fIBREfEST August 20th and 21st

Just thought i would mention Fibrefest on 20th and 21st August at Bicton College in Devon. Usually a great shopping experience! if anyone is going and wants to meet for coffee let me know.

Day 12 and 13 sketchbook slow but enjoying

for colour i chose the above, my favourite mug, one of my spray painted tulips and a sprig from a tree
like Sian i used Koh i nor dyes which i bought at Urchfont and have fallen in love with them. i also applied chalk over the top.
first attempt, i didn't really read the instructions so this is what i came up with!
i then changed the tulip to my feather which had a few highlights to follow the instructions on using water and merging. for this one i used the Koh i nor and chalk for the background and water colours for the counting by numbers bit.

sketchbook pattern

i wanted to try some lettering so got out a wagamama t. shirt
first one above wasn't really working, so i continued below
and now i think i prefer the first ones simplicity anyway i am calling a halt for today

Sketchbook Day 7?

i'm getting confused with the days here but above feather pattern, however it could also be the individual shafts!
i chose a paper bag for the next challenge and below finished bit, i used a brush ink pen.
decided to try a piece of newsprint with the feather pattern.

Chapter 8, mainly option A or perhaps not after looking back at the post!

Foolishly perhaps i mentioned to Sian in my tutorial at summer school that i really wasn't sure which option to choose for this chapter, option A transferred images or option B heat set shibori. she suggested i could do both! so i came home thinking 'why had i opened my big mouth' and decided to go with option B only, however i kept thinking of the shibori and so the following is inevitably a mixture. Option A, make a slip from a printed image using transferred or direct digital printing. I have Maggie Grey's book 'From Image to stitch' so i have already tried direct printing onto Japanese tissue and organza. For this i chose a method which uses a bonding agent as a transfer adhesive with a printed image. I enlarged my slip slightly for this chapter. basically a piece of Bondaweb is ironed onto fabric, then the printed image face down is ironed to the Bondaweb and then the paper sponged gently to absorb water and the paper rubbed off (i used my finger) to reveal the print layer. care has to be taken not to wet it too much as the ink will bleed and the image can also be rubbed off if you are too heavy handed. i chose initially 2 pages from my sketchbook seen in the photo above. i used cotton organdie and silk organza. i liked the process of this method and can see myself using it. the slip on the bottom right was from a shiny photo print which gave a duller image so i applied a layer of varnish which showed the brush marks too much.
it was at this stage i thought of shibori, i liked the idea of a series of slips all lined up like growing flowers. i experimented with a few 'methods' thinking how to achieve a slim slip with just a stalk so image 2 and 3 is my 'wrapping a parcel' method! the finished slip is in image 1. i cut a wooden slip which afterwards i thought should not be wood as it could transfer staining in the 10 minute steaming process. i was lucky.
once the slip was dry i undid the cotton ties and voila it stayed put but i did find the silk organza worked best.
# 4 and 5 i then made an experiment of stitching round the image, placing the wood slip inside and pulling it tight and then securing the reverse like a seam.
and then steaming.
#6 i decided to make a series based on the stitched paper i made for chapter 5. with the lettering i had to remember to flip the image before printing otherwise the letters would be back to front. the plan was to superimpose the slips onto the original photo.
#7 shows the slips on their sides and the thickness of the form. with these slips i applied a layer of PVA to the image which made it a bit fresher looking. i also tried colouring the silk before transfering the image but that didnt look right!
#8 the actual slips had added hand stitch which was basically a looped back stitch worked along the original stitch lines of the paper. i worked this while the slips were still tied to their wood form. the stitching was continued on the same lines on the background photo but just a simple over under.
#9 the best way to keep the slips in their correct places was to suspend them on fishing line from a frame above the original print some are slightly out but it wasn't easy to get them in the exact place. i was helped by an amazing book 'Memory on cloth Shibori now' by Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada its well work the money.

Sketchbook Day 6 i think

shadow achieved with lamp! not sunshine unfortunately. i used a mixture of biro and pencil with water. hope it cheers up for tonight's year 6 leaving party at the open air pool!!!
working bigger using chalk pastels which are square so easy to get fine and thick areas. Off to work internal lines now.

