Exercise 2.3 – Drawing with Stitch on to paper

Here is a link to my photo album for this exercise.

I have found that lots of the bases I have made are not really suitable for stitching on to. Lots of the papers are very fragile but also I have used techniques that mean there is nothing stable to stitch on to.

Each exercise has been to draw inspiration from the exercise before, so now my bases reflect the fragility and age of the original items but this has made them less suitable to draw on with stitches. I think I am going to overcome this by layering the less stable pieces on top of a more substantial substrate.

I always seem to have the same problem, I never really know if what I am doing is right.

Here are my first few samples:

Following the crumple lines of the paper like the veins in the leaf. Various threads.

Some chain stitches. I was looking at the kneeler image for this one. Thinking about the frayed edges, repeating grids and patterns. I used crochet cotton for this sample.

The damaged part of the sari. The base is shop bought handmade paper rubbed with sandpaper and crochet cotton for the stitches.

Slashes in brown paper and folded back. Held in place with various stitches. Loosely based on the Kintsugi idea. For this sample it wasn’t so much any one image, just the idea that the pieces were old and in need of repair.

This is a bit off piste! Not so much about the stitches as the paper itself. Each paper circle was hand stitched on in a deliberate way. I LOVE the effect and I imagine coming back to this for a more resolved piece of work.

I think this is a success, this was based on the wavy lines image. Originally based on the reverse of the Fritillary fabric. I think it retains some of the movement and flow of the drawing.

I have added a few more samples to the collection now and I feel ready to move on to the next task.

 

I like the paper layers and different yarn weights in this sample.

Very simple to due the fragile nature of the paper.

Repeats. I like this and expect it to feature in one of my more developed samples.

This is my favourite by far. I will definitely be making a more worked sample from this.

Trying to get curves and flow with hand stitching.

Layers, loops and a bit of bling!

This is another of my favorites.

Repeating motif.

This is what I wanted to achieve with hand sewing but it is just too time consuming by hand.

Tiny stitches worked for this piece. 50:50 Hand and machine sewing.

Shading with stitches takes time, I tried using some needle felting with long bold stitches on top.