMPLE STRIPS INSPIRED BY ANIMAL MARKINGS
This section shows some initial experimental patterned samples and strips which were inspired by the pictures of animal markings shown in the Introduction. Some of these ideas could be developed further in later chapters to arrive at designed strips for use in the final samples/pieces.

Sample 1:This sample was inspired by the markings on the budgerigar. Black sewing thread was used in the upper and lower spools. The length of the chosen stitch (# 141) was varied to create wavy lines of different density. By doing so, a variation in tone was also achieved. Although simple, I think this creates an effective and decorative pattern which could be explored further.



Sample 2: This piece was inspired by the wings of the butterfly. A white silk thread and a black variegated wool were used in the bobbin, with black thread on top. Straight stitch was used throughout. The white thread worked well, but the black did not stand out sufficiently. It may have been better if it was lighter - perhaps a bleach discharge technique could have been used to do this. overall, I think this pattern would be more suitable for a larger panel rather than a strip and I probably will not take it further.

Sample 3: Again, the budgerigar markings were the starting point for this sample. Starting from the left, the rows alternated with white or black wool in the bobbin and black thread on top. Decorative stitch # 71 was used, and the stitch length was varied in different rows to reveal more or less of the underlying wool. Overall I liked this sample, and think it could be developed further. The variation in effect, with the different wools and stitch lengths, added quite a lot of interest to the strip.

Sample 4: This sample was done with black sewing thread and zigzag stitch, with variations in width. The design was based on tiger stripes. The starkness of the pattern is quite effective, but overall I found it a bit boring.However it might be OK if used sparingly in conjunction with other patterns.


Sample 5: This sample and the next were inspired by the skin of the frilled neck lizard. A decorative stitch, number 135, was used for the filling. White sewing thread was used in the bobbin and black on top. However on its own this was a bit bland, although the stitch choice was good, so I decided to add some all black zigzag lines to try to outline hexagonal shapes over the filling. This improved the sample, but there was not enough tonal variation to make a great impact. I felt I had done a lot of machining without achieving a good effect at the end.

Sample 6: This was a follow on sample to number 5. The rough hexagonal shapes were outlined first and then I tried different fillings inside each shape. The top one was honeycomb stitch with all black thread, the middle was whip stitch using stitch #135 and white in the bobbin. The third shape also used stitch #135, but had black in the top and bottom spools. I also deliberately used overlapping stitches in this shape to create a darker effect. Overall I was more pleased with the result here, especially the tonal interest achieved by using the different fillings. I think this idea deserves more consideration later in the module.

Chapter 2: Tonal Columns in Stitching

2A: CANVAS WORK

Sample of a stitched tonal column worked with cross stitch on canvas (10 count) using a range of black and white threads. Wool was used to give the dense black and white areas at each end. Note that the colour gradation could be varied by using more or less white thread, varying the thread thickness and stitch size. The effect also varied depending on whether the white or black thread was on top.






2B: BLACKWORK
Drawings showing pattern development: Five simple pattern units were gradually built up with pen lines on graph paper. This illustrated that a lighter effect was achieved with a sparser number of lines in the pattern and a darker effect achieved with more complex patterns with many lines .Some of these patterns were then selected for the blackwork stitching exercise which follows.

Three blackwork tonal columns were worked to explore different effects.

Tonal column 1 (left): This was started with a few stitches to give a light pattern and then adding more stitches to develop a pattern which became more complex and increasingly darker in tone, using the same thread for all stitches.
Tonal column 2 (centre): This shows the effect of repeating the same pattern but varying the spacing between motifs and between the rows of stitching, using the same thread for all stitches. A denser, darker effect is achieved by stitching the motifs and rows closer together.
Tonal column 3(right): In this example the tonal darkness is increased by working the same pattern in increasingly thicker threads. In the end the embroiderer reached a point where the design could not progress any further because it was impossible to work with even thicker threads on the selected fabric.