M6 CHAPTER 5: FREE MACHINE STITCHERY TO INTERPRET DRAWINGS

 

This section shows several samples of free machine stitching inspired by my drawings in Chapter 1.  I tried to experiment with a range of backgrounds, colours, threads and stitches to achieve different effects and textures. The methods are briefly described below.

Sample 1: Cirrus clouds
Background: shibori dyed homespun
Threads: machine threads in blues & greys
Stitching: free machined zig-zag stitches in varying lengths

Sample 2: Foam bubbles
Background: dyed homespun
Threads: machine threads and Perle 5 in blues & purples
Stitching: free  machined straight stitches, cable stitch and whipstitch.

 

Sample 3: Waterfall
Background: dyed homespun
Threads: machine thread, rayon thread,   Perle 5 and silk chenille in blues, yellow-greens and red-browns
Stitching: straight stitches and cable stitch.

The silk chenille added a nice textural effect to this sample.

Sample 4: Sunset
Background: shibori dyed muslin
Threads: machine thread, rayon thread,   and Perle 5 in yellow, orange and red-brown
Stitching: Free machine straight stitches, cable and whipstitch. Extra yellow threads as highlights were couched on top with zig-zag.

Sample 5: Foam bubbles
Background: shibori dyed muslin
Threads: machine threads in orange, blue & green.
Stitching: Free machined circular whipstitch trying to pull the muslin.

An even more open weave may have resulted in a greater pulled effect. Nevertheless I liked the results in this sample.

Sample 6: Cumulus clouds (Monet inspired)Background:  dyed homespun cotton
Threads: machine threads and  Perle 5 in white, blue, purple & black.
Stitching: Free machined straight & zig-zag stitches, including cable stitch.

Sample 7: Ripples
Background:  dyed wool/rayon felt blend
Threads: machine threads and  Perle 5 in  blues & black, with silver metallic highlights.
Stitching: Free machined straight stitches in oval shapes, including cable stitch.

Sample 8: Sunset (picture from weather calendar)
Background: semi-transparent white silk organza coloured with multicoloured crayon design transferred from paper with mild heat. Finished sample was mounted on purple card so the colour showed through the semi-transparent organza.
Threads: machine threads  in  yellows, oranges & black.
Stitching: Mixture of zig-zag and a closed loop decorative stitch chosen from the machine menu.

I liked this sample and thought the effects on/under the organza were very interesting.

Sample 9: Cumulus Clouds
Background: Nylon net backed with a sheer blue polyester fabric.
Threads: machine threads, Perle 5 and silk chenille in teal blue, black and mauve.
Stitching: Mixture of free-machined zig-zag and straight stitches, including cable stitch.

Sample 10: Spa water
Background: Nylon net backed with a sheer blue polyester fabric.
Threads: white machine thread.
Stitching: Mixture of free-machining and rows of a decorative straight-style stitch (not simple straight stitch) chosen from the machine menu. This added a bit more definition and texture to the rows of stitching.

Some of the net was cut away to produce blue areas around the patches of white “foam”. This added to the contrast and gave a pleasing effect which could be developed further.

Sample 11: Waterfall
Background: Apricot polyester/cotton fabric with painted Vliesofix bonded to it.
Threads: coloured machine threads plus some  metallic threads for highlights.
Stitching: Mixture of straight stitch, free machining and rows of a decorative loopy stitch chosen from the machine menu.

I liked this sample and thought the stitch effects on the bonded background worked well together.

M6 CHAPTER 4: FABRICS & THREADS–COLOURING & BONDING

 

Dyes: A selection of Procion MX dyes were used to colour the fabrics & threads. Colours were selected to fit in with the colour schemes I wanted to explore from my earlier pictures of sky and water.

Colour Concentrates: A concentrate of each colour was prepared using 15 or 30 mL dye powder to 250mL hot tap water. A soda ash solution was prepared with 3 tablespoons soda ash to 1 L hot water.

Dilute dye solutions: These  were prepared using various proportions of dye concentrate/soda ash/warm water. In general I found that equal quantities  gave a good, reasonably vibrant result. Much paler colours were produced with a ratio of 1:2:3 dye/soda ash/water.