Summer Sketchbook challenge- first few days

i seem to be rather behind everyone else but here goes so far. i chose a feather as my object and contrary to my ideas with coffee which might be rather messy i used a tea bag of my husbands to colour the pages with dabs of gesso and masking tape masks. not sure i have followed your instructions to the letter Sian but the above is using graphite line and a bit of shadow with water to merge the line.
i then chose a second feather using fine brush with added lettering
Day ? using pencil with water and ink. so i am now off to put a strong lamp on as it is sooooo miserable out there

No time like the present

thought i would finish my sampler from summer school while the ideas were still fresh! I had a wonderful time at Urchfont with Mary Sleigh as our tutor learning about African textiles. before i went i had never really considered African textiles but now i am definitely a convert, especially the raffia pieces made in the Republic of the Democratic Congo and the strip woven cloths of West Africa. it was great to see everyone again who i met last year and to meet new people. Thank you Sian, Mary and Jan for a great few days. excuse the posie picture but i thought it looked good with a stripped branch courtesy of my son!

There is life after Summer School!! Chapter 5 and 6

for those of you who didn't come to summer school and therefore didn't see my cut out 'slips' from the fabrics made in the previous post, here they are! I attached them in various ways to a piece of painted and stencilled organdie (i love the stuff!). i decided to attach them in a long 'sampler' like strip which is proving difficult to store!
anyway in detail #1 i have used flower making stamens from a cook shop to finish off the edge and it has been attached with lines of hand stitching across the slip itself. #2 edges neatened with fluffy iridescent thread over sewing and it is attached through a couple of layers of felt so it hovers off the surface, #3 edges shaped and finished by punching out circles. it is attached with sequins and some of the circles cut out and used as 'sequins', #4 edges finished with random uneven over sewing trapping black tissue in place, it is attached with a row of vertical machine stitch echoing its construction and extra hand stitched lines added.
#5 attached with a contracting piece of organdie and bonda web, #6 finished by trapping between two layers of nylon net randomly stitched and then the excess cut away, it is attached with hand stitch echoing the original zig zags, #7 attached and finished as one with two layers one felt and one organdie with Letraset type letters added and all sandwiched to the background with bondaweb.
#8 finished by sandwiching between plastic, stitched and then cut back and edges melted slightly, it is attached top and bottom with tied orange colour thread. #9 finished with random 'messy' over sewing and attached with lines of fishing line hand stitch.
Chapter 6 was on 3D slips. by this time my tulips were dying and i wanted to achieve a shrivelled 'dead' look so i firstly worked with wire, laying it down onto card like a traditional stumpwork 'slip' still using the same shape of slip as before. the 2 on the left above are stitched with various zig-zag lines encapsulating off cuts of organdie. the one top right uses a thicker wire with a complete layer of organdie and various layers of tissue.
then i thought of shrink plastic which i have used before and thought could produce some interesting shapes. the one above with the lime green thread was punched with holes before shrinking and threaded after, the other 4 have been stitched with straight machine stitch and then zapped which leaves the stitching with a pile like feel, 2 have been coloured with felt tip pens prior to stitching. the shape was enlarged before shrinking.
in my tutorial at summer school Sian suggested trying to form the plastic over a mould so i tried!!!! i cut my slip shape from some ply wood.#1 was my first attempt where i placed the mould under the plastic, which although much larger originally shrunk smaller than the mould and i had to shape it around the mould when still warm. #2 i then thought what if i actually stitch the mould onto the plastic and then shrink, this time i put the mould on top of the plastic and i was really pleased with the result, however i can't get the mould out!!!! but then that adds something to the piece. #3 then i thought i would stitch before shrinking in the same way as #2 but it went horribly wrong!!! but it has potential for something else in the future?!
above showing the mould trapped in the plastic!
so finally i think my tulips have definitely earned there moneys worth! they are beautifully crispy and some are green from spray paint.
above i have mounted 3 of the 3D slips to a photograph of the dead tulips
i am hoping to call a halt to this chapter and move on now! i have achieved what i wanted to with these. do i keep the dead tulips?!!!