Lace is holey

Chapter 4, cutting,punching,slashing and melting, sounds violent! but i realise that what i have done is very controlled and ordered! one day I'll go wild. anyway the plan with this chapter is to create various forms of hole either positive or negative. i am still sticking with my cloud shape which i lifted directly from a gros point design.
#1 i used scrim with a layer of tissue on top, stitched around the edge and across the shape, then cut between stitch lines, i then used a mask and sprayed the surrounding area black
#2 a similar idea to #1 but this time i removed most of the internal threads but left some vertical ones and some of the tissue.
#3 silk organza sprayed with stencil shapes and stitch lines sewn to connect them. i then cut the background
#4 and 5 using basic stitch and cutting the cloud shape after

#6 here i layered silk organza, scrim, tissue and paper stitched around the shapes and cut back various layers/holes
#7 shape cut and then stitched very loosely and randomly within
#8 is the remaining piece from the sandwiched shapes in my last post
#9 i used a hole punch to create the shapes on the top strip of black waxed paper and to create what should be the voids in the gros point lace photocopy. if you look at the bottom of this you can see the inspiration for my 'cloud' shape
#10 a punched shape on an old flocked table mat i found in a charity shop. i masked the shape and sprayed the outer edge with black paint after cutting
#11 i have discovered my husbands black garden fleece! it is perfect for melting. here i used a background of automatic machine stitched letters and then zapped it with my wood burning tool trying to keep the background word 'lace' intact.
#12 using the fleece again and a left over piece of silk organza which i hand darned in place and then zapped the background with a fine point on my wood burning tool
#13 layers of tracing paper and nylon mesh stitched with the word 'lace' and then cut
#14 using various layers of silk organza, scrim, paper and tissue stitched with an outline and lines inside, the layers are then slashed and brushed up to make them fuzzy. i then trimmed the layers to the outline shape leaving the top layer of silk.
#15 i decided to work some more layer shapes stitching to hold them and then cutting the shape. the 'square' ones reminded me of little books!
#16 and 17 i made a shape from copper wire, heated it with a flame and melted various plastic bags and more garden fleece i layered them onto a piece of clear acetate using the wood burning tool to attache them. i didn't do any more as although i did this in a well ventilated room i found it far too smelly, although i was quite pleased with the technique.
having read this month's 'Embroidery' magazine i am very keen to try laser cutting!

'Hey you get of my cloud' or Chapter 3 suspended shapes

Chapter 3 using suspended shapes to give the appearance of floating! i chose to use shapes taken from my gros point study which either look like clouds or oak leaves so i have Mick Jagger singing in my head at the moment.
#1 above using stencil shape and spray paint with stitch elements similar to historic links. each cloud is 6cm long and uses silk organza for the background.
#2 using machine stitch and layers of applique shapes from photocopies of gros point
#3 more applique shapes
#4 a more fluid spontaneous cloud painted and with many threads couched as one, again using ideas from my gros point lace techniques
#5 using melted bubble wrap for the base fabric with black waxed paper shapes applied and running stitch shapes
#6 going slightly 3d here with cut bubble wrap shapes and black shiny sequin shape.
#7 for this one i cut out some paper cloud shapes from left over paper that had been used to spray other cloud shapes on, juxtaposing slightly the cut shapes. they were then heat set in between 2 layers of silk organza with bonda web and more juxtaposed shapes were cut and then reapplied to organza. i have kept the background they were cut out from to use later.
#8 using an idea from gros point lace where small shapes are laid on top of each other i cut various shapes from organza with a soldering iron and applied them with large tacking crosses.
#9 i have just discovered apple (vegetable?) bags that are made from a criss cross of plastic fibres they make a great 'fabric' to work with fro transparency. i wanted to felt something without distorting the background so this was ideal, it is essentially sandwiched between two layers of felt that are needle felted together. the right hand one has a layer of paper in the sandwich, below shows it on white background.

#10 two layers of organza stitched together and then sprayed to give a dark outline, then cut to shape and distorted to make it stand proud and stitched in place.
#11 stitching around a shape and then pulling the threads very slightly to manipulate but still trying to keep the original shape
#12 using the cut out shapes left over from #10 and voiding the gaps with some old lacis
#13 finally playing around with more shapes as #10 but placing them within a clear piece of plastic i found in s skip (not sure what from) but i liked it!

Chapter 2 Stitchery to create suspended features or how to deface a photocopy

for this chapter i chose to use a combination of historical research and my own research. i have continued with 'the door' which as you can see is ever expanding layer wise and i apologise to the of you with a weak constitution as to some of the additions above!
i have also used an area of wall near the door.
for the above 3 pieces i used removable grounds to achieve lace like structures. i chose to use some left over photocopies of engravings of men wearing gros point lace cravats. for the top left one i used the whole image and made graffiti lace within it. i stitched the areas using a layer of tissue on top and then removed pieces by wetting areas with a paint brush and water. in some places i removed both layers and in others i left the tissue intact. the top right sample was worked in a similar way but instead of water a layer of tissue was torn off the back. the 3rd piece was worked on tissue and water soluble fabric. once stitched i took the surrounding areas off with a wet paintbrush. the water soluble fabric behind the tissue letters was also removed but leaving the tissue intact. it gives the whole a wonderful crispy quality.
the above 2 pieces were both achieved with water soluble materials. the top a clear film which i have left intact in a few voids but after wetting it crinkles and goes slightly opaque. the small piece is worked with tissue and free machining on water soluble fabric.
the above image is worked with images drawn on tracing paper which were cut out and sandwiched with bondaweb (on one side) between two layers of fine bonded nylon. i then used a fine soldering iron to cut out areas and partially cut so they are still all suspended from the outer piece.
the 2 'E's' above i worked as a traditional piece of needlepoint by couching the green outer thread onto a base and then linked them with a fine transparent nylon thread then removed them from the backing. i was very pleased that they stayed as they should! instead of using hot glue gun i used cut up pieces of plastic pipe and melted them with an iron to link the 'E's' together.
for the stitching and threading part i used some left over photocopies of gros point lace and some black waxed paper. strips were cut up and stitched together with straight stitch into 5 pieces, i then stitched the whole together with a series of 'E' shapes. it can also go the other way up
i also wanted to try joining words together, hence the Lutrador 'join' and also joining the left over bits of tracing paper from another piece stitched together with the same shape.

Module 5, Chapter 1 Lace

for this chapter i chose, after a long deliberation, to study Venetian Raised needlelace. i am very lucky that i have easy access to many books on lace and a wonderful lace collection(RAMM)to study. that probably made it more difficult to choose but i got there eventually.Italian Gros Point has often intrigued me because it looked quite ugly and inconceivable as to how it was made! although there are many books on lace that cover the subject historically, i found it difficult to find detailed working diagrams or instructions.
i did find one book very helpful, Venetian Gros Point Lace by Nenia Lovesey and Catherine Barley. so i made a sample seen below. i used quite a thick thread to that which would have been used originally so it turned out a bit rustic! however i am quite pleased with it for a first attempt.

it's quite appropriate studying this type of lace in the winter because of the resemblence to snowflakes!
i have concentrated mainly on male attire for this study. i love the collars and their attached tassles
i found really detailed instructions on how to document this type of lace here. there are some great photographs of the main features found on all the Venetian raised laces.

Wishing everyone a Happy and productive 2012!