Dyed Threads: A variety of thick and thin threads were used (Perle, stranded). They were mainly space-dyed in a shallow tray with small quantities of dye solution spooned or painted onto the threads, which had been presoaked in dilute soda ash solution (30mL concentrate to 500mL water).  They were left for several hours or overnight before rinsing.

 

Dyed Fabrics:Homespun cotton, calico and a finer, more open weave cotton muslin were dyed in a range of colours, using various shibori techniques (clamping, binding, twisting) to create some interesting colour effects. I also tried to dye some small pieces of felt which I thought were wool or a predominantly wool blend, but the uptake of the dye was relatively weak so I concluded that they must have had a high synthetic content (see below).

Set 1: Manipulated fabrics were pre-soaked for 10-15 minutes in dilute soda ash solution, placed in a shallow tray and dye mixtures applied with a spoon or brush. These were left in contact with the fabric for 30 to 45 minutes before rinsing. The first two pictures show examples of the dyed cottons &  and the third is the muslin.

Set 2: These fabrics were not presoaked. They were spread out in a shallow tray and the dye painted onto the fabric. As soon as the dye had been applied the fabrics were sprinkled with large salt crystals and left for 45 to 60 minutes before rinsing. This gave interesting effects and subtle variations of tone where the dye had been drawn into the salt.

Bonded Colour: Attempts were made to colour Vliesofix with several drawing materials that I had on hand, including coloured pencils, Neocolor crayons, two types of pastels, and watercolour paints (as a change from acrylic). The pencils and pastels were not very successful as they tended to tear the webbing (see first photo below).

I had a little more success with the crayons.

but the best results were with the painted Vliesofix.

Fabrics with coloured webbing applied. The webbing was applied using the iron on a dry setting and fairly low temperauure. Care was taken to use baking paper above and below the “sandwich” to protect the iron and ironing board.

Note how the applied colour can be enhanced by the choice of background fabric.

MODULE 5: ADDENDUM

This addendum shows a piece I have just completed  titled “Glacier”. It is the companion piece to the Iceberg one that I finished in Chapter 12 of Module 5. The pair will be displayed at an exhibition at the NSW Embroiderers’ Guild in Sydney during February. Now that I have finished the second one, I think I prefer it to the first Iceberg piece. However I think they make a nice pair and illustrate some of the possibilities of fabric manipulation.

M6, CHAPTER 3: FREE MACHINE STITCHERY

Different stitches such as straight stitching, zig zag and a few automatic patterns from my Bernina machine were utilised for these free machining samplers.  I tested the effects obtained with straight machining and whip stitch (tighter tension in the top, looser in the bottom) and then experimented with a wide range of threads: machine cotton, Perle 3, 5 & 8, metallic threads, stranded rayon and various wools and composite yarns.  For the thicker threads which would not pass through the needle, cable stitching was used (where the thicker thread is wound on the bobbin and the machining is done with the wrong side upwards, so that the thick thread shows on the surface of the right side) .  I pushed this as far as I could with wools of different thicknesses and texture. I also explored the effects that could be obtained using multiple colours on the one sample as well as variegated threads and a combination of thread types.

I found that plain 8 ply yarn was  the limit that the bobbin could handle (top right, sample 2). Thinner yarns were a bit easier to work with. Textured yarns were tricky but could be used in the bobbin so long as they were not too thick or bobbly and would flow when machining started (main examples are on sample 3).

 

 

 

 

M6,CHAPTER 2: DESIGNING WITH SHAPES AND LAYERS

1. Decorated Papers to Work With

Some of the decorated papers, plastic sheets and bubble wrap were utilised in the work for this chapter. Some additional decorated papers, with patterns more applicable to the themes of clouds and water, were also prepared before the design work began. These are shown in the pictures below. The techniques used included, single layer monoprinting with acrylic paint, multilayer monoprinting, dabbing on painted bubble wrap and adding pastel or crayon over monoprints.

