Chapter 7. Simple button making

In this chapter I looked at making samples of 3D shapes which would make potential buttons and help me construct my own designed shapes later. I selected a range of core shapes for my buttons  and then fabrics with which to cover them

I also made some Dorset Buttons and whilst looking at traditional methods also had fun experimenting and with more unusual techniques.

In the third part of this chapter I had fun with toggles and playing with many different types of fabric and meltable materials [always wonderful]!

Simple button making first:

 

And the results:

Then Dorset buttons:

Really enjoyed this and had fun stretching the boundaries!

Now toggles:

Really liked these against some hand dyed fabric and because all the fabrics involved in making these are from the same dye batch the colour combinations are a joy.

Toggles made from ‘meltable’ materials:

I have photographed these pre-melting to demonstrate the changes the materials undergo, the first photo in each of these 3 sets are therefore taken prior to melting. The page numbers correspond with the text on the page above:

No 1:

Combination of layered materials some meltable and some not which are then zapped with a heat gun

No. 2

Layers of meltable materials [Tyvek and metallic threads] exposed to a heat gun:

No. 3

Layers of  Tyvek and nylon or synthetic fabrics pressed with the tip of a soldering iron:

Time spent -  approx 21 hours

Expenditure - Soldering iron [£23.50] and Bondaweb 1 metre [£4.75]  both from Art Van Go

Chapter 6. Simple Tassels

For this chapter we have to choose yarns, threads and fabric strips from our colour scheme to make a variety of tassels both by hand and using the sewing machine.

Tassels made by hand:

And by machine:

This page is from Tassels The Fanciful Embellishment by Nancy Welch and describes the Chinese Knot which I’ve used in samples 2 and 3

I have loved this chapter and have been so surprised at the characters I have created in the tassels from simple rustic peasants and gypsy dancers to Irish jiggers. Wonderful.

Time spent – about 13 hours

All materials in stock

Chapter 5. Cord making.

This chapter took us through the making of cords using fabric and threads plus a wonderful range of diverse materials in our colour scheme [in my case turquoise and red / orange].

The chapter is divided into 3 sections:

A. Machine stitched cords

B. Twisted cords

C. Knotted, plaited, wrapped methods

 Machine stitched cords

I selected a variety of core materials and contrasting threads to make the machine stitched cords:

I love the effect of the cords together en masse, a wonderful array of contrasting colours and textures:

Twisted cord experiments:

Knotted, plaited and wrapped cords which I found very challenging, I found it helped me to draw the knotting processes. Wonderful effects achieved with the juxtaposition of colour and texture:

The Turks Head Knot. Really challenging but the results are so rewarding:

Plaited cords. It’s fascinating to learn how different materials can bring such diverse effects:

Wrapped cords:

This was a fascinating chapter and, other than the machine stitched cords, many of the techniques were new to me and therefore time consuming as I found some of the workings very challenging. I was pleased to have the  opportunity to learn how to create many beautiful effects using the juxtaposition of colour and texture.

Chapter 4 Design with Stitchery

In this chapter we have to decorate our dyed fabrics with stitchery both by hand and machine.

I’ve documented my work on my sketchbook pages and so they are posted here.

 

Hand stitchery:

I used a piece of random dyed velvet and threads for my hand stitched sample and felt instantly mesmerised by the colour combinations and the blending / vibrancy I could achieve.

This is new to me so I feel very pleased with this result!

Machine stitchery:

I worked a lot of small spiral patterns using a range of free machine  stitching techniques:

 

The back of the work is also  beautiful:

Bigger spirals shapes using free machine embroidery techniques and experiments with trapping threads, couching and the combination of hand and machine stitching:

And the back:

I’ve been experimenting with dried flower petals and tried arranging them in a spiral shape, bonding them to fabric and then adding free machine stitching. I decided to leave the thread between stitching as it reminds me of the Golden Section [Fibonacci] and gave a stronger spiral effect!

Further experiments with dried petals [this time roses] :

I’m very pleased with this chapter and have particularly enjoyed the opportunity to play with colour and love the seemingly endless possibilities of working with spiral patterns which are emerging as I work through the module………

Chapter 3. Fabrics and threads

In this chapter I have to sort out my fabrics, threads and other items such as buttons, beads and sequins etc. according to my chosen colour scheme. I started with what I had in store  before dyeing and monoprinting more of my own.

I’ve photographed pages of my sketch book showing my work and have posted them here in order

I started by sorting out the various types of fabrics I had already in my studio in my colour scheme:

And then my threads, buttons and beads. I also coloured various other items using silk paint to give an interesting range of effects:

I needed to produce a batch of fabrics in analagous colours in each of the colours I’d chosen earlier and then another with the colours mixed to give a more diverse range:

The dyeing processes:

I then selected some of my dyed fabrics for monoprinting:

Some further monoprinting effects / experiments:

Pressed flowers fused to a dyed fabric with Bondaweb:

I will go on to make up some more dyed and monoprinted fabrics and to produce more effects especially using fabrics in colours not in my colour scheme to see how they take up the dyes.

I’ve also started stitching into some dyed fabric with my dyed threads for ch. 4 – it’s magical as all the colours are beautifully harmonious / vibrant. I’m very moved by colour so this is particularly exciting for me…………