Chapter 12

thought I would have a play around in photoshop with one of my favourite coloured paper pieces. here are the results

I have only just started using photoshop, but I am quite please with the results, I know there is so much more that it can do. So my first idea for my resolved sample is one of these.

Playing around with paper shapes on brown paper. I decided to develop this idea further with fabric, paper and stitch.

Firstly I appliqués some lace stars onto brown paper and blue sheer fabric as the backing, I then added machine stitched circles all over the piece.

Sian had suggested taking my circle idea further and try to create star like shapes from the overlapping circles. I tried this out in an earlier sample but wasn't particularly happy with the results, I didn't like the regularity of the shapes I had formed. This time however the star shapes are not that clear to see.

Here is the reverse of the piece.

The piece was then painted using fabric paints, rinsed under the tap and rubbed to create holes, heat gun was the applied to distress. The lace and paper. No to leave it to dry and the maybe add some hand stitching. I feel this type of technique could be used to make a distressed Turkish textile tile. It would need to be symmetrical rather than random as it is here.

Chapter 11 Disintegrating stitches

Following my feedback from Sian, I will return to the disintegrating papers and stitching but firstly a few photos of the reverse of the disintegrated stitched samples.

All the samples are the same size but for some reason the ipad doesn't seem to thinks so. It's quite interesting looking at the back of these hand stitched pieces, not something I had considered before. I am sure traditional hand embroiderers would be horrified at the tangled mess at the back of my work though!!

Disintegrated designs grouped together

Sian also suggested going back to the stitched circles and trying to create star like shapes by overlapping the circles.

First attempt....

Circles drawn onto one sheet of brown paper,were then machine stitched

Here's the result after some stitching.

Then I decided to add some water. Big mistake golden rule when making lace like fabric....join all shapes. Here's the result,so back to the drawing board.

Messy and not what I wanted at all.

Attempt number two

This time I used smaller circles and more of them.

Now to add some machine stitching.

Reverse side

I then added some oil and rubbed at it until it started to disintegrate. This took some time because I had used 2 pieces of brown paper to support all the stitching. Here's the finished piece, I think next time I would go with one piece of paper and water rather than the oil or another option could be to oil the paper first and then stitch into it.... Maybe

Chapter 11 resolved sample growth and disintegration paper samples

A. Paper was crumpled until it began to disintegrate. The paper becomes quite soft during this process

B. paper was first crumpled and then the edges were burnt using a candle. I worked right next to the window while doing this. It gives a good aged look to the paper but not the safest!

C. Disintegration is achieved using a hole punch, it created quite an even pattern to begin with, but by folding it in various ways I was able to make it look a little more organic than it did originally.

D. Simple tearing only.

E. Stabbed with a pencil.

F. Crumpled paper was rubbed up and down a cheese grater.

G. Momigami (from Cas Holmes book The Found Object). Oil applied to paper which is then kneaded in the hands until it becomes much softer but also much stronger. There are a few small tears beginning to appear in the piece,although they don't show up well in the picture above.

H. An even grid was stitched onto brown paper,soaked in water an distressed.

I. This time I tried an uneven grid,lots of free machining in all directions, making sure that the areas were all connected.

J. Brown and sprayed silver paper layered,small pieces of sheers were incorporated as I free machined. I found it easy to work in circles for this type of exercise but it doesn't fit with this module. However I loved doing this and I am sure I will return to it again as the course progresses.

K. Going right back to my original line drawings I had wanted to use the poppy shape and felt I should try it out on a paper sample. Firstly I created a grid of circles and then using free machining in zig zag and straight stitch I created poppy like patterns within each circle. The piece was then soaked in water and distressed. While it was still wet I added some koh-i-noor dye into the middle of the poppy seed head shapes. It was the left to dry.

SECOND THOUGHTS-paper shapes

First of all I tried to make a poppy seed head shape to disintegrate but this was too complex

I felt this would be to complicated to work with so after looking back through my samples and work sheets I found a much simpler shape that I have used several times. "Keep it simple" I had been told that before by Sian at the beginning of this module. After drawing the same shape onto the back of each square I "cut"out the shape by tearing it. Here is the series I created I love the last highly disintegrated shape.

THIRD THOUGHTS - different ways of disintegrating a square of fabric.

Top left: snips into the middle of the fabric in cross shape frayed.

Top right: holes made with scissors are the pulled apart and threads removed.

Bottom left: 8 point star cut with scissors and then frayed.

Bottom left simple cross shape frayed.

Summarising different ways of making a shape disintegrate or grow. I decided to see how I could make a simple star shape look as if it was disintegrating by using only hand stitches.

1. I used a variety of hand dyed and bought threads to work long and short stitches to cover the whole shape and raise the surface too.

2. Straight stitches used again but gaps left to give the illusion of disintegration.

3.French knots were stitched randomly around the edge of the shape with only a few added into the shape.

4. The shape was stitched in long stitched held down by stitching and then cut through.