Module 3, chapter 5: Cord making

I had a lot of fun making these cords. The 'twist' technique is one I do with my own students at school and I have set up many a trend of friendship bracelets with this technique! The plaiting, wrapping and knotting techniques I have also previously done with other projects. New to me however was using the sewing machine to create cords using the yarns. I loved the effects this technique could give, especially when I was using different coloured top and bobbin threads on my machine.

 

The samples I feel were the most successful overall were those that echoed the spiral theme in their own effects: the twists, the wraps and the knotting. On some of the knotted samples I knotted around roving rather than yarn. This lead to a really interesting spiral forming down the length of the cord and this could be something for consideration when working on my resolved sample and/or accessory later in the project.

 

The least successful samples in my opinion were the ones where I had chosen to use a textured yarn- these just looked messy and any twist or wrapped or stitched effects were lost under the hairiness of the yarn!



3/5/1: Cords (twisted and wrapped)



3/5/2: Cords (machine stitched, knotted and plaited)



3/5/3: Cords (machine stitched, knotted and plaited)



3/5/4: Cords (twisted and wrapped)

 

3/5/5: Cords (machine stitched, knotted and plaited)

Module 3, Chapter 4: Stitchery samples

Hand Stitchery

Using one of my coloured fabrics as a background I played around with a variety of hand embroidery stitches and a little couching to see what different spiral effects I could create. As I feel the photograph of the whole sample does not do any justice to my stitching I have included below some close up images that showcase the stitchery in more detail. I really enjoyed creating this sample, although it did take me considerably longer than I thought to create it... something that will need to be taken into consideration when planning my resolved sample and accessory later in this project. There was not any planning behind this sample- just a case of stitching as I felt like it at the time! My favourite spirals in this piece to create where the couched ones and the chain stitched ones. I chose to use varigated threads for these which I feel really added to the overall effect. I also deliberately allowed the fabric to naturally crinkle as I stitched which I feel adds an additional dimension of texture. The finished sample is approximately 24cm x 24cm.



3/4/1: hand stitchery whole sample

3/4/2: hand stitchery close up




3/4/3: hand stitchery close up

3/4/4: hand stitchery close up

3/4/5: hand stitchery close up

 Machine stitchery

In contrast to the hand stitching, free machine embroidery is a fairly quick (but not necessarily as easy or as controllable) technique to do. I produced a variety of samples (see below for a selection). My favourites were the ones that had the highest concentration of detail- either through the intensity of the stitching or through the way the printing and stitching combined together.




3/4/6: Free machine embroidery



3/4/7: Free machine embroidery



3/4/8: Free machine embroidery



3/4/9: Free machine embroidery



3/4/10: Free machine embroidery



3/4/11: Free machine embroidery



3/4/12: Free machine embroidery



3/4/13: Free machine embroidery

CAD/CAM embroidery

As I am lucky enough to own a Brother Innovis embroidery machine I thought I would test out a couple of spirals using CAD/CAM embroidery. In contrast to the free machine embroidery these have more of a controlled/finished look to them. Both spirals were adapted straight from my CAD spirals that I created in Adobe Illustrator in a previous chapter. The biggest restriction here is size- fabric has to be of a size to fit the embroidery hoop for the machine and the embroidery can be no bigger than 10cm x 10cm.

 

3/4/14: CAD/CAM embroidery spiral 1



3/4/15: CAD/CAM embroidery spiral 2 (preparing design for stitching)

3/4/16: CAD/CAM embroidery spiral 2 (stitching)



3/4/17: CAD/CAM embroidery spiral 2 (finished)

Apologies if there are any spelling errors in this post- for some reason the spell checker keep crashing on me!

Module 3, Chapter 3: fabrics, threads, dying and printing



3/3/1: selection of fabrics and threads

To start this chapter I looked at my existing fabric and thread stash to see what appropriate materials I already had. The image on the left shows swatches of this collection. Some of the fabrics/threads I had previously had been dyed by me for other projects. These swatches just 'represent' the collection and are by no means all that I found!

