Resolved Design

I started my resolved piece by making a base piece of blue fabric scraps stitched together.

Image 1 – Blue base

Then I layered up yellow fabric scraps holding them down with pins (the fabric is on a piece of corrugated cardboard so that I could stab the pins into it) .

Image 2:

Image 3:

After putting down a few layers of yellow scraps I then placed six 8x8cm squares of fabric on top…

Image 4:

…and then covered the entire piece with gold organza and tacked it all into place.

Image 5:

I traced my chosen pattern onto tissue paper, tacked this onto the piece and stitched with my sewing machine (small running stitch).

Image 6:

After all the lines were stitched I carefully removed the tissue paper.

Image 7:

With all the preparation done I started slashing! 

And then stopped. 

I decided halfway through that I didn’t like what I was doing.  I left it a while and returned to it today in a far better mood about it!  So I carried on slashing!

Image 8 – The resolved piece:

Image 9 – The bottom left part of the piece which is very textured and the shapes are difficult to see clearly:

Image 10 – The top right corner where the layers are cut away to show clear distinction in shape:

Working on a Resolved Design

I started to work on the resolved design for the module about a week ago.  I feel stuck.  I have ideas of what I want to do but I can’t find a way to translate them onto paper.  I think in my head I’m trying to go backwards.  The idea is to create a paper design and work from that but, well, I know that I want to – or at least the technique I want to use - and I’m trying to force the paper design into what I’m thinking about.  But I’m not completely clear on what I’m thinking of so I’ve got myself into a little pickle!  Well here’s what I’ve come up with so far.  I’m going to ask Sian for some guidance.

Image 1 – I was playing with my favourite star/cross shape when I noticed the void created:

Image 2 – My first play with papers.  I wanted to look at the voids I’d spotted in the previous drawing:

Image 3 – I used the same cut squares but this time really concentrated on the voids with them being more filled in at the centre:

Image 4 – Close up of the middle set of voids.  I’ve filled them in but feathered the edges so there aren’t solid blocks:

Image 5 – Close up

Image 6 – This was just me playing with different cutting of the shapes:

Image 7 – Close up of one of the cut shapes.  I really like the spiral effect of the shape:

Image 8 – A play on the ‘windmills’ from earlier in the chapter but this time I turned them upside down:

Image 9 – More ‘windmills’!

Image 10 – I had some left over cut pieces from the earlier designs so I used them.  I like the shapes formed where the two middle pieces cross:

Image 11 – Close up of the middle:

Making Fabric Disintegrate or Grow 3

Making a shape using multiples of the same shape.

Image 1 – First I cut out shapes from my decorative fabrics:

Image 2 – I cut squares of gold organza and pinned them to a yellow backing fabric, sandwiching in some yellow netting.  I sewed each organza square individually:

Image 3 – The finished backing:

Image 4 – Close up of the backing fabric:

Image 5 – Next I added the cut shapes and free embroidered them:

Image 6 – Stitching the final shape:

Image 7 – The finished piece. I really like the shapes of the voids produced:

Image 8 – Close up:

Making Fabric Disintegrate or Grow 2

Here I’m using stitch to grow or disintegrate a shape.

Image 1 – My desk while I was working.  What a mess!

Image 2 – Making a shape ‘disappear’ by using stitching of the same colour as the background.  The more stitching the more the shape vanishes:

Image 3 – Close up of sewing the parallel lines on the machine:

Image 4 – Close up of square: 

Image 5 – Cutting away the shape:

Image 6 – More stitch lines and cutting away a smaller section of fabric:

Image 7 – Yet more stitching and even less fabric cut away:

Image 8 – close up of cut away area:

Image 9 – Hiding a shape using bondaweb and thread waste:

Image 10 – Hiding a shape using different coloured threads:

Image 11 – Close up:

Making Fabric Disintegrate or Grow 1

Here I’m ‘growing’ the shape by slashing the fabric and then fraying.

Image 1 – Slashing a square of fabric to create the shape:

Image 2 – Several slashed squares.  The shape slowly appears:

Image 3 – Close up:

Image 4 – Close up:

Image 5 – Close up:

Disintegrating Fabric 2

I decided to have a play with bondaweb and thread waste to ‘grow’ a piece of fabric!

Image 1 – First I covered a piece of bondaweb with yellow, white and silver thread waste:

Image 2 – With another piece of bondaweb on the top I ironed to bond using greaseproof paper to prevent scorching:

Image 3 – My bondaweb thread sandwich:

Image 4 – Off came the top backing paper:

Image 5 – Off came the other backing sheet to reveal my bonded square:

Image 6 – Close up of the square.  You can see the texture of the melted glue and in the right light it sparkles a little:

Image 7 – My chosen shape cut out from the bonded fabric square:

Image 8 – The remaining bonded fabric square (I like this more than the actual shape itself!):