 

2. Stage 1: Translation of Simple Cloud & Water Shapes with Paper

Some simple shapes were selected from the water and cloud photos. Decorated paper or plastic was cut or ripped to approximate these shapes. The pieces were then glued to a new background. In  no. 6 the remainder paper after the shapes had been cut for no. 5 was applied to a new background.

 

3. Stage 2: Re-cutting and Recomposing

Similar shapes to the ones selected previously were cut from the sheets produced in stage 1, cutting across the pieces that had been pasted. The new shapes were either pasted to a new background or combined with another set of shapes cut from a different sheet then pasted to another background. I also investigated layering a bit more in this stage .

 

 

Some interesting effects were obtained by recutting, changing the background, displacing images by cutting strips, and combining strips of two sheets.

The interaction of the shapes and background was found to be important, and sometimes when two sets were combined the effect could be too busy (eg sheet on left in next image).

 

 

The next image shows some combined shapes cut from bubble wrap printed paper and painted bubble wrap  applied to a painted plastic sheet. The effect was enhanced by placing another textured semi-opaque sheet of plastic behind the painted sheet. This illustrates how some interesting effects can be achieved with layering.

 

 

The following image also opens up some more interesting possibilities for layering. The bottom sample shows the effect of placing the left-over negative shapes from a background sheet of black paper over a decorated plastic sheet.

 

M6, CHAPTER 1: DRAWING METHODS

1.1 Drawn marks using pens, crayons and pencils

Here are three worksheets showing drawings of sections of the photos of clouds and water. Implements used were a fine line pen, crayons, pastels and coloured pencils. More than one implement was used for some of the pictures to build up the image. Clearly more control over the lines is obtained with the finer implements, but more interesting effects may be produced by using a mixture of implements and varying the colour and thickness of the lines. This observation can be applied to building up a visual effect in embroidery.

 

 

1.2 Sgraffito

These pictures were produced by applying two layers selected from crayon, pastel, pencil or Shiva or Markal paint stick, then scratching off part of the top layer. A fine skewer or a fatter chopstick was used to make marks on the top layer. Various combinations were trialled. Good results were obtained with Shiva or Markal stick over Neocolour II wax pastels and Micador oil pastels over wax pastels. If the order was reversed with the wax pastel layer on top, both layers were scratched through by the skewer or chopstick. Similarly, poor results were obtained by using a combination of two types of pastels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.3 Drawing with Frottage

Household items such as a woven basket, a plastic juice strainer or a felt drink coaster were placed under tissue paper and then the top was rubbed or drawn over with coloured wax crayons. Various patterns were drawn in different colours, such as groups of short lines, spirals, scribbles, wavy lines, thick and thin lines. All of these could be represented in stitch - hand or machine.

 

         

 

1.4 Resist Methods

I first tried applying oil pastel to black paper, then dabbing black ink on top, but the effect was not very interesting and the ink got lost against the background.

I then tried using a white background, applying coloured crayons, then dabbing dilute blue ink over the top. This gave a series of much more interesting decorated papers for future work.

                 

 

1.5 Discharge

I started off applying bleach to black paper. This did not bleach well enough and the results were rather pale and disappointing. I then applied black ink to sheets of white paper before "drawing" the bleach onto it with either a cardboard edge, cotton bud or a skewer This approach combined with the cotton bud(left) or skewer (right) marks gave much better results.

   

  

 

1.6 Transparent Surfaces

The first picture shows acetate surfaces with acrylic paint sponged or dabbed on top.

The second shows some interesting effects obtained when paint was dabbed on a thin polythene sheet (cut from a plastic pocket) and then the sheet was folded along the paint line and opened out again.

 

 

The third picture shows the effects obtained when a cardboard star shape was used to mask several areas of the acetate sheet when the paint was applied.

 

The fourth picture shows bubble wrap which was painted (top) and then crayon lines were drawn over the surface in different colours (bottom).

 

The final picture shows some polythene "sandwiches" made by trapping items like threads, feathers, beads, fabric petals, and shredded glittery plastic between two layers of polythene lightly ironed. This is a bit similar to a method I have tried previously with Vliesofix.