Research for Module one

As I have now decided on a clear direction to start moving my project in I thought I would share the research that has helped me up to this point but I will not necessarily be using any further into my project. The images below show pages in my sketchbook which have collections of images from the internet / magazines / postcards and of my own photos of objects from around my home.

Chapter one of module one C&G Certificate in Embroidery

I have now completed the first chapter of my course and from this I....

• Created my own 'Mood boards' finding images from the internet and magazines
• Took many photos of all the 'crosses' and 'star's I could find around the home
• Produced line drawings based on this research I had gathered plus other examples I found in various books
• Produced a few rubbings of star and cross patterns from items found around the home
• Produced a colour wheel to help me focus my colour story

Below are some selected images that 'summarise' the above work I have produced:

The above image shows an A3 page of my sketches and rubbings.

The above research image inspires me for the orange and green colours within the star shape.

This star was found on the inside edge of a door frame and is about the size of a screw head.

The above research image inspires me for the shape of the star.

It was a photo taken of the surface of a large glass crystal.

Past embroidery #3

Last year I entered a design and make a pennant for the Olympics competition through my WI. I was chuffed when my pennant was selected to represent my WI (Radstock) and was placed on display in the WI tent at the Newbury show. Alas I didnt win overall, however my pennant was one of the ones photographed and published in the WI Life national magazine. Ironically it was presented at a size on the page significantly bigger than the winning entries! My pennant will now be presented to one of the atheletes in London 2012 Olympics (or Para-Olympics) as a keepsake from the event. I am secretly hoping it will go to a badminton player as that was the theme I based my design on- a choice made due in part to the fact my husband plays/coaches/watches badminton avidly and in part due to the fact we have tickets to a couple of the badminton events this summer!

To create the pennant I first hand dyed a piece of white satin fabric in vibrant colours with the bright reds/oranges and yellows to represent the Olympic torch. I then free machine embroidered in random scribbles all over, taking care to match the colours of the threads with the background. Finally I then layered the design up with wadding on the reverse then satin stitched/quilted the badminton player design onto the background. This design was very tenuously based around a clip art image of a badminton player that I switched up and adapted to make it my own.

Past embroidery #2

These mini embroideries (about A6 in size) I created while relaxing on holiday a couple of years ago.  They were produced mainly using hand embroidery chain stitch and french knots and finished using a satin stitch on the sewing machine.

Once again with hind sight I really should have used some stabiliser as the backgrounds creased and puckered somewhat...

Anyway, they were inspired by an old embroidery design I found in an old stitching magazine although with my own artistic licence they ended up looking very different in terms of colour, scales and proportions and the details I added.

A past embroidery

This was a hand embroidery piece I stitched a couple of years ago. Hours of effort went into this and although I was happy with the overall design, with hindsight I can see that I really should have used some kind of stabiliser to stop the fabric distorting like it did. That said, I guess this distortion added a certain dimension to the design and I emphasised it further with deliberate deconstruction around the edges of the silk fabric.

A mini felt sample

Went to an INSET last Monday which introduced me to a couple of new felting techniques- Nuno and Spider. There wasnt really much time beyond the demo to really produce much but I managed to leave with this sample and lots of ideas for future felting possibilities!

Left is the nuno I created layered with the spider felt. Right is the reverse of the nuno which in my opinion had the most interesting effect overall. I now have plans to try the nuno on fabrics that will respond even better to the wool tops than the organza did.