My next step was to dye my own fabrics. I used some orange and blue fabric dyes and a range of tie-dye techniques to produce a range of different effects. I deliberately watered down the dyes as I thought it would be nice to have a more subtle effect so that when I printed on top of them there would be more of a contrast.

Finally, I printed on top of a selection of my fabrics using the same monoprinting and block printing techniques that I had applied to my coloured papers. The following images show some of these fabrics. Unfortunately I cannot seem to be able to upload any images of my tie-dyes today- they will not display:(



3/3/2: Printed fabric

3/3/3: Printed fabric

3/3/4: Printed fabric

3/3/5: Printed fabric



Module 3 chapter 2b part two: using CAD to create spirals

To start my CAD spirals I chose to use the programme Adobe Illustrator to experiment in. I have very rarely used this computer programme before so this really was an experimental exercise for me! The results of what I discovered are in the following image. To create the effects I used a variety of brushes to test the possibilities.

3/2b/1: CAD spiral sketching using Adobe Illustrator

Next I decided to experiment with a programme I am more familiar with: PhotoShop. To start I used the brush tools to generate my own spiral design (the first in the block in the image). I then went on to apply different effects and filters to this particular spiral to see how many different variations I could create. I then pasted each new version together to create the image you see below. Finally I then put the image into negative and then flipped it to create the second image below. I thought it was interesting how although the colour was placed into negative it is not drastically different overall- the second is just less vibrant than the first and the glimmers of white are now glimmers of black in the background.

It just all goes to show... one spiral can have many possibilities!


3/2b/2: Spiral variations using PhotoShop #1

3/2b/3: Spiral variations using PhotoShop #2

Module 3, Chapter 2b part one: Monoprinted spirals

Although a significant amount of my papers were mono-printed, I took advantage of a couple of old spiral lino cuts that I had lying around to also decorate some of my papers. The image below show a 'snapshot' of the variety of papers I created using these printing techniques.

Please note that I produced these papers a while back and I kept the best papers for use later on. I regrettably forgot to photograph what I created before using them so unfortunately do not have any pictures of my best examples!



3/2b part one/1: printing spirals onto paper

Module 3, Chapter 2a: Design work, spiral warm up exercises

I completed this work a while ago, but have only just got around to blog it!
 

Colour



3/2a/1a: Colour page

I first needed to decide a colour scheme. The brief was to select 2 colours opposite each other on the colour wheel and I decided to select shades of blue and orange as these colours had already caught my eye while conducting my research.  
Although I selected blue and orange I was very aware that there was a considerable scale of shades, hues and tones within this ranging from pale peachy orange to a brown-orange and pale pastel blue and turquoise through to Navy. I decided to keep open minded over which types of blue and orange to work with.









3/2a/1b: sketches in colour

Just for curiosity purposes I then scanned in my sketches from earlier to see what they would like like in my chosen colour scheme. I really liked the effect this gave and in particular I could really imagine the design as a repeated textiles print for fabric. Unfortunately only 3 of the 4 pictures have uploaded but the three that did hopefully are enough to showcase the effects I achieved. (for some reason one of them is refusing point blank to upload!).
 


3/2a/1c: sketches in colour



3/2a/1d: sketches in colour

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 








The next stage was to source and create a range of appropriately coloured papers. The following images show a 'snapshot' of my collection of these. On some of these papers I made the point of creating a few spirals using the ink.
 
Creating Spirals

Once I had my papers ready to use, I then created a range of simple 2D shapes to explore some possible spiral ideas. I found however that the shapes did not necessarily lie flat- see the photo taken at an alternative angle which demonstrates the 3D nature of the shapes.
 
Finally I translated my spiral ideas in 3D using corrugated card to create a range of mini sculptures. I called my collection 'spiral city' as I felt the end result looks like an aerial view of a futuristic looking city-scape.
 

3/2a/2: Blue papers coloured by myself



3/2a/3: various papers coloured by myself



3/2a/4: orange papers coloured by myself



3/2a/4: Found papers





3/2a/5: Simple 2D spiral shapes



3/2a/6: Simple 2D spiral shapes from alternative angle showing 3D effect



3/2a/7:3D corrugated card spiral city