Chapter 8. Not what it seams

In this chapter we have had the chance to experiment with enhancing a seam by the insertion of fabrics which have been worked and decorated in their own right. I also love the play on words in the title. I have enjoyed this chapter enormously not just because of the techniques but because it was  lovely and quick to do and gave me a chance to make good headway and a sense of catching up.

I love the effects of frayed fabrics but found that my dyed fabrics didn’t fray at all well, at least not enough to produce the dramatic effect I wanted but cutting a fringe produced pleasing effects; I could produce enough fray to thread through the seam to mix amongst the ‘re-arranged’ fringed fabrics in the bottom sample above.

I’ve been concerned that I haven’t been able to show my work at it’s best  on my blog in this chapter, I added beads to the lower third of the bottom sample but I don’t think they are very visible whilst on my sample they really make it sing and come alive.I adjusted the brightness and contrast through Photoshop to try and show it at it’s best.

I enjoyed playing around with ideas both formal or informal, the top sample here is very symmetrical whilst the bottom one was so easy to do and I was thrilled with the effect of the swirls of the chiffon reflecting those of the printed fabric underneath.

More symmetry in the top sample and an experiment to see if I could continue trying to emulate the effect of feathers but in a totally different way to those of previous chapters.

The diversity I could achieve was fascinating and I decided to try sweeping the inserted threads to one side in the lower sample above.

Here I had a go at using 2 seams but found I could give it the feel of a single unit by placing the inserted fabrics so that they faced inwards giving an intimate and contained feel.

The simple insertion of a piece of muslin also looked very different and effective from the back [top sample]

MAKING RIBBONS AND CORDS

 

A wide variety of effects achieved with stitching, couching, layering and machine stitched wrapping

I particularly love sample 5 of the toggles and the lovely mix of dyed fabric strips with wrapped cords [made of thin strips of  the same fabrics wrapped with thread on the sewing machine]

Chapter 7 Traditional piecing methods

Log cabin and seminole methods

Log cabin

Log cabin is completely new to me as a technique so I did some research and was fascinated to read about the symbolism involved i.e. that the square represents the fire in the centre of the room and the strips of paper in the surround  represent the logs.

I have, in the past, skirted around patchwork believing it to be too difficult and precise but now pleased to have tackled it and really enjoyed it.

Log cabin is worked onto a backing fabric 

I really valued this opportunity to experiment with paper as instructed in the module and began to get hooked on the technique and its effects. The samples above show my first attempts using strips of plain white paper to help get to grips with the technique itself.

The paper samples above and below use a variety of layouts whilst still using the principles of the log cabin method

In sample 8 above I wanted to experiment with a more irregular layout and longer vertical / horizontal strips. I’m fascinated by the markings on the pell’s owl and ways in which I could achieve it. I’d tried this sample initially using patterned and plain white papers but decided to add black afterwards as I felt it was more effective ,this is a photo [above] to show how different it looked.

Fabric samples

These first fabric samples show traditional log cabin methods using my hand printed fabrics and then the introduction of patterned and machine embroidered fabrics which add a wonderful new dimension and richness of pattern,  rhythm  and texture

This sample above is made up of bought fabrics and despite the addition of machine stitching to decorate, I feel that compared to the samples using the hand printed fabrics, it appears very flat and static.

I was really pleased with sample 7 [above] , very experimental and  strips of patterned fabric, some with machine embroidered effects which gives some fabulous textural effects which I found very exciting.

Seminole method

This is also new to me and during my research I discovered that the Seminole Indians are the indigenous people of Florida who developed colourful patchwork techniques based on strip piecing principles.

Seminole isn’t worked on a backing fabric but machine stitched together using 5mm seal allowances

I started with paper samples again as below

Fabric samples.

Once again I started with the use of plain black and white strips of fabric which are cut and rearranged to develop new patterns

I am very pleased with the above sample  10 in which I’ve tried to incorporate several different techniques.

Once again I’m focusing on the owl’s feathers and how they can be represented. This work differently the other way up! Fascinating.

Sian suggested I look at pieces from behind in my tonal column work and I thought it was interesting to see the patterns on the back of sample 10

Chapter 6 Patterning of fabrics using cold water dye and fabric paints

I started by collecting samples of black and white cotton fabrics. The module asks that we use abstract prints and I enjoyed putting together the samples and love the effects of the  juxtaposed patterns.

In this chapter I’ve learned the Shibori technique which although I’ve admired have never actually tried.

The module takes us through the Tie and Dye, Tritik Shibori and Arashi Shibori techniques

This photo shows various stages and methods of Shibori

Tie and Dye

I’ve added comments to each sample and  detailed every stage on the working sheet which can be found after the samples.

For these samples I’ve folded the fabric and secured the folds with such things as a bulldog clip, clothes pegs, string, thread, rubber band

I’ve decided to add this – a sample before ironing – I really loved the effects of the folds

Tritik Shibori

I have stitched and gathered the fabric pieces either by hand or on the sewing machine in the following samples and then painted on the cold water dye. I enjoyed the different effects when  the samples were dry,  unravelled and ironed. Please see the working sheet for more detail.

Arashi Shibori

Monoprints

I’ve used some of the tools as for the monoprinting on paper i.e. corrugated card, polystyrene, cotton wool bud

No label for this – this is done with corrugated card

Working sheets